(Reuters) -McDonald’s is planning to open about 10,000 restaurants globally by 2027, in what could be the fast-food giant’s fastest period of growth in its history, it said on Wednesday.
The company also laid out plans to increase the user base of its loyalty program to 250 million customers by 2027, from 150 million currently, putting it on track to deliver $45 billion in annual sales. The program currently generates over $20 billion in system-wide sales.
Despite choppy U.S. consumer spending, McDonald’s has remained largely unaffected, thanks to its affordable menu items, aggressive promotions and marketing campaigns.
McDonald’s will open about 7,000 stores in its international developmental licensed markets, which include countries such as China, India, Japan and Brazil, CFO Ian Borden said. The new plan would boost the number of stores to about 50,000 by 2027.
More than half of those new stores are planned for China, McDonald’s second-largest market, where it recently struck a deal that allows it to have greater control over its business in the region, Borden added.
McDonald’s “Best Burger” initiative aimed at improving the quality of its burgers will also be deployed to nearly all markets by 2026, expanding from about 70 markets currently.
For 2024, McDonald’s expects nearly 2% growth in system-wide sales from new restaurants, on a constant currency basis, compared with the 1.5% growth it expects for 2023.
Stephens analyst Joshua Long said there was room for continued growth for McDonald’s in the United States, particularly in the South and Southeast, as well as from smaller format stores. McDonald’s has more than 13,400 stores in the country.
It also partnered with Alphabet’s Google Cloud to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to its restaurants worldwide. That would include automating processes to help deliver hotter, fresher food to customers faster.
McDonald’s shares were down marginally in early trading. The stock has risen about 8% this year, underperforming the 19% increase in the benchmark S&P 500 index.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
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