Baird analyst David Tarantino says that since Yum! Brands' Q3 earnings report, he's fielded multiple questions from investors regarding potential risks associated with further write-offs of past due receivables given the continued soft performance at Pizza Hut and headlines about financial stress for some of the company's largest franchisees in the U.S.. Yum's allowance for doubtful accounts balance as a percent of total gross accounts receivable was 9.8% as of Q3 versus 7.8% in Q2, or $57M, Tarantino tells investors in a research note. This represents the highest level seen since 2009-2010, the analyst points out. In a theoretical scenario in which Yum were to deem roughly 50% of the $57M amount uncollectible, the company would book $28M-$29M of expense, which would equate to 1%-2% of estimated 2020 operating profit and nearly 2% of earnings per share, Tarantino says. He keeps an Outperform rating on Yum! Brands with a $120 price target.