McDonald’s: Iconic American Brand Known Worldwide

McDonald’s is undoubtedly one of the world’s most recognisable brands and an American icon, serving approximately 63 million customers daily across the globe. Its Golden Arches are among the most recognisable logos worldwide. The McDonald’s stock is a staple in investment portfolios, reflecting its consistent growth and resilience. As a publicly traded entity, McDonald’s continues to deliver strong returns, bolstered by its innovative strategies and global market presence.

The company was originally founded by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald who had moved to California from New England in pursuit of better opportunities.

Their efforts breaking into the movie industry failed, but what eventually saw them success was the management of drive-in restaurants. In 1948, they streamlined their business model even further by introducing the Speedee Service System with hamburgers priced at 15 cents.

This led to the brothers franchising their business model, resulting in the launch of 9 operating restaurants. They went on to sell 14 franchises, 10 of which became operational, excluding the original San Bernardino store.   

Ray Kroc, a native from Chicago and exclusive distributor of the Multimixer, visited with the McDonald brothers’ in 1954. He went on to become their franchise agent, and then in 1955, opened the first McDonald’s east of the Mississippi River. In 1961, Kroc bought the rights to the brother’s company for $2.7 million.

McDonald’s today

Today, McDonald’s has 36k+ restaurants in over 100 countries. The company has a market capitalisation of $209.72 billion, a revenue of $25.76 billion, and a net income of $8.31 billion. McDonald’s Corp stocks are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker #MCD.

The current Chairman and CEO of McDonald’s is Chris Kempczinski, who the company says has “transformed the way McDonald’s engages its customers, cementing McDonald’s position as one of the world’s leading consumer brands. Chris became CEO in 2019 and Chairman of the Board in 2024.”

According to its website, McDonald’s mission is, “to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone. This is how we uniquely feed and foster communities. We serve delicious food people feel good about eating, with convenient locations and hours and affordable prices, and by working hard to offer the speed, choice and personalization our customers expect.”

McDonald’s reports 2^nd quarter 2024 results

On 29 July 2024, McDonald’s released their 2^nd quarter 2024 results in which they report that, “Consolidated revenues for the quarter reached nearly $6.5 billion, reflecting a 1% year-over-year increase in constant currencies. Systemwide sales to loyalty members across 50 markets totalled over $26 billion for the past twelve months, with approximately $7 billion in sales for the quarter.” Furthermore, the report stipulated that:

• “Consolidated operating income decreased 6% (5% in constant currencies). Results included $97 million of pre-tax non-cash impairment charges and $57 million of pre-tax restructuring charges associated with Accelerating the Organization. Excluding these current year charges, as well as prior year pre-tax charges of $18 million, consolidated operating income decreased 2% (was flat in constant currencies).
• Diluted earnings per McDonald stock was $2.80, a decrease of 11% (10% in constant currencies). Excluding the current year charges described above of $0.17 per share, diluted earnings per McDonald stock was $2.97, a decrease of 6% (5% in constant currencies) when also excluding prior year charges.”

Animal welfare controversy

McDonald’s has not been without controversy surrounding animal welfare, with the company coming under fire for alleged animal cruelty violations.

In fact, in 2022 an article by Business Insider reported on billionaire investor’s Carl Icahn who had “penned a letter to McDonald’s shareholders slamming the fast-food giant for having “impugned its credibility” by failing to “eliminate usage of cruel gestation crates in its supply chain.” His eight-page open letter, released on Thursday, blasts McDonald’s, saying the company has not lived up to its commitment to end the controversial practice of confining pregnant pigs in cramped spaces. McDonald’s first agreed in 2012 to eliminate gestation crates, which have been widely criticized as inhumane devices, over a 10-year period.”

McDonald’s has however asserted that it is on track to achieve its eight Broiler Welfare Commitments across its in-scope markets, which are expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2024. McDonald’s has further stated that as of the end of 2023, more than 96% of its pork purchased in the U.S. comes from suppliers that have phased out the use of gestation stalls (small, enclosed pens) for housing confirmed pregnant sows. Further, the company also purports that as of the end of 2023, McDonald’s USA has achieved its commitment to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by 2025 – two years ahead of schedule.

McDonald’s and Google Cloud announce strategic partnership, advancing restaurant technology globally 

On 6 December 2023, “McDonald’s Corporation and Google announced plans for a new multi-year, global partnership to connect Google Cloud technology across thousands of its restaurants worldwide.

This partnership is a significant step for McDonald’s in advancing its restaurant technology platform to become the most sophisticated and productive in the industry.

McDonald’s plans to leverage a wide range of Google Cloud’s hardware, data, and AI technologies to implement innovation faster and create even better experiences for its customers, restaurant teams, and employees.”

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