One Of America's Most Recognizable Restaurants Explores Sale Amid Identity Crisis As Yum! Brands Doubles Down On Gen Z Strategy

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) said past week that it is exploring a imaginable merchantability of Pizza Hut, 1 of America’s astir iconic pizza chains.

“The Pizza Hut squad has been moving hard to code concern and class challenges; however, Pizza Hut’s show indicates the request to instrumentality further enactment to assistance the marque recognize its afloat value, which whitethorn beryllium amended executed extracurricular of Yum! Brands,” Yum! Brands Chief Executive Chris Turner said successful a Nov. 4 statement.

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This comes alongside the company’s Q3 net study connected Nov. 4, which said that the fast-food chain's same-store income dropped 1% during the period. Pizza Hut's wide strategy income were level to somewhat down during Q3 2025, with strategy income of $3.2 cardinal declining 1% excluding overseas speech effects, according to the report.

He said successful the connection that absorption is reviewing strategical options for the struggling pizza chain, including a implicit merchantability of the unit. Yum! Brands has retained Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Barclays  (NYSE:BCS) arsenic fiscal advisors to measure imaginable deals and usher the strategical reappraisal process.

For Yum! Brands overall, strategy income grew 5% year-over-year during Q3, driven chiefly by 9% maturation astatine Taco Bell and 6% astatine KFC. The institution reported full gross of $1.98 cardinal for the quarter, up 8% year-over-year, and nett income of $397 million, up 4%. Despite Pizza Hut’s flimsy diminution successful same-store income and strategy sales, Yum! Brands’ wide income show was affirmative owed to beardown results from its different large marque divisions, according to the report.

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Yum! Brands is pushing to seizure the Gen Z market, then-CEO David Gibbs said during the company’s Q2 net telephone connected Aug. 5. He discussed Pizza Hut and KFC, but his remarks chiefly focused connected edifice openings overseas. Gibbs, who handed implicit the reins to Turner past month, expressed assurance successful the company’s wide innovation strategy astatine the time.

Several initiatives targeting younger demographics including Taco Bell’s Live Más Café model, which centers connected customizable drinks, Gibbs highlighted connected the call. Such specialty concepts accrued sales, Gibbs said, arsenic the company's chains treble down connected Gen Z-focused spinoffs arsenic portion of their broader maturation strategy.