Latest news with #McDonalds
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Under-The-Radar Dividend Aristocrats Set to Breakout in Q3
In uncertain times, dividend income is more than just a strategy; it helps you sleep better at night. The key is knowing which ones to choose and when to buy. In terms of which dividend stocks to buy, I like companies with a long history of increasing their dividends, like the Dividend Aristocrats. Dividend Aristocrats are S&P 500 listed companies who have increased their dividends for at least each of the last 25 years. Analysts Are Souring on McDonald's. Should You Sell the Dividend Aristocrat Now? 3 Under-The-Radar Dividend Aristocrats Set to Breakout in Q3 Tired of missing midday reversals? The FREE Barchart Brief newsletter keeps you in the know. Sign up now! When it comes to answering the question, 'When do I buy?' it's been said that time in the market beats timing the market over the long haul, as buying at the wrong time can lead to eroding returns. So, with that out of the way, I thought about looking for some quality Dividend Aristocrats that are positioning themselves for a breakout in Q3'25. Using Barchart's Stock Screener, I selected the following filters to get my results: Number of Analysts: At least 12 analysts. A high number of analysts reflects a better rating consensus. Current Analyst Rating: Moderate to Strong Buy. Overall Buy/Sell/Hold Signal: Buy. It filters which stocks have a buy signal. Overall Opinion Direction: Average to Top 1%. It indicates that the signal direction is getting stronger. Overall Opinion Strength: Average - Top 1%. It is a long-term measurement of strength. Stronger strength means less volatility, which is what we're looking for. Watchlists: Dividend Aristocrats. I ran these filters and got 6 Dividend Aristocrats: Of course, we want to find the Dividend Aristocrats that are moving up the most, so I sorted the results based on the overall opinion strength. Let's kick off this list, starting with number one: Cardinal Health is a drug distributor, healthcare services, and products company. The company specializes in providing customized solutions for various health needs in over 30 countries, including more than 90% of U.S. hospitals. Cardinal Health operates under two primary segments: Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions, and Global Medical Products and Distribution. The company's most recent financials reported sales of $730 million, up 98% from the previous year. Its net income also increased 93.9% year-over-year to $508 million. Cardinal Health is a Dividend Aristocrat that has increased its dividends for 29 consecutive years. It pays a forward annual dividend of $2.04 per share, which translates to approximately 1.23% yield. That said, 14 analysts rate the CAH a strong buy. Barchart Opinion suggests that CAH is an overall 100% buy, with the highest current strength rating of 'Top 1%,' and its current direction is strongest. Together, investors have an opportunity to capitalize on a potentially bullish run. The second Dividend Aristocrat on the list is International Business Machines. IBM is a technology company that specializes in computer hardware, software, and IT consulting. Recently, the company expanded its presence in cloud, AI technology, and services to better serve its clients while entering a new vertical. As a multinational, IBM has a presence in over 130 countries and operates in five segments: software, consulting, infrastructure, financing, and others. The company's most recent financials reported $14.5 billion in sales for Q1'25, up 1% from the same quarter last year. Net income was also up 33% year-over-year, totaling $1.1 billion. International Business Machines is a Dividend Aristocrat that has increased its dividends for 30 consecutive years. It pays a forward annual dividend of $6.72 per share, translating to a yield of approximately 2.30%. Finally, a consensus among 20 analysts rates IBM a moderate buy. Barchart Opinion indicates that IBM is an overall '100% buy,' with a current strength rating of maximum, and its current direction at its strongest levels. This is an exceptionally bullish signal, showing peak momentum. The last Dividend Aristocrat in this list is Abbott Laboratories - a company that I covered several times, so I'll keep the introductions brief. Abbott is a diversified healthcare provider that caters to a range of diseases and nutritional needs. As a global company, it has a presence in over 160 countries and more than 300 subsidiaries worldwide. Abbott Laboratories operates in five business segments: Established Pharmaceuticals, Diagnostics, Nutritional Products, Medical Devices, and Specialty Products. The company's most recent financials reported that sales were approximately $10.4 billion, up 4% from the same period last year. Its net income also increased 8.2% year-over-year, to $1.33 billion. Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividends for 53 consecutive years and pays a current forward annual dividend of $2.36, translating to a yield of approximately 1.77%. That said, 26 analysts rate the stock an average 'Strong Buy.' Barchart Opinion indicates that ABT stock has an overall average 88% buy rating, with an 'Current Strength' and 'Direction' being average. I've been watching this stock, and I've noticed that profit-taking has been occurring. Therefore, it may be a good opportunity to capitalize on the next bull run. These three Dividend Aristocrats are quality names and reasonable choices for any income portfolio. And just because technical opinions say it's a buy doesn't mean you should. But if you believe in the technicals, a bull run may be around the corner. On the date of publication, Rick Orford did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
