Pizza Hut will close 250 ‘underperforming’ locations in 2026 as list of struggling restaurants grows
Pizza Hut is closing hundreds of “underperforming” locations nationwide, according to parent company Yum! Brands, which reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Wednesday.
The company said it will shutter about 3% of Pizza Hut’s U.S. locations, or some 250 locations in the first six months of 2026, as the fast-causal chain struggles amid competition from Dominos Pizza and an overall decline in store sales and consumer demand.
Fast Company has reached out to Pizza Hut for a list of locations that will be closing.
Globally, Pizza Hut opened over 440 new restaurants in the fourth quarter of 2025 and nearly 1,200 restaurants in 2025, in 65 countries.
Taco Bell sales soar
Yum! Brands reported mixed fourth-quarter results for 2025, with revenue coming in at $2.51 billion, beating expectations of $2.45 billion. It missed on earnings per share (EPS), which came in at $1.73 adjusted, compared to an expected $1.77.
Unlike Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC showed strong sales growth, with Taco Bell’s same-store sales up 7% for the quarter. Meanwhile, KFC’s same-store sales were up about 1%, and it hit “an incredible milestone in opening its 30,000th international restaurant,” according to the company’s earnings call.
“Yum! delivered another year of outstanding results at KFC and Taco Bell with our fundamentals stronger than ever at both brands,” CEO Chris Turner said in an earnings release. “We enter 2026 with a clear strategic focus on accelerating long-term growth, embodied in our multi-year ‘Raise the Bar’ priorities.”
Shares of Yum! Brands (YUM) were trading down less than 1% on Wednesday in afternoon trading, and have jumped 6% so far this year.