McDonald's to Expand Footprint With 25 Restaurants in Italy
McDonald's Corporation MCD is
likely to open 25 restaurants in Italy this year to attract more
customers, per Reuters. Notably, McDonald's is the world’s largest
fast-food restaurant chain with presence in more than 100
countries.
In 2019, the company is planning to hire 2,300 staff in Italy,
after adding 3,000 workers therein over the past two years.
Increasing guest counts remains McDonald's top priority.
Additionally, it is making efforts to strengthen its position
through various sales building initiatives along with increased
focus opening new restaurants.
We believe that the company’s decision to open restaurants in Italy
will not only boost sales and traffic but will also pave the way
for long-term growth. Of late, McDonald's has been gaining from
robust business in Italy.
In the International Lead segment and High Growth markets,
McDonald’s strategic efforts are consistently driving comps higher.
In fourth-quarter 2018, the International Lead segment and High
Growth markets witnessed comps growth of 5.2% and 4.8% each,
following a respective gain of 5.4% and 4.6% in the third quarter.
Comps growth in international markets was driven by robust sales in
the United Kingdom, Australia and France. In High Growth markets,
improvement in comps can be attributed to solid performance in
Italy, Poland, the Netherlands as well as positive results across
majority of the segments.
McDonald’s sales boosting initiatives are driving global comparable
sales (comps). In fourth-quarter 2018, global comps grew 4.4%,
marking its 14th straight quarter of positive comps. Moreover, U.S
comps were up 2.3% in the same period.
A glance at the company’s price performance shows that it has
gained 21% in a year’s time, almost in line with the industry’s
growth. Robust earnings surprise history, various sales and digital
initiatives as well as positive comparable sales were the primary
reasons behind this solid show.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
McDonald’s has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks worth
considering in the same space include Brinker International, Inc.
EAT, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG and Darden Restaurants, Inc.
DRI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the
complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks
here.
Brinker International, Chipotle Mexican Grill and
Darden Restaurants’ current-year earnings are likely to grow by
10%, 37.1% and 20.2%, respectively.
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Darden Restaurants, Inc.
(DRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
McDonald's Corporation
(MCD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Brinker International, Inc.
(EAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Chipotle Mexican Grill,
Inc. (CMG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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