McDonald's Set for Strong Second-Half US Comparable Sales, UBS Says
McDonald's (MCD) is likely to post robust same-store sales in the US in the second half of the year, Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How McDonald's is inspiring workers
In today's competitive job market, finding, engaging, and retaining top talent is one of the main challenges keeping CEOs and business leaders awake at night. Ten years ago, recognizing that employees now look for jobs offering flexibility and personal growth along with competitive compensation, McDonald's and its independent franchisees (which own around 95% of McDonald's restaurants in the United States) introduced the Archways to Opportunity program. Restaurant employees can earn a high school diploma, work toward a college degree, enroll in degree, training, and certificate programs at accredited schools, or improve their English skills — all while earning a paycheck. And they get academic and career guidance whenever they need it. The program has been an unqualified success — both for McDonald's franchisees, which have used it to cultivate a skilled, loyal workforce, and for their employees, who appreciate the ability to earn and learn simultaneously. Among the longtime McDonald's franchise employees profiled below, a common word used to explain their passion and loyalty to their local franchisee is 'family.' In the case of Scarlett Morris, all four of her family members work for McDonald's restaurants. For Michael Shackleford, McDonald's restaurants were a port in the storm during some of his darkest days. And for Jennifer Carter — who grew up in foster care — her McDonald's coworkers became her surrogate family. In the second installment of a three-part series, here are the stories of how Archways to Opportunity helped these individuals unleash their full potential and inspired them to encourage their McDonald's teammates to do the same. Turning Golden Arches into golden opportunities For Scarlett Morris and her family, earning and learning with McDonald's has become a way of life. Scarlett hopes she and her husband Chris, shown here with their Colorado Technical University diplomas, will be role models for their kids. Living on her own since 17, Scarlett Morris started with her local McDonald's in 2003 as a crew member to support herself and her daughter, Emma. 'McDonald's is a good first job, because we tune into your strengths,' Scarlett said. In her case, those include strong people skills and an interest in empowering her fellow employees. She rapidly progressed into management roles, eventually becoming the people and development lead for 10 restaurants. Along the way, Scarlett met an ambitious coworker, Chris, and they've now been married for over 20 years. Together, they had busy full-time jobs — Chris is director of operations for 10 franchises — while raising Emma, now 20, and their son, Jackson, 15, in College Station, Texas. Their goal is to own their own McDonald's franchise one day. But because of their work and family demands, they had neither the time nor money to return to school and pursue their passions. For Scarlett, that was human resources. For Chris, it was technology. When Emma was a high school junior in 2022, Scarlett decided to take advantage of McDonald's Archways to Opportunity program and pursue a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a focus in HR management — her courses were online and fully paid for by Archways — from Colorado Technical University. For the Morris family (from left: Emma, Scarlett, Chris, and Jackson), working at their local McDonald's is more than just a job; it has become a way of life. Two years later, her dream became a reality — times three. In a trio of Archways-inspired milestones, Scarlett and Chris both graduated from CTU in May 2024 (Chris also got a bachelor's in business administration, with a focus on information technology), just as Emma was completing her freshman year at nearby Texas A&M University. Thanks to tuition assistance, Emma — who is now the restaurant people department leader at her local McDonald's — can afford to work 30 hours a week instead of 40, so her grades don't suffer. 'Her work experience, paired with that degree — she's going to be leaps and bounds ahead of many of her classmates,' Scarlett said. Scarlett immediately put the knowledge and skills developed while pursuing her degree to use. 