Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, June 19, 2020

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP., $186.56, New York symbol MCD, remains a buy. The fast-food giant now operates 38,000 restaurants in 120 countries. Franchisees own roughly 93% of those outlets. While COVID-19 forced McDonald’s to close most of its locations to dine-in customers, about 95% of its stores continue to operate by offering drive-thru and home delivery service. As well, more than 1,000 U.S. locations have now reopened their dining rooms with reduced seating capacity. Even so, the company’s same-store sales fell 20.9% in the month of May compared to May 2019. Still, that’s a big improvement from the 39.0% drop in April. Most of the lower sales came from McDonald’s international operations. In the U.S., same-store sales fell 5.1% in May compared to a 19.2% drop in April. Sales should continue to improve as more regions lift their stay-at-home orders. To help spur its sales, McDonald’s plans to spend $200 million on new advertising and marketing. That’s equal to 18% of the $1.11 billion, or $1.47 a..