Goldman Sachs has released a research report stating that mainland China's catering trends in October remained volatile, echoing the bank's view that no clear demand inflection point has yet emerged in the fourth quarter, with performance across brands continuing to diverge.

By brand, Yum China (09987) delivered October results broadly in line with expectations, with the Golden Week holiday showing slight improvement over the Mid-Autumn Festival period, and management targeting sequential same-store sales improvement in the fourth quarter.

In the freshly made beverage segment, October trends proved resilient, supported by a more favorable base effect and warmer-than-normal weather. Luckin Coffee reported that as of November 3, fourth-quarter same-store sales growth had improved further. Guming (01364) maintained stable trends, with initial sales of new products showing healthy performance. Chagee (CHA.US) still recorded positive year-on-year growth in October, slightly exceeding the bank's forecast of flat year-on-year same-store gross merchandise value (GMV) in the fourth quarter, though sustainability remains a key point of observation as the base normalizes in the latter part of the fourth quarter.