'I was able to take what they were teaching me and turn it into a real-life scenario at work,' Scarlett said. 'We want to make this franchise the best it can be for as long as possible.' Looking to the future, Scarlett and Chris dream of having their own franchise, or 'our own little 'McFamily,'' as they call it. 'We want to use Archways to help our people, encourage them, and propel them on their journey,' Scarlett said. 'The Archways program is a blessing, and I'm grateful for it.' Finding hope at the end of the road 'Archways to Opportunity brought out the good in me I couldn't find for myself,' Michael Shackleford said. Michael Shackleford (pictured with his wife Nicole) receiving his associate degree in Colorado. 'I was able to walk the stage for the first time in my life.' At Michael Shackleford's lowest point in life, he was homeless, foraging through trash cans for food, and eating snow. 'I was at a bus stop and noticed the clean snow beneath dirty footprints,' said Shackleford, who was expelled from school in seventh grade and later struggled with addiction. 'It hit me at a moment in my dirty life that below the muck I will find a clean slate.' Today, Shackleford is the safety and security manager in charge of loss prevention and risk management for the 22 McDonald's locations in South Carolina and Georgia that are owned and operated by his boss, John Ritchey Jr. What led to such a remarkable transformation? McDonald's. It's been an incredible journey, starting with Shackleford's first job sweeping bathrooms and taking out trash 33 years ago. (His older brother Robert was the general manager of a local McDonald's franchise who hired him to keep him out of trouble.) Fast-forward to July 2024, when — with financial and emotional support from McDonald's and its franchisees' Archways to Opportunity program and the skills he honed as a McDonald's employee — Shackleford, then 47, received an associate degree in business administration, with highest honors, from Colorado Technical University. 'I would tell my younger self, 'Thank you for not dying and for not giving up.'' He came close to doing both. In a quest to figure out where he belonged, Shackleford spent most of the 1990s traveling from state to state on a Greyhound bus. At each stop — Delaware, Virginia, New York — he'd get a job at a McDonald's restaurant, just to be able to eat. He hit bottom in March 1999, after eight months of sleeping in a church every night. On April 1, the date he'll always remember as his turning point, he decided it was time to go home. What happened after is the stuff of made-for-TV movies. At a family gathering the week after his return to Andrews, South Carolina, Shackleford met and fell for a woman named Nicole, who was visiting from Delaware. It turned out she lived in one of the towns he'd stopped at during his Greyhound days. A three-day trip to Delaware in June sealed the deal. 'I remember sitting on the bus crying all the way back home,' Shackleford said. 'In that moment, it felt like a new beginning.' By August, he had moved to Delaware, and by November, he and Nicole were married. (They celebrated 25 years of marriage last year.) Because of his prior experience, Shackleford was hired as a swing manager at a local McDonald's franchise and has been working his way through the ranks ever since. After graduating at the top of his class from Hamburger University — McDonald's' training program for high-potential managers and owner-operators — Shackleford contemplated going to college. He did so in 2021 after learning about Archways to Opportunity, which allowed him to attend CTU online, while still working, and earn his degree — for free. According to Ritchey, his organization's investment in Shackleford has paid off many times. 'His confidence went up tenfold, and his determination towards a result has also increased,' Ritchey said. 'He's a man on a mission now, and it shows in his results. He is having a great time positively impacting our whole company.' Shackleford doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. He's now just 40 credits shy of earning a bachelor's degree in business administration from CTU, with a current GPA of 3.71. He devotes equal energy to inspiring his coworkers to fully develop their potential. That mindset benefits everybody. 'Not only does he lead by example,' Ritchey said, 'he is the most fantastic cheerleader we have for everyone who wants to achieve anything in the organization.' 'It's hard to beat someone who won't give up.' The odds of success are stacked against former foster youth like Jennifer Carter. But she found the secret to beating the odds. Jennifer Carter uses her master's degree training in social work to help her colleagues thrive. At just 19 years old, Jennifer Carter aged out of the foster care system she'd grown up in since age 3 and was awarded temporary custody of her two younger siblings. In her words, Carter described that transition to adulthood as 'challenging.' She didn't have the support or guidance she needed to accomplish basic tasks like filling out her taxes or paying the bills, much less continuing her education. So, after a semester of community college, Carter took a break to focus on work — she'd been a crew member at a local McDonald's restaurant since she was 16 — and complete the steps necessary to care for her brother and sister. 