Northrop Grumman Corporation vs Yum! Brands, Inc. — how do they compare? Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $578.3 (market cap $81.78B), while Yum! Brands, Inc. trades at $149.11 (market cap $39.50B). The key difference: Northrop Grumman Corporation is far larger — about 2.1× Yum! Brands, Inc.'s market cap, and Yum! Brands, Inc. pays the higher dividend (2.07%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| NOC | YUM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $81.78B | $39.50B |
Sector | Industrials | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $768.02 | $168.16 |
52-Week Low | $496.02 | $138.21 |
Enterprise Value | $95.77B | $51.10B |
Dividend Yield | 1.63% | 2.07% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $577.12, down 0.13% on the day, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages but overbought RSI readings. The company reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating estimates with EPS of $7.68, and raised full-year guidance, supported by a record $105 billion backlog. Revenue growth is steady, with 2026 projected at $42.9 billion, and profitability remains solid with a net income margin of 10.48%.
The outlook is positive, driven by strategic contracts like the $7.6 billion Sentinel program and defense spending tailwinds. Risks include margin pressures from specific programs and geopolitical uncertainties. Analysts are bullish with a consensus price target of $598.57, suggesting upside potential from current levels.
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
Latest headlines on both assets
Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →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.
Read more on YUM →