Yum Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM ) reported mixed first-quarter numbers on Wednesday morning, sending the stock down 4 percent in pre-market trading. Yum's strong first-quarter revenue and earnings numbers were a positive for investors, but same-restaurant sales growth disappointed the market.

Yum Brands , whose brands include Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 90 cents on revenue of $1.37 billion. Both numbers topped consensus estimates of 68 cents and $1.09 billion, respectively.

[See: 10 Restaurant Stocks to Watch This Earnings Season .]

However, same-store sales growth was just 1 percent, missing consensus estimates of 1.9 percent and well short of the 5.5 percent growth reported by fast-food rival McDonald's Corp. ( MCD ) earlier this week.

KFC was Yum's highest-growth business in the first quarter, reporting same-store sales growth of 2 percent compared to consensus estimates of 2.6 percent. KFC operating margin was up 5.3 percent to 33.6 percent.

Taco Bell reported same-store sales growth of 1 percent, beating consensus estimates of 0.8 percent. Operating margin dropped 2.7 percent to 28.5 percent.

Pizza Hut was the biggest disappointment, reporting same-store sales growth of 1 percent compared to analyst expectations of 1.9 percent. Operating margin fell 0.6 percent to 35 percent.

Yum opened 239 net new units in the quarter, up 3 percent. Yum also reported $528 million in share buybacks.

"As we begin the second full year of our transformation journey, I'm pleased with our progress towards becoming a more focused, more franchised and more efficient company," CEO Greg Creed says in a statement. "We're maintaining all aspects of our full-year 2018 guidance and remain confident that this transformation is building a strong foundation for long-term growth and will deliver increased returns for our stakeholders."

Yum Brands has previously guided for full-year 2018 same-store sales growth of between 2 and 3 percent, net unit growth of between 3 and 4 percent and "approximately flat" core operating profit growth.

[See: 7 of the Best Stocks to Buy for 2018 .]

Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy says Yum is one of the most dynamic companies in the restaurant business today.

"We believe Yum Brands has developed into one of the top innovators in the quick-service restaurant space today, and we expect that new daypart expansion, mobile engagement, product development efforts, and a new delivery partnership with Grubhub can continue to drive systemwide sales growth," Hottovy says.

Morningstar has a "fairly valued" rating and $86 fair value estimate for YUM stock .

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