McDonald’s primary appeal lies in its heavily franchised real estate and licensing model: approximately 95% of domestic locations and the vast majority of global units generate recurring rents and royalties insulated from store-level labour and food cost fluctuations.
Furthermore, the brand’s digital loyalty ecosystem and unmatched global scale enable superior pricing, automated operations, and defensive market share retention even when consumer discretionary budgets tighten. Coupled with a newly minted 50-year dividend growth record, the stock represents an exceptional blue-chip fortress asset trading at a meaningful discount from its recent historical highs.
MCDONALD’S CORP. (New York symbol MCD; www.mcdonalds.com) is the world’s largest fast-food chain with over 45,000 restaurants in 119 countries. It serves a wide variety of food but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries.
The company recently announced a new growth plan.
Called “Next,” the plan includes spending $8.5 billion through to the end of 2036 to help franchisees upgrade their outlets. That’s on top of the company’s regular capital spending plans.
McDonald’s also ready to upgrade the quality of its foods, including new items aimed at people taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs. In addition, it will install artificial intelligence (AI) tools to speed up its drive-thru lanes.
The company expects the Next plan will increase systemwide sales by 2.5% in 2027. It will also improve its operating margin (gross profits divided by revenue) to at least 50% by 2030. In the second quarter of 2026, its operating margin was 46.9%.
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McDonald’s new strategy includes beverages infused with Red Bull!
The fast-food giant now aims to improve customer traffic with a strategy that includes launching new menu items such as breaded chicken and beverages infused with the Red Bull energy drink. It also plans to speed up service and re-model some stores.
McDonald’s revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2026, rose 3.7%, to $7.10 billion from $6.84 billion a year earlier. However, that missed the consensus forecast of $7.13 billion.
The company’s overall same-store sales improved 1.3%. That’s due to gains at all three of its divisions: up 0.8% at the U.S. stores; up 1.5% at International Operated Markets (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.); and up 1.9% at International Developmental Licensed Markets (mainly outlets in China, Japan, the Middle East and all remaining markets).
The higher revenue also lifted McDonald’s earnings before unusual items by 5.1%, to $2.40 billion from $2.29 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings gained 6.0%, to $3.38. from $3.19. That also beat the consensus estimate of $3.32.
The company still plans to open 2,600 new restaurants (2,100 net) in 2026. That includes 750 new stores in the U.S. The new outlets and menu items should increase this year’s earnings by about 6% to $12.92 a share. The stock trades at a reasonable 18.8 times that estimate. The $7.44 dividend yields 3.1%.
Recommendation in Wall Street Stock Forecaster: McDonald’s Corp. is a buy.
