I am expecting a like $2 drop in the next couple of days. Rumor of a downgrade. Don't act solely on it, it is still a rumor but a strong one.
MCD is facing negative pressures on its business model due to several internal and external factors. Its brand has been eroded in the past few years, same store sales have declined, the number of stores has reduced, and franchise morale is at an all time low.
Since this thread was created, MCD is up around $2 a share. Much ado about nothing. Ok, I'm going to do it. Despite the warnings of the OP, I'm going to go "out on a limb" and say MCD will exist in 4.75 years .
Well, it's about time for someone on CNBC to call MCD "dead money" again. Somebody does it every few months or so.
MCD return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. Compared to other companies in the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry and the overall market, MCDONALD'S CORP's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. What "dead money" are you talking about?
All this shows it the poor quality of financial writing available. Arby's has per location sales of around $1m/unit and suffered -10% sales declines just a couple of years ago. Of course they are currently seeing bigger sales increases than McDonanld's as they are crossing much worse numbers YOY. McDondald's per unit volumes are roughly $2.5m/unit with only a slightly larger footprint and they had increasing sales for the last several years so they are going up against stiffer numbers.
Check out the attachment. The dividend payout factor is 78%. If the YOY growth drops another 13%, the payout factor will be 100%. Check out their cash and debt. about $1.5 per share cash and about $10 per share debt. If things deteriorate, they can easily go down hard and get bankrupt. Why it is going up in the last few days? Well I can only guess some investors are trying to find gem in dirt.