As its challenges mount, restaurant watchers are wondering: can the Golden Arches turn it around?
More than seven decades after it first began flipping burgers, McDonald's will unveil on Monday a highly anticipated plan to juice company results and modernize the fast food giant's struggling operations.
Although McDonald's remains the world's biggest fast food chain, the burger behemoth has struggled to stabilize and improve its results for the past several quarters. In a video, news release and conference call, the Golden Arches plans to shed light on its battle plan for a "growth-led turnaround" and financial outlook.
In particular, the focus will be on the company's weakest markets. U.S., France, Russia and Japan have all presented persistent problems for the company. Germany and China have also generated negative trends, but have shown signs of improvement recently.
"Everyone wants to hear a plan to get sales back on track," said Matthew DiFrisco, senior restaurant analyst at Guggenheim Partners. "I think they're going to be more aggressive in trying new things."
The company faces an uphill battle in turning around sales due to macro headwinds in Europe, lingering fallout from a supplier issue last summer in Asia and shifting consumer tastes and fierce competition in the U.S. A strong dollar has also hit the Golden Arches hard, crimping sales and demand in foreign economies.
After a long string of positive comps during the recession, McDonald's performance has flagged in recent quarters. The chain hasn't delivered positive same-store sales since first quarter 2014 globally, and third-quarter 2013 domestically, according to FactSet data.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102641725