Share-based and Deferred Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Shareholders' Equity and Share-based Payments

Share-based and Deferred Compensation Plans

Overview

At year end 2023, we had one stock award plan in effect: the Yum! Brands, Inc. Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”). Potential awards to employees and non-employee directors under the LTIP include stock options, incentive stock options, SARs, restricted stock, RSUs, performance restricted stock units, PSUs and performance units. We have issued only stock options, SARs, RSUs and PSUs under the LTIP. Under the LTIP, the exercise price of stock options and SARs granted must be equal to or greater than the average market price or the ending market price of the Company’s stock on the date of grant. While awards under the LTIP can have varying vesting provisions and exercise periods, outstanding awards under the LTIP vest in periods ranging from immediate to five years. Stock options and SARs generally expire ten years after grant. At year end 2023, approximately 23 million shares were available for future share-based compensation grants under the LTIP.

Our EID Plan allows participants to defer receipt of a portion of their annual salary and all or a portion of their incentive compensation. As defined by the EID Plan, we credit the amounts deferred with earnings based on the investment options selected by the participants. These investment options are limited to cash, phantom shares of our Common Stock, phantom shares of a Stock Index Fund and phantom shares of a Bond Index Fund. Investments in cash and phantom shares of both index funds will be distributed in cash at a date as elected by the employee and therefore are classified as a liability on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We recognize compensation expense for the appreciation or the depreciation, if any, of investments in cash and both of the index funds. Deferrals into the phantom shares of our Common Stock will be distributed in shares of our Common Stock, under the LTIP, at a date as elected by the employee and therefore are classified in Common Stock on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We do not recognize compensation expense for the appreciation or the depreciation, if any, of investments in phantom shares of our Common Stock. Our EID plan also allows certain participants to defer incentive compensation to purchase phantom shares of our Common Stock and receive a 33% Company match on the amount deferred. Deferrals receiving a match are similar to an RSU award in that participants will generally forfeit both the match and incentive compensation amounts deferred if they voluntarily separate from employment during a vesting period that is two years from the date of deferral. We expense the intrinsic value of the match and the incentive compensation amount over the requisite service period which includes the vesting period.

Historically, the Company has repurchased shares on the open market in excess of the amount necessary to satisfy award exercises and expects to continue to do so in 2024.

In connection with the 2016 spin-off of our China business into an independent, publicly-traded company under the name of Yum China Holdings, Inc. (“Yum China”), under the provisions of our LTIP, employee stock options, SARs, RSUs and PSUs outstanding at that time were adjusted to maintain the pre-spin intrinsic value of the awards. Depending on the tax laws of the country of employment, awards were modified using either the shareholder method or the employer method. Share-based compensation as recorded in Net Income was based on the amortization of the fair value for both YUM and Yum China awards held by YUM employees. The fair value of Yum China awards held by YUM employees became fully amortized to expense in the year ended December 31, 2020. Share issuances for Yum China awards held by YUM employees will be satisfied by Yum China. Share issuances for YUM awards held by Yum China employees are being satisfied by YUM.

Award Valuation

We estimated the fair value of each stock option and SAR award as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions:


	2023		2022		2021
Risk-free interest rate	3.6	%	1.7	%	0.5	%
Expected term	5.9 years		6.6 years		6.3 years
Expected volatility	22.0	%	25.0	%	27.0	%
Expected dividend yield	1.8	%	1.9	%	1.9	%

Grants made to executives typically have a graded vesting schedule of 25% per year over four years and expire ten years after grant. We use a single weighted-average term for our awards that have a graded vesting schedule. Based on analysis of our historical exercise and post-vesting termination behavior, we have determined that our executives exercised the awards on average after 5.9 years.

When determining expected volatility, we consider both historical volatility of our stock as well as implied volatility associated with our publicly-traded options. The expected dividend yield is based on the annual dividend yield at the time of grant.

The fair values of PSU awards without market-based conditions and RSU awards are based on the closing price of our Common Stock on the date of grant. The fair values of PSU awards with market-based conditions have been valued based on the outcome of a Monte Carlo simulation.

Award Activity

Stock Options and SARs


	Shares (in thousands)		Weighted-Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Term (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in millions)
Outstanding at the beginning of the year	11,281		$	86.18
Granted	1,057		131.28
Exercised	(2,016)		74.33
Forfeited or expired	(218)		117.63
Outstanding at the end of the year	10,104	(a)	92.58		6.44	$	385
Exercisable at the end of the year	7,499		$	83.37	5.54	$	355

(a)Outstanding awards include 309 options and 9,795 SARs with weighted average exercise prices of $103.33 and $92.25, respectively. Outstanding awards represent YUM awards held by employees of both YUM and Yum China.

The weighted-average grant-date fair value of stock options and SARs granted during 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $29.93, $26.65 and $21.32, respectively. The total intrinsic value of stock options and SARs exercised during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, was $114 million, $105 million and $234 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2023, $35 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options and SARs, which will be reduced by any forfeitures that occur, is expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted-average period of approximately 1.7 years. The total fair value at grant date of awards held by YUM employees that vested during 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $31 million, $31 million and $35 million, respectively.

RSUs and PSUs

As of December 31, 2023, there was $59 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to 1.2 million unvested RSUs and PSUs. The total fair value at grant date of awards that vested during 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $84 million, $20 million and $20 million, respectively.

Impact on Net Income

The components of share-based compensation expense and the related income tax benefits are shown in the following table:


	2023		2022		2021
Options and SARs	$	27	$	26	$	29
Restricted Stock Units	35		27		16
Performance Share Units	33		29		30
Total Share-based Compensation Expense	$	95	$	82	$	75
Deferred Tax Benefit recognized	$	12	$	16	$	15

Cash received from stock option exercises for 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $8 million, $3 million and $11 million, respectively. Tax benefits realized on our tax returns from tax deductions associated with share-based compensation for 2023, 2022 and 2021 totaled $31 million, $38 million and $72 million, respectively.