New York —
Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, reported robust sales and profit in the second quarter, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations by several measures. But the earnings cover the April-June quarter, or the three months before a cyclospora outbreak plunged the company’s most important brand into a food-safety crisis.
Yum Brands’ stock, which has fallen about 8% since Taco Bell was linked to the outbreak in early July, slipped 1% in pre-market trading Thursday.
“We delivered another strong quarter with robust same-store sales and restaurant-level margin performance,” Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said in a press release. The company didn’t mention the cyclospora outbreak in its press release, but the subject is expected to dominate an earnings call with analysts later this morning.
Yum Brands reported $853 million in net income, up from $374 million in the same quarter a year ago. Sales from all KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell stores open at least one year grew 3% worldwide. For Taco Bell, the company’s growth engine in recent years, sales at existing locations grew 7%.
