Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, January 28, 2022

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP., $256.09, New York symbol MCD, is your #1 Conservative Buy for 2022. The company is the world’s largest fast-food chain with over 39,000 restaurants in 119 countries. It serves a wide variety of food but is best known for its hamburgers and french fries. Franchisees own roughly 93% of those outlets. The stock is now up over 80% from its March 2020 low. That’s mainly because the company successfully shifted its focus during the pandemic to online ordering, drive-thru lanes and home delivery service. That experience is now helping it cope with new restrictions in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In the three months ended December 31, 2021, McDonald’s revenue rose 13.1%, to $6.01 billion from $5.31 billion a year earlier. Even so, that missed the consensus forecast of $6.03 billion. On a same-store basis, sales gained 12.3%. That’s because many of McDonald’s outlets have reopened following 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns. Same-stores sales rose at all three of its divisions: U.S.,…