Yum! Brands (YUM) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · YUMSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling Yum! Brands RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
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Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of YUM today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in YUM. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands (YUM) is a public Restaurant company, incorporated in North Carolina and headquartered in Louisville, KY.
Last close: $136.34 per share (as of 2026-10-01).
Equity grants at Yum! Brands typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
Yum! Brands, Inc. is an American multinational fast food corporation. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, the company operates KFC, Taco Bell, Habit Burger & Grill, and several technology companies. As of 2024 Yum! is the world's second largest fast food restaurant chain by gross revenues, after McDonald's, though the large majority of Yum! locations are independently owned franchises and the parent company's revenue is substantially lower than gross revenues.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
PepsiCo spun off its restaurant division in 1997, taking KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, and the company later separated its China business as Yum China in 2016. It is almost entirely franchised, which converts the business into a royalty stream on system sales with modest capital requirements. Taco Bell has been the strongest United States performer, KFC the strongest internationally. Habit Burger was added in 2020. Headquarters are in Louisville, Kentucky.
Sources: yum.com · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at Yum! Brands
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-08-17.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Yum! Brands.
Yum! Brands (YUM) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 Yum! Brands (YUM) RSUs vesting at $136.34 per share is $68,170 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$21,814), the post-tax share value is ~$46,356. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All Yum! Brands tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
Yum! Brands equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my Yum! Brands RSUs at vest?
- Yum! Brands restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does Yum! Brands grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Yum! Brands typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do Yum! Brands RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. Yum! Brands restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your Yum! Brands equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.