KSTHANE

Fast Food Looks for Growth

"ZERO" being the number one answer tells us nothing. If 100 people were surveyed and 51 people answered "ZERO" while the other 49 people answered with a differing number of times per month then I think it would be pretty easy to make the case that MCD has a pretty strong hold on the market. Oh, and let's not forget that the survey is probably biased downwards because some people will not admit to eating at McDonald's in a survey due to the health stigma attached. Another criticism of the survey that you didn't cite is taht a 100 person survey is a tiny, tiny sample size.

It's much more productive to analyze whether fast food is dead by looking at the comps. McDonald's registered negative monthly y/y comps in the US for the first time in 5 years back in I think either December or January and weather was the blame. Comps from there on out have exceeded analyst expectations every single time. This is ignoring international comps which are growing in high single digits...and the company gets 65% of revenue from outside the US!

If investors want to keep trading this stock based on the perceived "health" of McD's products, or on U.S. comps or other anecdotal evidence then more power to them.