SunTrust Raises Price Target On McDonald's Ahead Of Q1 Results

McDonald's Corporation MCD is scheduled to report its 1Q results on April 22. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey’s Jake Bartlett maintained a Buy rating for the company, while raising the price target from $135 to $145.

McDonald's US same-store sales for the quarter may be disappointing, since investor expectations appear higher, at around 5.0 percent or higher, versus the SunTrust estimate of 4.5 percent and consensus expectation of 4.6 percent, analyst Jake Bartlett said.

Bartlett added, however, that expects that the company is likely to achieve continued SSS outperformance in the US, or about 200bps versus its peers, as well as EPS upside in 2016 and 2017, backed by the weaker US dollar. This could lend upside to McDonald's shares, the analyst mentioned.