Friday, June 23, 2017

Signposts: McDonald's hits all-time high as Wall Street cheers replacement of cashiers with kiosks (MCD)

It's all good, right?
The cashiers will simply retrain as roboticists and robotics technicians.
Or so the technocrats tell me.
 
From CNBC:
  • Cowen says McDonald's will upgrade 2,500 restaurants to its "Experience of the Future" technology by year-end, which includes digital ordering kiosks.
  • The firm raises its rating on McDonald's to outperform from market perform and price target for the shares to $180 from $142.
  • Same store sales estimate for 2018 raised to 3 percent from 2 percent.
McDonald's shares hit an all-time high on Tuesday as Wall Street expects sales to increase from new digital ordering kiosks that will replace cashiers in 2,500 restaurants.

Cowen raised its rating on McDonald's shares to outperform from market perform because of the technology upgrades, which are slated for the fast-food chain's restaurants this year.
McDonald's shares rallied 26 percent this year through Monday compared to the S&P 500's 10 percent return.
Andrew Charles from Cowen cited plans for the restaurant chain to roll out mobile ordering across 14,000 U.S. locations by the end of 2017. The technology upgrades, part of what McDonald's calls "Experience of the Future," includes digital ordering kiosks that will be offered in 2,500 restaurants by the end of the year and table delivery.

"MCD is cultivating a digital platform through mobile ordering and Experience of the Future (EOTF), an in-store technological overhaul most conspicuous through kiosk ordering and table delivery," Charles wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "Our analysis suggests efforts should bear fruit in 2018 with a combined 130 bps [basis points] contribution to U.S. comps [comparable sales]."...
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Just one question for the technocrats, "Why were the cashiers cashiers in the first place?"