Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. RCL scored 53.7, YUMC scored 77.1 — YUMC leads.
Compare another set
RCL
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Travel Services · Quality-Growth
53.7
$282.26 · $75.5B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
23.4
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
Fastest growthYUMC+8.8%
Strongest balance sheetYUMC0.38
Highest qualityYUMC85 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueYUMC-7%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
RCL
stronger →← stronger
YUMC
75
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
85
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
73
42
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
74
YUMC is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
RCL
YUMC
-$416mF
FCF
$940mC+
+8.7%B
Rev
+8.8%B
2.25C
D/E
0.38A-
4.0xD
P/S
—
1.14B+
PEG
0.93B+
—
P/E
15.3xB+
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
RCL
YUMC
—
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
7% below
—
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~5%/yr
—
1-yr DCF upside
+1%
—
5-yr DCF upside
+8%
—
10-yr DCF upside
+18%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
RCL
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
Cyclical growth
YUMC
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
RCLRoyal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Travel Services · $282.26 · beta 1.82
Why now
Travel Services · market cap $75.5b. Down 21% from 52-week high of $356.39 — deep drawdown territory. 27 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $351.26 (implying +24% upside).
Moat
Net margin 24% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 43% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $75.5b 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
D/E 2.25 is elevated — limits strategic flexibility and raises refinancing exposure if rates stay higher for longer. Free cash flow is negative (-$416m) — capital raises or debt issuance likely required; dilution / leverage risk. Beta 1.82 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return.
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 RCL and YUMC diverge
On the headline score the gap is 23.4 points in favor of YUMC. The widest single difference is Value, where YUMC leads by 32.4 points.
ValueRCL 41.6 · YUMC 74.0YUMC +32.4
GrowthRCL 50.0 · YUMC 73.0YUMC +23.0
QualityRCL 74.5 · YUMC 84.8YUMC +10.3
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 RCL the better stock?
YUMC scores higher: YUMC 77.1, RCL 53.7 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 RCL differ most?
The widest gap is value, where YUMC leads by 32 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. YUMC leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are YUMC and RCL 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.