Pizza Hut will be closing 250 stores in the U.S. in the first half of 2026, as part of an ongoing review of the chain’s positioning and strategy, Yum Brands CFO Ranjith Roy said on the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call. Yum began evaluating Pizza Hut’s system last year and is considering a sale of the brand, which has been lagging behind its competitors of late.
Roy mentioned the U.S. closures are part of a program called Hut Forward. This program includes “a vibrant marketing program, modernization of certain technology and franchise agreements” and Yum providing a one-time contribution to marketing support.
Roy said the closures will include underperforming stores in the U.S. While Yum’s latest most recent earnings release did not include the precise number of Pizza Hut’s U.S. stores, the chain had mentioned about 32% of the 19,872 stores it possessed at the time were located in the U.S., for a storebase of about 6,360 locations. The closure of 250 stores would mean that about 4% of the chain’s stores in the U.S. will be shut down.
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CEO Chris Turner said Yum’s review of strategic options for Pizza Hut is continuing as planned. “As of now, we intend to complete the review of options this year,” Turner said on the call. “Given the ongoing nature of the process, at this time, we cannot share further details.”
Yum has spent a considerable amount for the review — $36 million in 2025, including $32 million in Q4, according to its earnings release. The chain also wrote off $5 million in franchise incentive assets in 2025 “associated with rationalizing the Pizza Hut estate in preparation for a potential transaction,” the company said.
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The number of Pizza Hut stores across the world had gone from 20,225 at the end of 2024 to 19,974 at the end of 2025. Most of the international closures came from early 2025 termination of the chain’s master franchising agreement with its Turkish operator, resulting in the shuttering of 254 Pizza Huts in Turkey, according to the earnings release.
Pizza Hut isn’t the only restaurant that announced closure a month into 2026. Among these restaurants are Noodles & Company, Red Robin and Wendy’s.
Noodles & Company, in a Jan. 12 news release, said it would be closing 30 to 35 stores in 2026. Wendy’s said in January that it is continuing to evaluate underperforming restaurants that could close this year.