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Yum! Brands' (YUM) Taco Bell Ties Up With Beyond Meat

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Yum! Brands, Inc.’s (YUM - Free Report) Taco Bell recently partnered with Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND - Free Report) for a new plant-based product. The company will test the new menu next year. Notably, Yum! Brands is looking to revamp its menu and focus on nonmeat options.

The company’s partnership with the Beyond Meat will help it in attracting new customers. Yum! Brands also announced that it is bringing back Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes and Spicy Potato Soft Taco, which will be available from Mar 11, 2021. Taco Bell has impressed investors with robust third-quarter 2020 results. Taco Bell's comps rose 3% in the reported quarter compared with the year-ago quarter’s growth of 4%.

Beyond Meat has already partnered with Yum! Brands’ Pizza Hut for new Beyond Pan Pizzas namely, Beyond Italian Sausage Pizza and Great Beyond Pizza. The Beyond Italian Sausage pizza features a mix of Italian herbs and spices like garlic, onion, paprika and fennel seeds. While the Great Beyond pizza includes fresh veggie toppings such as tomatoes, red onions and tangy banana peppers, served on Pizza Hut's classic original pan crust pizza paired alongside the Beyond Italian Sausage.

Liz Matthews, Yum's global chief food innovation officer, said “We have long been a leader in the vegetarian space, but this year we have more meatless options in store that vegetarians, veggie-curious and even meat-eaters will love.”

Price Performance

Coming to price performance, shares of Yum! Brands’ have gained 20.2% in the past six months, compared with the industry's growth of 20.3%. Notably, the company has been negatively impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Due to the crisis, the company and its franchisees experienced store closures and instances of reduced store-level operations, including lesser operating hours and dining-room closures. Moreover, restaurant traffic has been significantly impacted due to the social-distancing protocols.



However, initiatives to boost the domestic business through various digital initiatives, refranchising and a strategic transformation plan are likely to benefit the company in the days ahead. Also, earnings estimates for 2021 have moved up over the past 30 days, highlighting analysts’ optimism regarding the stock’s growth potential.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Yum! Brands’ currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other top-ranked stocks in the same space are Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. and Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (ARCO - Free Report) , each carrying the same rank as Yum! Brands.

Del Taco Restaurants has a three-five year earnings per share growth rate of 15%.

Arcos Dorados' 2021 earnings are expected to rise 127.3%.

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