Restaurant operator Yum Brands (YUM) highlighted its latest artificial intelligence (AI) developments with a “Byte by Yum” manager coach. The company used a video to promote Byte by Yum, featuring a human helper representative of the AI. This representative advised a Taco Bell manager on worker and store hours, offered to cover the drive-thru, and provided assistance with managing inventory.
Yum Brands has increased its reliance on Byte by Yum, featuring AI voice ordering at roughly 500 locations. That’s up from the 100 locations using the technology in July 2024. While that raises concerns about job security, Yum Brands said it doesn’t intend to replace its workers with AI. Instead, it claims this tech would free up employees to tackle other tasks.
AI in the workplace has rapidly evolved over the last few years and fast food is no exception. Yum Brands is far from the only company using AI to make its business more efficient. That makes sense as AI won’t call in sick, but some chains have experienced issues when outages take out the virtual assistants.
How Do Analysts Feel About Byte by Yum?
The Taco Bell AI received a positive reception from analysts who viewed the company’s latest promotional video. Bernstein analysts in attendance even floated the idea of Yum Brands selling Byte by Yum to other chains and businesses seeking to increase reliance on AI. This could provide the restaurant chain with a surprising extra source of revenue.
Is YUM Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Yum Brands is Hold based on five Buy and 15 Hold ratings over the last three months. With that comes an average price target of $156.89, a high of $185, and a low of $135. This represents a potential 1.56% downside for YUM stock.
