Yum! Brand Inc. closed the quarter ending December 28 with same-store sales down by 1 percent at U.S. company-owned restaurants and by 6 percent at KFC. Same-store sales for the quarter rose by 3 percent at Taco Bell and 1 percent at Pizza Hut.

In December, same-stores sales rose at Taco Bell by 3 percent, but fell by 4 percent at Pizza Hut and 5 percent at KFC. Overall U.S. system same-store sales fell by one percent.

International sales did better. They increased by 8 percent in local currencies, or as Yum! reports, 11percent after being converted in U.S. currency. For the quarter, international sales rose by 7 percent (9 percent in U.S. dollars).

On Tuesday morning, Yum! attributed the December decline in U.S> sales to "an unfavorable shift in timing during this year’s holiday."

Stock shares of Yum! closed at $24.99, on the lower end of their $20.70 to $33.17 52-week trading range.