AES Corp vs Yum! Brands, Inc. — how do they compare? AES Corp trades at $14.73 (market cap $10.49B), while Yum! Brands, Inc. trades at $149.09 (market cap $39.50B). The key difference: Yum! Brands, Inc. is far larger — about 3.8× AES Corp's market cap, and AES Corp pays the higher dividend (4.79%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AES | YUM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $10.49B | $39.50B |
Sector | Utilities | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $17.28 | $168.16 |
52-Week Low | $12.51 | $138.21 |
Enterprise Value | $40.75B | $51.10B |
Dividend Yield | 4.79% | 2.07% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
AES trades at $14.73, down slightly by 0.03%, with a bearish technical signal from moving averages but neutral oscillators. The company shows strong profitability with a 14.34% net income margin and 45.05% ROE, supported by recent earnings beats. A pending $33.4 billion acquisition by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT, approved by stockholders in June 2026, dominates recent news, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share.
The outlook is heavily influenced by the acquisition, offering a near-term upside to the $15 buyout price, but regulatory and shareholder approval risks remain. Long-term fundamentals are solid with projected revenue growth to $13.1 billion in 2026, though high debt levels and integration challenges post-acquisition pose risks. Analyst sentiment is mixed with a buy consensus of 43%.
YUM Brands trades at $148.91, up 2.46% with recent earnings beats offset by food safety concerns. Technical indicators show bearish momentum with support at $141, while fundamentals reveal strong revenue growth to $8.21B in 2025 and net income of $1.56B. The company recently completed the $1.2B sale of Pizza Hut China, streamlining operations amid cyclospora outbreak impacts on Taco Bell sales.
YUM presents a mixed outlook with 37% analyst buy ratings and $174.60 price target suggesting 17% upside, but faces near-term headwinds from food safety investigations and consumer sentiment. Long-term growth depends on KFC/Taco Bell execution and digital strategy success amid elevated debt levels.
Trailing returns across standard periods
AES is a global power company operating across 14 countries and 4 continents. Its current generation portfolio as of year-end 2021 consists of over 31 gigawatts of generation, with the generation mix composed of renewables (43%), gas (32%), coal (23%), and oil (2%). The company has 3.5 gigawatts of generation under construction. AES has majority ownership and operates six electric utilities distributing power to 2.6 million customers.
Read more on AES →Yum Brands is a U.S.-based restaurant operator featuring a portfolio of four brands: KFC (26,930 global units), Pizza Hut (18,380 units), Taco Bell (7,790 units), and The Habit Burger (310 units) at year-end 2021. With $58 billion in 2021 systemwide sales, the firm is the second-largest restaurant company in the world, behind McDonald's ($112.5 billion) but ahead of Restaurant Brands International ($36 billion) and Starbucks ($25 billion). Yum is 98% franchised, with the largest franchisee, Yum China, created via a 2016 spinoff transaction (after which Yum China agreed to pay 3% royalties to Yum Brands in perpetuity). Yum is the newest evolution of Tricon Brands, formerly a division of PepsiCo, and generates the bulk of its revenue from franchise royalties and marketing contributions.
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