The following is a summary of the McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: McDonald’s Corporation reported 2023 global comp sales growth of 9% and comp guest count performance of nearly 3%, maintaining market leadership in most significant markets. Q4 comp sales performance exceeded 4% in both the U.S. and IOM segments, and over 3% globally, despite Middle East conflicts impacting specific segments. Q4 adjusted earnings per share were $2.95, an 11% increase in constant currencies from the previous year, excluding a nearly $140 million charge for impaired software write-offs and growth strategy costs. Full year adjusted operation margin was just over 47%, producing $14 billion in restaurant margin, a rise of around 10% in constant currency. The corporation invested about $2.4 billion in capital expenditure, with over half dedicated to new unit development, and a free cash flow conversion nearing the 90% range. Business Progress: McDonald’s

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 02/05/2024 11.86% Stephens & Co. → $320 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 01/05/2024 — Oppenheimer Downgrades Outperform → Perform 01/04/2024 12.56% Stifel $285 → $322 Maintains Hold 12/20/2023 10.81% HSBC → $317 Initiates Coverage On → Buy 12/12/2023 18.85% Truist Securities $335 → $340 Maintains Buy 12/11/2023 4.52% Piper Sandler $273 → $299 Maintains Neutral 12/07/2023 -0.38% Stifel $270 → $285 Maintains Hold 12/07/2023 10.11% RBC Capital → $315 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 12/07/2023 17.1% BMO Capital $325 → $335 Maintains Outperform 12/07/2023 13.6% TD Cowen $300 → $325 Maintains Outperform 12/01/2023 10.11% Oppenheimer → $315 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 11/30/2023 8.36% Citigroup $280 → $310 Maintains Neutral 10/31/2023 -2.82% JP Morgan $270 → $278 Maintains Overweight 10/31/2023 10.11% RBC Capital → $315 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 10/31/2023 13.6% BMO Capital $340 →

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We cut our 12-month target to $310 from $335, 25.2x our 2024 EPS, slightly below MCD’s five-year average forward P/E of 25.6x. We lower our 2024 EPS estimate to $12.30 from $12.51 and initiate 2025’s at $13.53. MCD posted Q4 adj-EPS of $2.95, $0.12 above consensus. Revenue of $6,406M (+8.1% Y/Y) was $47M below consensus. Adj-operating income grew 13.8% Y/Y to $2,940M vs. the $2,916M consensus, with margin at 45.9%. Same-store sales rose 3.4% vs. 4.6%, mainly due to higher pricing (high-single-digit range), as MCD faced a negative impact from war in the Middle East and a spending pullback by lower income consumers, as eating at home has recently become more affordable. We also note higher price competition and weak consumer sentiment in China, as MCD increased

McDonald’s is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. While price increases and promotions helped U.S. sales in the fourth quarter, executives said the Israel-Hamas war continues to affect international business. Global same-store sales rose 3.4% in the quarter, compared with the 4.7% gain expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.