GordonGecko~~The reason for the recent pop~~
Was because of these two S&P Analyst Research Notes that came out on the Monday the 8th of October and Tuesday the 9th:
S&P REITERATES BUY RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF YUM BRANDS
Monday 10/08/2007 1:21 PM ET
YUM shares are higher this afternoon, ahead of Q3 results due after the bell. We project YUM will report EPS of $0.45, vs. $0.42 a year ago, on revenues of $2.44 billion. Our estimate reflects some lingering effect on U.S. operating margin from earlier food safety incidents, while international results should be strong. We note that shares of Burger King Holdings (BKC) and McDonald's Corp. ( MCD) also are higher today, along with YUM, after some selling pressure last week in sympathy with Wendy's Int'l (WEN), which reported weak Q3 sales.
S&P MAINTAINS BUY RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF YUM! BRANDS
Tuesday 10/09/2007 11:46 AM ET
Q3 EPS of $0.50 vs. $0.42 tops our $0.45 estimate on strong China sales that more than offset unusual circumstances affecting chicken prices. U.S. operating profit was up 1% despite 6% same-store sales drop at Taco Bell chain. We expect Q4 improvement in Taco Bell sales, lingering Chinese cost pressures, and a higher tax rate of 26% vs. 17% to result in flat profits. We increase our '07 EPS estimate by $0.01 to $1.66 to reflect strong Q3 and flat earnings outlook for Q4, and raise our DCF-based 12-month target price by $4, to $45, on reduced shares from new share buyback plan.
It closed at $34.35 on Friday the 5th, and the good news on Monday the 8th caused it to close at $36.29 and at $38.11 on the 9th when it reported it beat the street by .05
I think it will run up to $40. in the near future and struggle to break through that level for a while, but in the end it will.
IMO, this is a good one to just buy and hold for the long term.
.....Smoke 'em!.....
