Yum Rallies After Adding Carl Icahn Protege To Board

Shares of Yum Brands Inc. rallied Friday after the fast-food restaurant operator announced the addition of Keith Meister, a protege of Carl Icahn, to its board late Thursday. Meister has spearheaded efforts to induce changes at several companies, including Williams Cos. and Fidelity National Financial Inc. The owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains also lowered its earnings outlook for fiscal year 2015 and now expects earnings per share to be either flat or rise by single digits. Starting in November, Yum will resume release of monthly same-store sales data for China, which it has not done since December 2013. Yum shares rose 4% to $72.04. The stock is down 13% so far this month on continued sluggish performance of its China business.