(Reuters) -Yum Brands Inc beat Street estimates for quarterly comparable sales on Wednesday, as more cash-strapped consumers flocked to its Taco Bell restaurant chain for pocket-friendly meals and snacks amid still high inflation.
Taco Bell has lured more customers with its cheap menu offerings such as the $2 burritos, while demand has remained steady for its higher-priced crowd-favorite items such as quesadillas and Crunchy Wraps.
Yum’s Pizza Hut chain also launched “Melts” – an individual-sized meal consisting of two slices of pizza and dipping sauce – in the quarter, which has pulled in a new group of younger, lower-income customers.
Same-store sales at Taco Bell restaurants jumped 11%, beating the average analyst estimate for a 6.8% rise, and offsetting slower-than-expected growth at Pizza Hut and KFC.
Yum Brands’ total same-store sales rose 6% in the fourth quarter, while analysts were expecting a 4.57% increase, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
