Investors will be looking forward to tucking into fourth-quarter results from fast-food giant McDonald’s (MCD:NYSE) on 5 February to see whether despite higher interest rates US consumers are still hungry for its value-for-money offering.

‘It's hard to see McDonald's not winning in any consumer environment,’ says Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan, while Andy Barish at Jefferies named the stock a top pick for 2024 calling it ‘the best defensive and offensive play in restaurants’.

Still, the company faces several challenges including input-cost inflation, a boycott in the Middle East, which has had a meaningful impact on sales, and a stuttering performance in China, its third-largest market.

McDonald's has been successful in the past in passing on price increases to cover rising costs without significantly affecting demand, but should the economy slow dramatically, negatively affect consumer spending, it has discounting strategies to capture market share through value offerings.

It also has a strong loyalty program with around 25 million active members, which is driving digital sales and increased frequency, and its expansion into small-format, beverage-led sites in the US with its CosMc concept appears to be a hit with consumers going by early reports.

McDonald’s shares had a rough ride last year on fears the popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could lead to a collapse in sales, but that seems a distant prospect and the price has recovered close to its all-time highs.

US UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

QUARTERLY RESULTS

2 February: Exxon Mobil, AbbVie, Chevron, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Regeneron Pharma, Cigna, Aon, Imperial Oil, Virtus, Wisdom Tree, Cass

5 February: McDonald’s, Vertex, Air Products, Simon Property, Estee Lauder, Palantir, ON Semiconductor, Symbiotic, Tyson Foods, Aecom Technology, Crown, Rambus, Bellring, FMC,Hasbro, Timken

6 February: Eli Lily, Amgen, Gilead, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Fortinet, Carrier Global, Ford Motor, Centene, Prudential Financial, Xylem, Snap, Willis Towers Watson, Cincinnati Financial, Jacobs Engineering, Atmos Energy, Aspen, American Financial, Microstrategy, FirstService, Freshworks, Hamilton Lane, Universal, Nordic Semiconductor

7 February: Meta Platforms, Walt Disney, Uber Tech, ARM, Paypal, Sun Life Financial, Roblox, Orix

8 February: Softbank Group, Motorola, DexCom, Hershey, T Rowe, VeriSign, FirstEnergy, Warner Music, Masco, IPG

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