Feb 6 (Reuters) -

Yum Brands ( YUM ) surpassed Wall Street estimates for

fourth-quarter comparable sales on Thursday, as value offerings

from Taco Bell attracted budget-conscious U.S. consumers to the

popular Tex-Mex chain.

Fast-food chains from McDonald's to Burger King are leaning

on their value meals to revive demand, after high prices of

essentials and steep borrowing costs forced customers to dine

out less.

Taco Bell's Luxe Carvings Box value meal, starting at $5,

was a big hit and helped drive up same-store sales at U.S.

outlets by 5% in the quarter.

Yum has also invested in growing international stores for

its KFC ( YUM ) chain, where worldwide same-store sales grew 1% despite

some impact through 2024 from boycotts related to the Middle

East conflict.

The company's core operating profit, more than 80% of which

comes from Taco Bell U.S. and KFC ( YUM ) international, jumped 8% in

2024, excluding the impact of an extra week in the year. Yum

expects the metric to grow at least 8% this year, in line with

its long-term target.

Its worldwide same-store sales rose 1% in the quarter ended

Dec. 31, compared with analysts' estimates for a 0.42% rise,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

As digital orders ramp up, now accounting for more than half

of Yum's sales, the company is also investing in back-end

technology such as its artificial intelligence-backed "Byte by

Yum" software to help reduce wait times at restaurants, improve

delivery times, and manage pricing and promotions on its app.

On an adjusted basis, profit for the quarter was $1.61 per

share, beating estimates by a cent.

Same store sales at its Pizza Hut division fell 1% in the

fourth quarter, a sequential improvement from a 4% drop in the

third quarter.

(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum and Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru;

Editing by Devika Syamnath)