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Yum Reports Around the Outbreak; Industrials and Insurers Raise Guidance

Yum's June-quarter beat predates the Taco Bell cyclospora crisis and management offered no update, while backlog-heavy industrials and health insurers lifted full-year outlooks.

July 30, 2026 Earnings

Yum's numbers describe a company that no longer exists

Yum reported second-quarter net income of $853 million, or $3.08 per share, up from $374 million and $1.33 a year earlier; excluding charges tied to the Pizza Hut strategic review and other items, it earned $1.62. Revenue rose 12% to $2.17 billion on new openings, global same-store sales grew 3% against StreetAccount's 2.9% estimate, Taco Bell jumped 7%, KFC added 2%, China system sales rose 6% and Pizza Hut slipped 1%. All of that is for the quarter ended June 30 — before the FDA linked a cyclospora outbreak to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell in mid-July, since when Placer.ai data show daily traffic to the chain down by double-digit percentages. Yum provided no details on the impact and does not typically guide on same-store sales or EPS. With Pizza Hut being sold to LongRange Capital and Yum China for $2.7 billion, the growth engine Yum is left leaning on is the one under investigation, and the contagion is already wider: Chipotle said consumer mistrust of chains serving fresh lettuce weighed on its sales in the second half of July.

Backlog is the strongest signal in the tape

The industrial prints share one feature: forward orders outrunning current sales. Terex posted sales of $2.2 billion, up 50.5% reported and 8.5% pro forma, net income of $110 million, adjusted EBITDA of $269 million at a 12.0% margin, EPS of $0.96 and adjusted EPS of $1.37, with bookings up 25.2% to $2.0 billion. Madison Air reported net sales of $991.3 million, up 21%, with backlog up 133% to $2,868.4 million and orders up 45% on a combined basis. Quanta Services turned in $9.6 billion of revenue, $451.4 million of net income, adjusted diluted EPS of $4.24 and $1.1 billion of operating cash flow. AEP raised full-year operating earnings guidance to $6.25–$6.55 per share and expanded new load additions, citing up to $16 billion in expected cost offsets from load growth.

The consumer splits by ticket size

Discretionary and premium spending held up better than the macro backdrop implies. Hershey beat quarterly sales estimates with reported first-half net sales up 8.7%; Life Time grew revenue 13.7% to $866.0 million with net income up 40.6% to $101.4 million; Brunswick beat by $0.46 on strong sales and execution; Canada Goose, Sonic Automotive and A. O. Smith all beat on both lines, with A. O. Smith posting $1 billion of sales and adjusted EPS of $1.03. The exceptions cluster in big-ticket and travel: Norwegian Cruise Line beat by $0.10 but missed on revenue, and Barclays cut its Carvana price target on guidance concerns.

Healthcare and insurance carry the guidance raises

Labcorp lifted full-year revenue growth and adjusted EPS guidance after second-quarter revenue rose 5.8% to $3.73 billion, diluted EPS climbed 28.5% to $3.64 and adjusted EPS rose 14.9% to $4.99. Cigna raised its annual profit forecast on strength in its health services unit. In insurance the picture is more mixed: Lincoln Financial rose nearly 4% on an earnings beat despite a revenue miss, Hippo reported net income of $10 million and adjusted net income of $21 million, while BofA downgraded Cincinnati Financial on slowing homeowners growth.

Europe's margin story keeps compounding

LSEG's H1 showed margin expansion driving double-digit EPS growth and the company lifted its 2026 outlook; Knorr-Bremse's Q2 margin hit a 5.5-year high; De Longhi shares rose after it raised its 2026 earnings outlook; JCDecaux jumped on a second-quarter revenue beat; Sacyr lifted H1 profit with the stock near a 52-week high; Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield reported strong rent growth; and Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan posted its first H1 profit in eight years. Elis was the clear outlier, falling on first-half results and guidance. The common thread across the beats is margin and pricing rather than volume.

Sources

Not investment advice.