Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. HLT scored 46.3, YUMC scored 77.1 — YUMC leads.
Compare another set
HLT
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Lodging · Quality-Growth
46.3
$326.56 · $73.5B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
30.8
YUMC leads
YUMC
Yum China Holdings, Inc.
Restaurants · Quality-Growth
77.1
$42.92 · $14.5B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestYUMC15.3x
Fastest growthYUMC+8.8%
Highest qualityHLT97 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueYUMC-7%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
HLT
stronger →← stronger
YUMC
97
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
85
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
73
21
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
74
YUMC is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
HLT
YUMC
$1.9bC+
FCF
$940mC+
+7.7%B
Rev
+8.8%B
Negative equity
D/E
0.38A-
47.4xD
P/E
15.3xB+
1.34B
PEG
0.93B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
HLT
YUMC
114% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
7% below
~30%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~5%/yr
-60%
1-yr DCF upside
+1%
-53%
5-yr DCF upside
+8%
-42%
10-yr DCF upside
+18%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
HLT
Why this score
Buying back stock
Cyclical growth
YUMC
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
HLTHilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Lodging · $326.56 · beta 1.10
Why now
Lodging · market cap $73.5b. 9% off the 52-week high of $358.00. 26 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $353.00 (implying +8% upside).
Moat
Net margin 31% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. FCF converts 122% of net income, helped by cash released from working capital ($349m) that doesn't repeat every year. $73.5b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Trailing P/E 47x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. P/S 14.4x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard.
YUMCYum China Holdings, Inc.
Restaurants · $42.92 · beta 0.06
Why now
Restaurants · market cap $14.5b. Down 26% from 52-week high of $58.39 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.93 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 20 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $61.91 (implying +44% upside).
Moat
ROE 18% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 96% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where HLT and YUMC diverge
On the headline score the gap is 30.8 points in favor of YUMC. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueHLT 20.5 · YUMC 74.0YUMC +53.5
GrowthHLT 50.0 · YUMC 73.0YUMC +23.0
QualityHLT 96.9 · YUMC 84.8HLT +12.1
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is YUMC or HLT the better stock?
YUMC scores higher: YUMC 77.1, HLT 46.3 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do YUMC and HLT differ most?
The widest gap is value, where YUMC leads by 54 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are YUMC and HLT scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.