Yahoo Finance KFC Owner’s Sales Fall for First Time Since 2020
(Bloomberg) -- Sales at restaurant chain owner Yum! Brands Inc. fell for the first time since the depths of the pandemic in 2020, providing more evidence that one of the most resilient parts of the consumer economy is weakening.
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Revenue declined 2.9% in the quarter through March, while analysts expected a gain. Same-store sales at KFC, the company’s biggest chain, fell 2%, weighed down by spending weakness in the US. Earnings per share also trailed expectations. Yum’s shares declined as much as 6.5% in premarket trading.
Restaurants have been a bright spot as shoppers splurged on eating out as disruptions from Covid-19 eased. In the same quarter a year ago, Yum’s sales rose 8%. To keep up that kind of growth, the company opened more than 800 restaurants during the quarter.
But consumers, including lower-income ones that favor the more affordable prices at Yum’s fast-food chains, are becoming more frugal. On Tuesday, McDonald’s Corp’s posted sales that missed expectations and Starbucks Corp.’s revenue also fell for the first time since 2020.
(Adds share moves in second paragraph. A previous version corrected sales growth in third paragraph.)
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