McDonald’s looks unstoppable ahead of its latest earnings
Wall Street is expecting more growth ahead of the company’s latest quarterly results on Feb. 5. This comes as tightening wallets, rising costs, and fears around weight-loss drugs’ impact hammered fast food stocks last year.
Few things can stand in McDonald’s (MCD) way, it seems.
Wall Street is expecting more growth ahead of the company’s latest quarterly results on Feb. 5. This comes as tightening wallets, rising costs, and fears around weight-loss drugs’ impact hammered fast food stocks last year.
But business at the Big Mac maker keeps chugging along, as consumers stay hungry for value meals. Its adjusted earnings per share are expected to jump 7% to $2.82, while revenue is expected to grow 9% to $6.5 billion. Even the storm from GLP-1s seems to be passing.
In December, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told Yahoo Finance, "We're seeing no impact today with GLP-1s, and ... nobody has any idea what the impact is going to be in the future."
Analysts are optimistic that McDonald's can push through, well, just about anything.
It's "hard to see McDonald's not ‘winning’ in any consumer environment,” Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan wrote in a client note. He projected sustained same-store sales growth in the near term, driven by menu pricing and innovation, loyalty programs, effective marketing, and operational execution and efficiencies.
Jefferies’ Andy Barish named the stock a top pick in 2024, calling it the "best defensive and offensive play in restaurants," with "resiliency in an uncertain or weak macro [environment]." Barish expects the chain to further invest in digital, delivery, drive-through, and chicken products.
McDonald’s stock is up 7% in the past year, underperforming the S&P 500’s 20% gain.
