McDonald’s Corp. was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo based on the upcoming rollout of the company’s mobile order and pay system and curbside check-in, which analysts expect to take place at the 14,000 U.S. stores by the fourth quarter of 2017. McDonald’s valuation range was lifted to $145 to $150 from $125 to $130. Analysts believe the introduction will give McDonald’s a head start among burger chains at a time when “restaurant consumers are aggressively gravitating toward concepts that offer the greatest level of convenience across ordering, payment and distribution.” Wendy’s will offer mobile order and pay across half its system by the end of the year, and both Burger King, a Restaurant Brands Inc. chain, and Jack in the Box Inc. are testing it. McDonald’s shares are up 0.2% in Monday trading, and up 7.8% for the year to date. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 4.4% for 2017 so far.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News