Operations Advisor

Yum! Brands reported Q1 revenues of $2.06 billion, up 15.2% year-on-year, exceeding analysts' expectations by 0.6%. The owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill delivered strong results, beating EBITDA and same-store sales estimates. Despite the solid performance, the stock has declined 3.7% since reporting and currently trades at $150.75, suggesting investor expectations may have been higher than Wall Street's published projections. The traditional fast food sector showed strength overall in Q1, with 12 tracked companies collectively beating revenue consensus estimates by 1.4%. El Pollo Loco emerged as the quarter's top performer, reporting revenues of $126.2 million, up 5.9% year-on-year and exceeding expectations by 3.2%. Its shares rose 12.5% following the results.

UBS warns US Restaurant sector faces demand headwinds in second half of 2026. UBS turns cautious on US restaurants for H2 2026, citing weak consumer demand, high fuel costs and GLP-1 risks. Dutch Bros, Brinker and Yum Brands named as top picks. Read more. Discover more Restaurant Industry leadership awards F&B manager training Jun 9, 2026 - 08:14 Restaurants

Tracy Skeans is retiring from Yum Brands. She has been with the company for more than 25 years, including as chief operating officer and chief people and culture officer Alicia Kelso, Executive Editor, Nation's Restaurant News June 2, 2026 Tracy Skeans has been with Yum Brands for more than 25 years Tracy Skeans is retiring from Yum Brands later this year after serving with the company for more than 25 years, most recently as chief operating officer and chief people and culture officer. Upon her retirement, she will move into an advisory position. Skeans joined Yum Brands - parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill - as a financial analyst in 2000 after stints at Price Waterhouse and Union Switch & Signal. In 2005, she moved to the Pizza Hut team, serving as director of financial planning and moving her way up to senior director of human resources. In 2011, she was named chief people officer of Pizza Hut U.S., then CPO of Pizza Hut Global. Skeans then served as president of Pizza Hut International, overseeing a business spanning more than 85 countries and thousands of restaurants worldwide. She moved back to Yum Brands corporate in 2016 as chief transformation and people officer, a position she held until early 2021. In that role, she helped lead the company's transition to a pure-play franchisor in 2019, while advancing the company's talent and culture strategy. During an interview Tuesday morning, Skeans said this work throughout the past 10 years has been the most meaningful during her career. "Walking through that evolution of the business - in 2016, spinning off Yum China was a huge moment for the company, then changing the whole business model to become asset light and focus more on our franchisees - those were moments in my career where I felt we were changing the trajectory of Yum as a business. The business model was changing, and we needed to have that win. It took two to three years, but we did it. It was a crowning moment," she said. Following that transformation, Skeans also played a central role guiding the integration of Habit Burger & Grill in early 2020, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately impacted Yum because of its giant global footprint of more than 63,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories. "While it was a hard time, a scary time, navigating the company through that was the most trying time in my career because of the way I feel about our people. I felt the weight of wanting our company to perform on behalf of all those people and we made it through and stronger. It was the hardest, but most meaningful, because we were providing something more than food - we were providing stability and hope to employees and consumers," Skeans said. In January 2021, she was promoted to Yum's chief operating officer and chief people and culture officer, with responsibilities that include leading cross-brand collaboration on operational execution and people capability. She believes her finance background and subsequent transition to leading people and culture have helped create a unique and distinctive leadership style that she hopes will be part of her legacy. "We are an enormous business. Therefore being grounded in how a business works, makes money, what are the results and outcomes, whether same-store sales, development or profits - that is the language that keeps us growing," Skeans said. "What I have been privileged to do is then use and build culture - using culture and leaders with heart, smarts and courage - to unlock the true potential of the company. You may have a successful business model, but if you're only focused on the business needs and not your people, you won't have a culture that people enjoy working in or where they do their best work. "We want leaders to lead culture to fuel results, a one-plus-one equals 10 equation. That intersection is my favorite place to sit." During Skeans' career at Yum, she has served under four CEOs, including Yum founder David Novak, Greg Creed, David Gibbs, and Chris Turner, who was named to the role in October 2025 following Gibbs' retirement. "Over a remarkable 25-year career at Yum, Tracy has been instrumental in shaping the company's operational excellence model, culture, talent and long-term growth strategy," Turner said in a statement. "Having worked alongside Tracy for several years, I've seen firsthand the leadership, wisdom and heart she brings to every conversation and decision. Tracy has led Yum through some of the most important moments in our history, including our transformation into a more focused, asset-light global franchisor, all while advancing enterprise capabilities, culture and talent across our global system. Her impact on Yum will be felt for years to come." Skeans' responsibilities will transition to the company's next chief people & culture officer and chief scale officer, both of whom are to be determined. Skeans will assist in the transition in her advisory role through early 2028. Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso Executive Editor, Nation's Restaurant News Alicia Kelso is the executive editor of Nation's Restaurant News. She began covering the restaurant industry in 2010 for QSRweb.com, FastCasual.com, and PizzaMarketplace.com. When her son was born, she left the industry to pursue a role in higher education, but swiftly returned after realizing how much she missed the space. In filling that void, Alicia added a contributor role at Restaurant Dive and a senior contributor role at Forbes. Her work has appeared in publications around the world, including Forbes Asia, NPR, Bloomberg, The Seattle Times, Crain's Chicago, Good Morning America, and Franchise Asia Magazine. Alicia holds a degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University, where she competed on the women's swim team. In addition to cheering for the BGSU Falcons, Alicia is a rabid Michigan fan and will talk about college football with anyone willing to engage. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her wife and son. Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters Content Spotlight