Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, April 24, 2015

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP., $98.74, New York symbol MCD, reported lower quarterly results this week. However, the stock rose 4% on news that the company will soon unveil a new plan to spur sales. That’s in addition to several already-announced initiatives, like a simpler menu and a phase-out of chicken raised with certain antibiotics. It’s also closing 700 less profitable outlets, or about 2% of its 36,000 locations. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s earnings per share fell 30.6%, to $0.84 from $1.21 a year earlier. Excluding restructuring costs, McDonald’s earned $1.01 a share in the latest quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06. As well, 70% of its sales come from overseas, and the high U.S. dollar cut the latest earnings by $0.09 a share. Sales fell 11.1%, to $6.0 billion from $6.7 billion. Overall same-store sales declined 2.3%. U.S. same-store sales fell 2.6% after new products and promotions failed to attract more customers. European same-store sales declined 0.6%, mostly due…