MCD: The Bull and Bear Cases on McDonald’s

By Ryan D. Lavender Published on March 16, 2021 at 4:49 PM

In this report we examine the bull and bear cases regarding McDonald’s (MCD; Buy, $220.46). While we maintain our Buy rating on MCD — it continues to be our top large-cap restaurant-stock pick — it is good for investors interested in MCD to be aware of the bull and bear cases surrounding the stock, no matter what our rating on the shares is.

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YUM: What Concept Could Yum Acquire Next?

By Ryan D. Lavender Published on March 9, 2021 at 4:55 PM

On January 6, 2020, Yum Brands announced its plan to acquire The Habit Burger Grill, which as of full-year 2019 was the 17th-largest burger concept in the U.S. (in terms of domestic systemwide sales, at $450+ million), and in the top 100 overall. The Habit Burger Grill is meaningfully smaller than Yum’s core brands of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. As such, the acquisition of Habit (which closed on March 18, 2020) suggests that: (1) Yum Brands may be generally acquisitive in the future (incidentally, in keeping with current general industry trends), and (2) it isn’t hesitant to make an acquisition that it believes will create shareholder value in the long term, even if the size of that acquisition isn’t all that large relative to its core brands today.

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Tidbits re Chick-fil-A, U.S. Quick-Service Chicken Market Share Trends, & PZZA

By Mark Kalinowski Published on April 15, 2019 at 12:00 AM

We briefly note the following tidbits regarding privately-held Chick-fil-A, quick-service chicken sector market-share trends in the U.S., and Papa John’s (PZZA; Buy):

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