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Yum China Holdings, Inc.

YUMC · Consumer Discretionary · $15.4B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · · not refreshed in 35 days · Narrow moat ·

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Narrow moat
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The five investor questions

69

2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $9.9B to $11.8B, increasing; diluted EPS 2.28 to 2.51, increasing.

31

Median gross margin 22.8% over 2y, stable.

89

Median ROIC 18.2%, above the 12% hurdle in 90% of years.

100

Net cash position — no leverage risk.

68

Owner earnings changed +7.2%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.

Price vs. value if growth stopped today

A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.

Above value if growth stopped todayBelow value if growth stopped today
52% above value if growth stopped today
$911M
$28.59
$46.32
$43.40
52% above value if growth stopped today

What today’s price assumes: owner earnings growing ~9%/yr over 5 years. The zero-growth estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).

How to read this

We solve for the constant annual change in owner earnings that would make the five-year zero-growth estimate equal today’s price. This keeps the existing model inputs and calculation unchanged; it is an expectations lens, not a forecast.

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. The recent FY revenue series does not trigger the three-consecutive-declines flag.

Among the current top-score group, the median current price is 239% above the zero-growth estimate across 48 of the current top 50 companies by Moat Score with both values.

Score records captured Jul 26, 2026.

Exactly which 50 companies?

FTNT, META, MEDP, IBEX, MSFT, GOOGL, LULU, ANF, IDXX, TXRH, FHI, QLYS, FFIV, ADBE, LLY, MANH, VEEV, GRMN, SSD, MNST, DOCS, MCO, CPRT, NTAP, LRCX, NVDA, CORT, SFM, MPTI, ULTA, SN, RMD, ROL, PAYC, IRMD, INTU, DECK, MORN, LGCY, DAL, GWW, ISRG, MPWR, CTAS, LOPE, MRK, CMG, FAST, BKNG, ORLY

Missing a usable price or zero-growth estimate: ANF, BKNG.

Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 4% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.

13 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $6.9B (FY2014) to $11.8B (FY2025) — about 4.9% a year compounded over 11 years.

It earned 19.2% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 11-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 19.2%. Over the v3 recent window (10 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 18.2%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 89/100.

The balance sheet carried $30M of total debt in FY2025 against $929M of owner earnings — roughly 0.0 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 100/100.

Put together: Balance-Sheet Safety is the strongest of the five filters (100/100) and Pricing Power the weakest (31/100), which is how YUMC lands at 71/100 — a Narrow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2013–FY2025 · 13 fiscal years, normalized from YUMC’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$11.8B FY2025
$0$5B$10B2013201720212025
Revenue kept after cost of goods25.0% FY2017
0%10%20%2013201720212025
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 19.2% FY2025
0%20%40%2013201720212025
Cash an owner could take out$929M FY2025
$0$500M$1B2013201720212025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in YUMC’s filings for that year. The series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Flagship explainer

How Yum China Holdings, Inc. makes its money

Yum China Holdings, Inc.'s filing does not supply enough comparable lines for a truthful flow chart — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$11.8B100%
$1.3B11%
Income before tax$1.4B12%
Income tax$369M3%
$929M8%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What Yum China Holdings, Inc. owns — and owes

Yum China Holdings, Inc.'s filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$10.8B100%
Cash and equivalents$506M5%
$30M0%
Stockholders’ equity$5.4B50%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives Yum China Holdings, Inc.’s return on equity?

ROE is five filed business factors multiplied together.

DuPont return on equity factor treeReturn on equity branches into tax burden, interest burden, operating margin, asset turnover, and the equity multiplier.Return on equity17%Tax burden68%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden105%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin11%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover1.08×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier1.97×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2025-12-31 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$929MFY2025
Income before tax$1.4BFY2025
Operating income$1.3BFY2025
$11.8BFY2025
Ending assets$10.8BFY2025
Beginning assets$11.1BFY2024
$5.4BFY2025
$5.7BFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001193125-26-082824
· event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where Yum China Holdings, Inc.'s cash went

Yum China Holdings, Inc.’s filing does not supply enough provenance-matched cash-flow lines for a truthful flow chart — here’s what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of cash from operationsSource
Cash from operations$1.5B100%
Depreciation and amortization$448M31%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding Yum China Holdings, Inc.

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q2—not live positions, trades, or recommendations.

0 holding0 exited1 not holding1/19 resolved18 not retrieved

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Markel / Markel-GaynerNo position reportedNo position reported
Abrams CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Akre CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Baupost GroupNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Berkshire HathawayNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Brave Warrior AdvisorsNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Dodge & CoxNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
First EagleNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
FundsmithNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Gardner Russo & QuinnNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Gates Foundation TrustNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Mairs & PowerNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Pershing SquareNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Polen CapitalNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Southeastern Asset ManagementNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Tweedy, BrowneNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved
Yacktman Asset ManagementNot retrievedComparison not retrievedFiling not retrieved

Position size uses shares and filed value from each manager’s 13F. Portfolio weight uses the eligible long-share filing denominator. Changes compare only with the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

Source: · event Jun 30, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What Yum China Holdings, Inc. insiders reported

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 30, 2026.

Partial coverage: the incomplete Form 4 walk cannot establish no activity, an activity date, or zero counts.

Moat Score history

16 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale71.4 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026Jul 26, 2026

Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.

Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

  1. Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)moat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
  2. Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0moat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
  3. Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0moat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Insider activity

Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”

These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.

This machine-readable surface covers SEC ownership filings from 2003; it does not represent earlier paper-era records.

