McDonald's Inc.
by. Nate N
Background Info
- Even though McDonald's was founded in 1940, McDonald's Inc. was established on April 15, 1955.
- McDonald's was founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald and Ray Kroc.
- The current President and CEO of McDonald's is Steve Easterbrook. The chairman is Andrew J. McKenna.
- McDonald's Inc. also owns McCafe, McExpress, and McStop.
- McDonald's competes in the fast food restaurant industry.
- Burger King, Starbucks, and Subway are McDonald's chief competitors.
Factors of Production
- McDonald's serves mainly fast foods (Hamburgers, Chicken, French Fries, Soft Drinks), but they also have coffee, salads, milkshakes, desserts, and breakfast.
- As of 2013, McDonald's has employed over 440,000 people.
- McDonald's has racked up a net worth of over $90.2 billion.
Financial
- Each year in the last 5 years, McDonald's has made over $4.5 billion.
- In 2010, it made a net income of $4.95 billion. In 2011, $5.5 billion. In 2012, $5.46 billion. In 2013, $5.59 billion. Finally, in 2014, $4.76 billion.
- Over the past 5 years, McDonald's has had a rise and fall in profits. Net income slowly went down after the end of 2014 and will either keep going down or have a steady increase. This is either due to customers not wanting anymore, or an increase in health problems is causing customers to stop coming.
Stock Info
- The stock market symbol for McDonald's is MCD.
- MCD trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
- For the past year, McDonald's has had a low of $87.62, and a high of $103.78.
- Today, it is trading at a low of $96.74, and a high of $97.47.
- McDonald's has had 9 stock splits in its history. The most recent was on March 8, 1999.
- As of January 31, 2015, McDonald's has been authorized $961.12 million worth of shares for trade.
- McDonald's pays dividends. Currently, McDonald's pays dividends at $0.85 per share.
- The last time the dividends were paid was on March 16, 2015.
- Most investors rate the stocks as more on the Bullish side of the market. They think it will be good, because people like eating at McDonald's and if the business goes up, then the stocks are also likely to go up.
News Releases
Articles like the two above can affect the stock prices.
- The above article discusses what McDonald's once was, and what it has become. The higher spokesmen for the company try to go back to the company's roots by just selling classic burgers. Over the years, McDonald's has evolved into something bigger. Now it sells salads, burritos, breakfast, etc. If the article hadn't discussed the past and present of McDonald's, then stocks could've possibly dropped, because of lack of knowledge of the establishment. People love the variety in choice for McDonald's.
- The below article says that the company is trying to attract new customers and prove skeptics wrong. McDonald's uses new food and new decorations to attract new customers. Knowing that the company is doing its best to get some business, stocks may be on the rise.
Concluding Points
- With the research done on McDonald's and its stock prices, it's safe to say that the stocks are unpredictable. There might be a slight risk, but I would probably invest in some of MCD's stocks.
- From the Stock game, I have lost a total of $1,438.91. So far.
- Investing is like a big game of Casino Roulette. It's a big gamble, and can be very hard to predict what will happen next. Money can be lost or gained at any moment. However, I've learned how the market works and how to somewhat safely. I also learned what some of the stock numbers represented. Honestly, I would never invest in the real-life stock market. It's too risky.