McDonald’s moves off the grill and into the fryer
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
By Jennifer Saba
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) -Foodborne illness is the last thing McDonald’s MCD.N wants on the menu. The fast-food restaurant chain has pulled Quarter Pounders from some U.S. locations following an E. coli outbreak. Its quick response suggests it should be able to weather the crisis, but it can ill-afford to scare off more customers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that one person died and 49 others in 10 states were sickened from eating at McDonald’s. Early indications suggest slivered onions are the cause.
McDonald’s mobilized swiftly to try and contain the problem, learning from missteps by restaurant rivals. Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG.N, for example, failed to prevent its own 2015 E. coli incident from spiraling, and it took years before the burrito chain’s stock price recovered. Fellow burger flipper Jack in the Box JACK.O, which suffered from the same bacterial outbreak in the early 1990s, denied it was the culprit only to become a U.S. Defense Department case study on how not to respond.
Although McDonald’s may be able to pin the problem on a supplier rather than its own kitchens, the nuance may be lost on diners. The company led by Chris Kempczinski is already dealing with other challenges, including its high prices, the appetite-suppressing threat from weight-loss drugs, and a slow-moving desire for healthier foods.
Last quarter, McDonald’s reported that worldwide sales at sites open for at least 13 months fell 1% from a year earlier, partly because it has been charging more. The average price of its menu items is up 40% over the past five years, nearly double broader national inflation of 23%. A temporary $5 meal promotion introduced in the spring has been extended, and is helping lure customers back. Headlines about E. coli might give them fresh pause.
McDonald’s shares tumbled 5% early on Wednesday. This implies initially, based on the enterprise’s valuation of nearly 19 times EBITDA next year and its 54% margin, that investors anticipate a 4% hit to sales, according to Breakingviews calculations using estimates gathered by Visible Alpha.
If the maker of the Happy Meal can limit the fallout, the damage may be less severe. At the same time, sales were already projected to tumble 9% in 2024, per LSEG data. The danger is that McDonald’s already has moved off the grill and into the fryer.
Follow @jennifersaba on X
CONTEXT NEWS
McDonald’s said on Oct. 22 it removed its Quarter Pounder hamburger from menus in several states including Colorado, Utah and Wyoming following an E. coli outbreak. The fast-food chain said early indications suggest the illness may be linked to onions from one of its suppliers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said one person died and 49 people from 10 states have gotten sick.
McDonald’s shares were down about 5% at 1030 EDT on Oct. 23.
McDonald's global sales are trending down https://reut.rs/3C7Z7Ry
Editing by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Pranav Kiran
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
