Bull Of The Day: McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corporation (MCD – Analyst Report) has only just begun its turnaround, but already investors believe. Shares of this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) recently hit an all-time high.

Is it too late to get in?

McDonald’s is the iconic American burger chain. It operates over 36,000 restaurants around the world.

For the last few years, McDonald’s has struggled to grow its U.S. business and a public relations scandal in 2014 involving one of its food suppliers in China contributed to lower sales in that market as well.

But it put into place a turnaround strategy, that included serving breakfast all day in the United States, and the company saw improving numbers in the third quarter.

US Same Store Sales Turn the Corner in the Third Quarter

On Oct 22, McDonald’s reported its third quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10%. Earnings were $1.40 versus the consensus of $1.27.

But what analysts have been most worried about were the sales.

Global same-store-sales rose 4% boosted by Australia, the UK, Canada and positive numbers in Germany. In its emerging market business, China saw growth thanks to its value menu and breakfast.

McDonald’s said China saw a sales recovery after its rough 2014 due to issues with a supplier, which also impacted Yum and some other brands.

The big news in the quarter was the improvement in the United States. US same-store-sales rose 0.9%. It was the first increase in same-store-sales in the US in 2 years.

Its new Premium Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Deluxe sandwich and breakfast were the stars of the quarter.

Momentum Expected to Continue

The analysts are bullish that this positive momentum may continue into the fourth quarter and beyond, into 2016.

16 estimates were raised for 2016 in the last 60 days pushing up the Zacks Consensus Estimate to $5.35 from $5.13.

That is earnings growth of 9.3%, which is also moving in the right direction as the company has been plagued by falling earnings the last 2 years.