McDonald’s is insanely popular in the States, both as a fast food joint and as a corporation to invest in. As a restaurant choice, McDonald’s popularity spreads well beyond the United States, seeing as the fast-food company operates in more than 100 countries.
Naturally, investors would be drawn to the restaurant chain with the largest amount of revenue in the world, wouldn’t they? And over the years, the company has reinvented itself severally, and they aren’t looking to stop soon.
This perpetual revitalization must be why they’ve been at the top of their game for so long, going as far back as 1940.
Good to Long-term Shareholders
As good as McDonald’s has been to its customers, so has it been to its long-term shareholders. According to calculations done by CNBC, anyone who put it an investment of $1,000 in the company would have seen this amount grow to over $5,000 by 20th September 2019.
If you’re a math person, then you’ve already figured out that $5,000 translates to a return of approximately 400%. That’s a great business, don’t you think? It’s even better than the S&P 500 which earned a 250% return in comparison.
The fast food company has been trading in the public market since 1965, and its shares are currently going for around $212.
The next decade already seems promising, with McDonald’s staying true to its innovative path. This time around, it’s all about improving the company’s drive-thru experience, with a little technological help.
Just recently, a deal to acquire Apprentice, an AI company pushed through, and McDonald’s hope to integrate its tech into the compnay’s operations.
Earlier this year, the company acquired Dynamic Field, yet another tech company, and began installing its technology in its drive-thru machines.
The tech changes McDonald’s menus depending on the weather, the amount of traffic in the restaurant, time of day, and food items related to a customer’s order.
Although the operation is only on-going in the US, plans to roll it out to other countries where the restaurant chain operates in are in the works.
For a company that has been operational for this long, they must have a culture of proper planning, so let’s just wait and see their final masterpiece.
Self-order Kiosks
Obviously, this isn’t McDonald’s first revamping project. Didn’t we just mention that the company keeps reinventing itself? Last year, in June, the company rolled out a self-order kiosk project, planning to install these kiosks in 1,000 restaurants every three months.
Having food delivered to you has been a long-time phenomenon in the States for ages, and you best believe that this isn’t lost on McDonald’s. With the recent GrubHub and Seamless partnership, the company seeks to expand its delivery to 500 more locations in the Big Apple.
By the end of the year, McDonald’s hopes to have made their delivery business worth $4 billion, and with the amount of revenue streaming in, this amount seems totally plausible.
The company is also moving in the environmental-friendly direction, testing this out in selected outlets in Ireland and the UK. For a Happy Meal order, a kid will have the option to forego the customary plastic toy and request fruits instead.