'I had to move and buy all kinds of furniture to show they had a place to stay,' Carter said. 'And since it was a boy and a girl, they had to have separate rooms.' The silver lining through all the rough times? Her innate tenacity — and her work family at her local McDonald's. 'They helped me when I was struggling,' Carter said. 'Even if my problem wasn't work related, they'd say, 'This is what you need to do.'' That came in handy when Carter — who'd become a restaurant manager before she turned 20 — decided to continue her lifelong learning journey after finding out about Archways to Opportunity. Hopeful that the skills she'd learned at work would equip her to do better at college the second time around, Carter started by taking a couple classes to get her feet wet. As it turned out, Carter said, 'All the things I learned at McDonald's — how to be organized, how to take great notes, how to deal with people — had prepared me better than all the high school I'd attended and workshops I'd had in foster care.' Archways to Opportunity enabled Carter to complete college with associate and bachelor's degrees in sociology at Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in social work, with a focus on social change and innovation, at the University of Southern California. She achieved this, with honors, while juggling her job and taking care of her growing family: In 2023, she got married (her husband, Nathan, is an independent McDonald's franchisee with seven restaurants) and the couple now has three young children: Jayden, Jaxtyn, and Juliana. Nathan and Jennifer Carter brought sons Jayden (left) and Jaxtyn to a work event in Spain, before daughter Juliana was born. Now, she wants to put all that learning back into the Southern California community where she lives and works. For instance, she's trying to develop a program that helps connect foster care youth with job opportunities at her restaurants. 'The thing I love about McDonald's versus social work is that I can walk in a community and offer people a job,' Carter explained. 'A lot of people come in with challenges I had when I was younger. And I get to say, 'Hey, it's OK to get help. Here are some places you can go that have programs.' I assist firsthand with those resources.' This is why, after all her education, Carter — who is now an operations supervisor — has chosen to stay at her local McDonald's, rather than become a social worker. 'I don't hand off cases to different people and move on,' she said. 'I try to reflect on the challenges I had when I first started, and what kind of support I can provide. I love that I can be part of somebody's story and make a difference.' McDonald's and Stand Together are working to advance principles that help people unlock their potential in the workplace. Learn more about Stand Together's efforts to transform the future of work and explore ways you can partner with us.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Fishy McDonald's Menu Item That Was Discontinued After Only Three Months
The Filet-o-Fish has been a McDonald's mainstay for decades, debuting nationwide in 1965 after a Cincinnati branch created it because of sales tanking on Fridays during Lent. The iconic cheese- and tartar sauce-topped fish sandwich has stood the test of time, but it isn't the only seafood menu option McDonald's has ever had. The fast food giant has tried out others over the years, including fried fish nuggets called Fish McBites that disappeared after only three months. McDonald's was looking for ways to rev up sales amid a decline when it put Fish McBites on the menu in the U.S. in February 2013, also coinciding with Lent, when Catholics can't eat meat on Fridays. It had tested the bite-sized fish in a few markets a year earlier, after the success at the time of its Chicken McBites. Small pieces of Alaska pollock (the same real fish used for the Filet-o-Fish) were breaded and fried, with a seasoned coating that included dried garlic, dried onion, and spices. You could buy a 10-McBite snack size, 15-piece regular, or 30-piece shareable, and they came in a carton that fit in a car's cupholder, with a slot on top to hold the tartar sauce mini-cup. There was also a Fish McBites Happy Meal for kids, with company research showing moms wanted more seafood from McDonald's. Fish McBites were introduced as a limited-time item, but that can always change if a product takes off. However, despite the ad campaign's catchy "Fishy Fishy!" jingle, customers didn't warm up to them, and they came off the menu in April 2013. Read more: Fast Food Chains That Serve The Highest And Lowest Quality Fish Sandwiches Despite Fish McBites never becoming popular, there are still fans who want McDonald's to bring them back. A petition launched in 2019 that