All Day Breakfast Should Continue To Be The Focus For McDonald's In Q4

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) shareholders are cheering the company’s across-the-board Q3 earnings beat released prior to the market open on Friday. Stephens analysts Will Slabaugh expects McDonald's to continue focusing on what is working in Q4: breakfast.

McDonald's beat consensus Q3 expectations in revenue, EPS, U.S. same-store sales (SSS) and global SSS. According to Slabaugh, McDonald’s stock has limited downside at its current valuation, but the company’s introduction of all-day breakfast should continue to deliver upside for investors in the near term.

“We continue to like the stock at these current levels and believe this quarter’s results are positive, though will take a back seat to the upcoming laps of All Day Breakfast in 4Q and 1Q,” Slabaugh explained.

Related Link: Research Firm Predicts Chipotle Will Come Up Short On Q3 Comps

The key for McDonald’s quarter was solid SSS beats. U.S. SSS were up 1.3 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) and 2.0 percent over Q3 2014.

Global SSS came in at an impressive +3.5 percent, well ahead of consensus expectations of +1.5 percent and Stephens’ estimate of +0.0 percent.

McDonald’s shares are trading up more than 2.2 percent in early Friday trading. However, the company has had a rough 2016 overall, down 4.0 percent on the year.

Stephens maintains an Overweight rating for McDonald’s and a $135 price target for the stock.

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