Data Suggests Strong Core Business Trends for Piper Jaffray's McDonald's in December

Piper Jaffray has published a research report that shows RS metrics satellite data indicating increased lunch time traffic for McDonald's Corporation

throughout December. In the report, Piper Jaffray writes, “Upon conclusion of our proprietary December traffic analysis we are increasing our U.S. 4Q11 comp estimate to +5.9%. For the month of December, we predict same-store sales of +6.0% (vs. +4.0% prior) based widely on our proprietary parking lot traffic analysis that suggests a lunchtime comp in the +6.0% range. We expect the company to report 4Q11 earnings and December comps on January 24. We recognize that McDonald's stock price is trading at all time highs and remain encouraged in the company's ongoing efforts to drive comp across day parts vs. prior periods.” Piper Jaffray maintains its Overweight rating and $108.00 PT on McDonald's Corporation, which closed yesterday at $100.55.