The world\u2019s largest burger chain will start betting on revamped stores.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s largest burger chain\u00a0published its most recent quarterly earnings and reported that company stock rose 15% over the last 12 months, as of Tuesday\u2019s close (January 28th), beating estimates of Wall Streets experts who anticipated hard times amid\u00a0declining foot traffic in its U.S. restaurants \u00a0<\/a>and a change in leadership after the company fired\u00a0its board fired CEO Steve Easterbrook<\/a>\u00a0in November. Chris Kempczinski, who formerly led the company\u2019s U.S. division, was tapped to replace him.<\/p>\n In the United States, its home market, same-store sales climbed 5.1% during the quarter,\u00a0<\/strong>despite traffic to restaurants falling by 1.9% in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting U.S. guest count to positive is our number one priority,\u201d said CEO Chris Kempczinski, adding that the focus will be winning over breakfast customers.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv, published by CNBC, here\u2019s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting:<\/p>\n This somewhat “unexpected” growth for the burger emporium has come not just by enhancing its menus, schedules, and options, but with the growing trend of digitizing stores, drive-thru menus, and partnering with new delivery options.<\/p>\n Since 2018, faced with growing competition, McDonald\u2019s looked towards AI-powered technology to stand out.\u00a0According to Hospitality Tech<\/a>, over\u00a04,000 restaurants have converted to the fast food giant\u2019s \u201cExperience of the Future\u201d concept that combines state-of-the-art\u00a0technology, including digital menu boards and self-ordering kiosks with an updated look and delivery.<\/p>\n In 2019, the company made its largest acquisition in 20 years in March when it acquired personalization tech startup Dynamic Yield for an\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0$300 million, reports RT Insights.\u00a0<\/a>As of September 2019, the technology was deployed in\u00a0over 8,000 US restaurants<\/a>\u00a0and was expected to be implemented in \u201cnearly all\u201d drive-thrus in the United States and Australia by the end of 2019.<\/p>\n McDonald’s\u00a0has\u00a0shut down\u00a0restaurants in five Chinese cities, beginning even to implement new health protocols in the region as the coronavirus has expanded worldwide and caused fear among markets.<\/p>\n\n
The China dilemma<\/h1>\n