BTIG analyst Peter Saleh raised his price target on Yum! Brands (YUM) to $102 and kept his Buy rating, citing his greater confidence in the company's unit growth trends and potential for driving same-store sales gains. In the short run, the analyst points to the benefits coming from its Pizza Hut business and its partnership with the NFL, its new advertising campaign, and the potential market share gains from sales declines at Papa John's (PZZA). Longer term, Saleh sees "stronger international unit growth after the closing of the Telepizza master franchise deal "which should drive unit growth closer to 4.0%", along with benefits coming from all of Yum's segments' partnership with GrubHub (GRUB).

Citi lowered the firm's price target on Yum! Brands to $162 from $166 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares ahead of the Q1 report. The analyst expects Yum continues to voice confidence in 5% unit growth, and its digital initiatives are growing sales for franchisees. The firm views the company's near-term outlook as "shakier" than the long-term.

Stifel analyst Chris O'Cull upgraded Papa John's to Hold from Sell with a price target of $60, down from $65. The analyst believes near-term expectations are reasonable. Given the stock's negative sentiment and recent market volatility, the firm decided to move to the sidelines. However, Stifel continues to believe Papa John's is in a "challenging competitive position in a tough category."