called for a return of the "really delicious" fish nuggets garnered 965 signatures. Supportive comments were posted as recently as 2024, including one calling them "delicate, delectable delicacies." McDonald's never responded. McBites may be long gone in the U.S., but a close copy surfaced in the U.K. and Ireland in 2024, available only at some locations. Called Fish Bites -- minus the "Mc" -- they're very similar, if not quite identical. They're also breaded, fried fish nuggets made with Alaska pollock, however the coating appears to be plain, with no dried garlic, onion, or spices among the ingredients. A few McDonald's fans also remember a super-obscure seafood item from around the same time called Shrimp McBites. A Redditor posted about them looking for information after coming up empty in online searches. One respondent said they emailed McDonald's, and the company answered, saying they were breaded, fried whole shrimp with mild salt and pepper flavor that came with cocktail sauce. But if you blinked, you missed them. They were only sold in three Illinois McDonald's locations for less than five weeks, from March 25 to April 29, 2013. Anyone really interested in trying a McDonald's shrimp offering, however, could always hop a plane to Japan, where Mickey D's serves an unbeatable shrimp burger. For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout's newsletter. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more! Read the original article on The Takeout.
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Contra John Lennon In 1980, The Chinese Are Eating. Let's Celebrate It
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1973: Former Beatle John Lennon poses for a photo circa 1973 in New York City, New ... More York. (Photo by) John Lennon recorded 'Nobody Told Me' on August 7, 1980. In the song he famously told listeners 'They're starving back in China so finish what you got.' It was recently reported that since the 1980s, 800 million Chinese have risen out of poverty. Stop and think about that, particularly in relation to Lennon's lyrics. While today there are 5,500 McDonald's in China, in 1980 there were none. The first China-based store opened in October of 1990. The Chinese are eating. While communism is the ideology of desperation, and per Lennon, starvation, its antithesis is the stuff of abundance. McDonald's everywhere you look abundance. Because China used to be communist, food used to be scarce. That food isn't scarce now tells us China is no longer communist. Really, what else could rising acquisitiveness (including a particular fondness for American plenty) signal? Unless the Chinese people are superhuman such that they're uniquely capable of overcoming collectivism, it must be said that collectivism long ago ceased to define the Chinese experience. This is a useful distinction to make as politicians and pundits in the U.S. continue to attack Chinese businesses for having the temerity to operate like – yes – profit-motivated American businesses. For the longest time Americans yearned for China to leave communism behind, only for the country to do just that. Evidence supporting the claim that China has tossed communism in the proverbial dustbin can be found in the growing number of businesses that have originated in China, only to expand globally. Think SHEIN, Temu, Baidu, Alibaba, MYbank, TikTok, and countless others not mentioned along with even more on the way. What we're seeing in China is proof of what we Americans have long believed: when people are free, they prosper. The previous truth is almost trite it's so simple, but true it is. The Chinese weren't formerly desperately poor and starving because they lacked talent or drive, but because an unnatural, anti-human ideology was foisted on them in cruel fashion. Thankfully once again China is no longer communist. No doubt its ruling political party is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but the name no longer fits the ideology. Though the CCP oversees China, it now oversees a market economy. Yes, the CCP is no longer communist. Things have changed because views do. Americans know this well. A Republican Party long associated with free trade and reverence for business increasingly embraces tariffs while attacking the best and brightest of U.S. commerce. The change in the Republican party not infrequently reveals itself in its support for the political harassment of businesses with Chinese origins that are prospering in the U.S. The explanation used for the persecution of Chinese businesses is their 'mandated allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.' It's just a veiled excuse for protectionism, one that glosses over the happy fact that the Chinese Communist Party is no longer communist. See the 800 million who've escaped poverty since Lennon recorded 'Nobody Told Me.' Lennon's words have a dated quality to them precisely because the Chinese are eating. And they're eating because China is no longer communist. Let's celebrate this truth, rather than harassing and banning the businesses that confirm it.