Records still being gathered — partial as of retrieval Aug 30, 2026.

Among the rows shown, A/F/M acquisition, payment or withholding, and exercise or conversion rows outnumber S sale rows (8 versus 6). The filing codes alone do not establish that every such row arose from a compensation plan.

Trailing-12-month totals and the 90-day cluster result are withheld because this issuer walk is incomplete.

InsiderShares owned afterDateFiling detail
HUANG Duoduo (Howard)Chief Supply Chain OfficerExercise or conversion of derivative security (M)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock · 2 paired events18,117$35.2939$639,420See lot detailAug 18, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 7,638 shares at $26.56 · code M · owned after 34,740 · Paired event: 7,638 Stock Appreciation Right → 7,638 Common Stock ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 10,479 shares at $41.66 · code M · owned after 45,219 · Paired event: 10,479 Stock Appreciation Right → 10,479 Common Stock ·
HUANG Duoduo (Howard)Chief Supply Chain OfficerOpen-market or private sale (S)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock24,096$47.0833$1,134,520See lot detailAug 18, 2026
3 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 3,344 shares at $47.14 · code S · owned after 41,875 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 1,239 shares at $47.14 · code S · owned after 40,636 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 19,513 shares at $47.07 · code S · owned after 7,589 ·
HUANG Duoduo (Howard)Chief Supply Chain OfficerDisposition to the issuer (D)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock13,534$47.25$639,482See lot detailAug 18, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 4,294 shares at $47.25 · code D · owned after 36,342 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 9,240 shares at $47.25 · code D · owned after 27,102 ·
HUANG Duoduo (Howard)Chief Supply Chain OfficerExercise or conversion of derivative security (M)Table II · Disposed · Stock Appreciation Right · 2 paired events18,117—Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)—See lot detailAug 18, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table II · Stock Appreciation Right: 7,638 shares at — (Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)) · code M · owned after 0 · Paired event: 7,638 Stock Appreciation Right → 7,638 Common Stock ·
  • Table II · Stock Appreciation Right: 10,479 shares at — (Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)) · code M · owned after 0 · Paired event: 10,479 Stock Appreciation Right → 10,479 Common Stock ·
Kuai JeffGeneral Manager, Pizza HutExercise or conversion of derivative security (M)Table I · Acquired · Common Stock · 2 paired events23,390$26.7793$626,367See lot detailAug 12, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 12,212 shares at $26.98 · code M · owned after 80,065 · Paired event: 12,212 Stock Appreciation Right → 12,212 Common Stock ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 11,178 shares at $26.56 · code M · owned after 91,243 · Paired event: 11,178 Stock Appreciation Right → 11,178 Common Stock ·
Kuai JeffGeneral Manager, Pizza HutOpen-market or private sale (S)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock14,586$47.7189$696,027See lot detailAug 12, 2026
3 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 5,313 shares at $47.71 · code S · owned after 85,930 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 4,961 shares at $47.71 · code S · owned after 80,969 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 4,312 shares at $47.74 · code S · owned after 63,541 ·
Kuai JeffGeneral Manager, Pizza HutDisposition to the issuer (D)Table I · Disposed · Common Stock13,116$47.76$626,420See lot detailAug 12, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table I · Common Stock: 6,899 shares at $47.76 · code D · owned after 74,070 ·
  • Table I · Common Stock: 6,217 shares at $47.76 · code D · owned after 67,853 ·
Kuai JeffGeneral Manager, Pizza HutExercise or conversion of derivative security (M)Table II · Disposed · Stock Appreciation Right · 2 paired events23,390—Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)—See lot detailAug 12, 2026
2 filed lots
  • Table II · Stock Appreciation Right: 12,212 shares at — (Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)) · code M · owned after 0 · Paired event: 12,212 Stock Appreciation Right → 12,212 Common Stock ·
  • Table II · Stock Appreciation Right: 11,178 shares at — (Exercise or conversion of derivative security (M)) · code M · owned after 0 · Paired event: 11,178 Stock Appreciation Right → 11,178 Common Stock ·

Source-event as of . Retrieved .

Track record

How Yum China Holdings, Inc.’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

Point-in-time scores 2016–2025, one methodology version · reconstructed from filings on file each Dec 31 — never with hindsight

Point-in-time Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored YUMC on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score100200Indexed price · log scale (2017 = 100)201620182020202220242026

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the reconstructed history shown, YUMC did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Consumer Discretionary context

#71 of 487 scored Consumer Discretionary companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #69LRN Stride, Inc.71.9Narrow moat
  2. #70FSS FEDERAL SIGNAL CORPORATION71.6Narrow moat
  3. #72GOLF Acushnet Holdings Corp.71.2Narrow moat
  4. #73HLT Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.70.9Narrow moat

Compare YUMC with its nearest peers →All Consumer Discretionary companies on the Index →

Common questions about YUMC

Does Yum China Holdings, Inc. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC) 71.4 out of 100 — a Narrow moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 69, pricing power 31, returns on capital 89, balance-sheet safety 100, capital allocation 68.
Is YUMC trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $28.59 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $43.40, that is 52% above value if growth stopped today. The model also publishes a capped-growth comparison, but the zero-growth estimate is the cautious baseline. It assumes trailing owner earnings persist and is unreliable for declining businesses. This is an educational estimate from primary SEC filings, not intrinsic value as a fact or investment advice.
How has YUMC's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 16 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 71.4 out of 100 (narrow moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell YUMC. See the disclaimer.