Forensic Analysis · Restaurants · as of Nov 8, 2026
Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC)
A forensic read on Yum China Holdings, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
A · High-quality compounder
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
2.6
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
16.7%
ROE
4.4%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Yum China Holdings, Inc. earns an A (High-quality compounder) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
178% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $1.5B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 178% of free cash flow. That is $657M (78%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash and short-term investments fell $460M over FY2025, while total debt fell $97M — $460M of the $657M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $8.2B from sales and maturities of investments against $7.6B of investments purchased; net cash used in investing activities of $5M; net cash used in financing activities of $1.7B. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $42M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 183%.
11.5%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 11.5% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 9.4%. After-tax operating profit was $809M in FY2023 and $939M in FY2025, with operating income at 10.1% of revenue in FY2023, 10.3% in FY2024 and 10.9% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $8.6B in FY2023 to $8.2B in FY2025 (-6%), while the revenue it carried went from $11.0B to $11.8B. $1.0B of the $8.2B base at FY2025 is short-term investments (12.3%) — securities held beside cash, which the base keeps because only cash is subtracted from it; they earn the balance sheet's yield, which is not in the operating profit above, so this rate understates what the operating capital earns.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$11.80B
Revenue Growth YoY+4.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+3.7%
Net Margin7.9%
Free Cash Flow$840.0M
Return on Equity16.7%
Debt / Equity0.01x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Yum China Holdings, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?