McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD): What Are The Future Prospects?

On 30 June 2019, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) released its earnings update. Generally, the consensus outlook from analysts appear fairly confident, with profits predicted to increase by 7.2% next year compared with the past 5-year average growth rate of 4.6%. By 2020, we can expect McDonald's’s bottom line to reach US$6.3b, a jump from the current trailing-twelve-month of US$5.9b. Below is a brief commentary on the longer term outlook the market has for McDonald's. For those keen to understand more about other aspects of the company, you can research its fundamentals here.

See our latest analysis for McDonald's

How will McDonald's perform in the near future?

The longer term expectations from the 28 analysts of MCD is tilted towards the positive sentiment. Broker analysts tend to forecast up to three years ahead due to a lack of clarity around the business trajectory beyond this. To get an idea of the overall earnings growth trend for MCD, I’ve plotted out each year’s earnings expectations and inserted a line of best fit to determine an annual rate of growth from the slope of this line.

By 2022, MCD's earnings should reach US$7.1b, from current levels of US$5.9b, resulting in an annual growth rate of 5.9%. EPS reaches $9.79 in the final year of forecast compared to the current $7.61 EPS today. With a current profit margin of 28%, this movement will result in a margin of 31% by 2022.

Next Steps:

Future outlook is only one aspect when you're building an investment case for a stock. For McDonald's, there are three essential factors you should further research:

1. Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.
2. Valuation: What is McDonald's worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether McDonald's is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of McDonald's? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.