Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline Friday, November 13, 2020

Article Excerpt

MCDONALD’S CORP., $213.28, New York symbol MCD, is a buy. The fast-food giant now operates 38,000 restaurants in 120 countries. Franchisees own roughly 93% of those outlets. McDonald’s sales in the third quarter of 2020 fell 1.4%, to $5.42 billion from $5.50 billion a year earlier. Even so, that beat the consensus forecast of $5.37 billion. On a same-store basis, sales fell 2.2%. That’s because many of its international outlets continue to operate at lower-than-normal capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, same-store sales at its U.S. operations rose 4.6% as higher average orders per customer offset a drop in customer visits. If you exclude a gain on the sale of shares in McDonald’s Japanese affiliate, earnings in the quarter improved 5.2%, to $2.22 a share from $2.11. That’s due to cost cuts, a lower tax bill and favourable currency exchange rates. The latest earnings also easily beat the consensus estimate of $1.90. The company now aims to fuel its long-term growth by expanding its online…