Earnings Preview: McDonald's Corp.

McDonald's Corporation (MCD) is expected to report Q3 earnings before market open Wednesday, Oct. 22, with a conference call scheduled for 10:30 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 97c on revenue of $6.18B. The consensus range is 95c to $1.02 for EPS, and revenue of $6B to $6.5B, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

In September, McDonald's reported August same-store sales increased 8.5%, with U.S. SSS increasing 4.5%. Citing recent channel checks suggesting that U.S. SSS remained strong in September, Cowen believes the company is caught up in the global consumer slowdown trade. The firm believes McDonald's is "relatively recession-resistant" given its platform of value and convenience as well as its investments in remodeling existing stores.

Zacks Equity notes that McDonald's, which recently boosted its dividend by 33%, has been consistently outperforming the market during the recent turbulence and over the long-term.

Seeing the opportunity for growth, the company has announced plans to speed up its expansion in central and eastern Europe and will invest between $1B and $1.2B in its European restaurants next year. Despite reports to the contrary, Bank of America said that it will not freeze any lines of credit to McDonald's franchise owners looking to expand amid McDonald's plans to add smoothies, bottled and espresso drinks; a representative for BofA said the bank will honor its obligations to franchise owners spending up to $100K to remodel and update each restaurant.