Yum! to Close 250 U.S. Pizza Hut Stores After Q4 Sales Decline

Yum! Brands said it will shutter roughly 250 underperforming Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States during the first half of 2026 as part of a broader strategic review of the pizza chain. The company announced the plan during its Feb. 4 earnings call and framed the reductions as a targeted effort to remove low-performing locations.

Yum! said Pizza Hut ended 2025 with 19,974 restaurants globally. The company’s U.S. footprint is variously described in company materials and reporting as just over 6,000 locations, with some estimates near 6,500 to 6,700. The planned closures represent only a small slice of the system but equal roughly 3 percent of U.S. locations by some estimates. Yum! did not disclose which specific restaurants will close.

Company executives cast the move as disciplined portfolio management amid uneven brand performance. Ranjith Roy, Yum! chief financial officer, said the closures would target underperforming locations. Matthew Morris, head of investor relations, said the company is "pleased" with Pizza Hut’s near-term performance. CEO Chris Turner told investors, "The process is proceeding as planned, and as of now, we intend to complete the review of options this year." Turner also highlighted stronger results at Yum!’s other brands, noting that "The (KFC) brand delivered a strong year with 6% system sales growth, resulting in an impressive 10% core operating profit increase."

The store reduction follows weak sales at Pizza Hut in 2025. Reported metrics vary across company materials and reporting: the company’s earnings materials cited a 3 percent drop in U.S. same-store sales for the fourth quarter and a 5 percent decline for the full year, while other company statements and reporting have characterized U.S. declines ranging up to 7 percent for 2025. On a global basis, Pizza Hut’s same-store sales are reported to have slipped about 1 percent for the year, while international markets showed pockets of growth in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

For workers and franchisees, the announcement raises immediate questions about staffing, severance and how closures will be allocated between company-owned and franchisee locations. Yum! did not provide a timeline for individual store notifications or detail how many employees could be affected. Past disruptions in the Pizza Hut system have had sizable labor impacts; for example, a large franchisee bankruptcy in 2020 led to roughly 300 U.S. store closures.

Yum! emphasized that the strategic review, launched in November, could include a sale of Pizza Hut and that it expects to conclude the process this year. Meanwhile, Taco Bell and KFC continued to post stronger same-store sales and helped drive consolidated Yum! results: Yum! reported fourth-quarter net income of $535 million on $2.51 billion in revenue, and companywide same-store sales rose about 3 percent.

For Pizza Hut employees and franchise operators, the coming weeks will be about watching local communications and seeking clarity from franchisors and employers about timing, reassignment options and severance. The strategic review could reshape ownership and operations at Pizza Hut; workers should expect more detail as Yum! completes the process later this year.