In a world where stocks are trading in lockstep with the price of oil, Jim Cramer finally found the one company that could do enough to break away from the pack—McDonald’s.
Steve Easterbrook is the CEO of McDonald’s that took over the helm of the fast food giant, and Cramer thinks is the reason why the company reported stellar earnings on Monday that allowed the stock to soar to $119.
McDonald’s reported a 5 percent increase in global same-store sales, and U.S. same-store sales rose 5.7 percent.
“Frankly, that’s extraordinary. I was looking for 4 percent and people thought I was dreaming,” the “Mad Money” host said.
“I would say that this is only the first quarter this McDonald’s turnaround.”
So how did Easterbrook pull it off?
Cramer thinks it comes down to two concepts: value and convenience. If a restaurant offers a convenient experience, and a good price for food that tastes good that is the winning formula.
But he also added that the strength of McDonald’s really comes from its franchises. He compared franchisees to the players in a game, and Easterbook as the head coach. He inspired the players to want to get back into the game and work wonders.
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Easterbrook did this by simplifying the menu to create fewer errors, which then led to the franchises to be more bullish on the future of their stores. Cramer thinks this approach combined with all-day breakfast had a huge impact on numbers.
“I would say that this is only the first quarter for this McDonald’s turnaround,” Cramer said. (Tweet This)
Cramer suspects that McDonald’s is taking share from pretty much everyone, even if millennials claim that this type of processed food is not their preference.
But the key fact that Cramer wants all investors to remember about McDonald’s is that Easterbrook isn’t about influencing the stock. He is about influencing the company. That means the stock move will follow.
“You put this one away and next time the stock market throws a sale because of the bogus lockstep linkage to oil or the endless Fed chatter, I want you to think about McDonald’s as the place to go, not necessarily as a store, but as a stock,” Cramer said.
So while Cramer is totally McLovin’ the latest McDonald’s quarter, he wants investors to be patient.
“This is the kind of story that can ultimately transcend the day-to-day craziness of the market, which is why I think you can circle the wagons around McDonald’s the next time we have another lousy day like this one,” Cramer added.
[“source -cncb”]
