FX.co ★ McDonald's surprises markets as its Q4 results fall short of expectations

On February 5, McDonald's released its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023. These results, especially the profit figures, caught experts off-guard. While McDonald's revenues did increase, they fell short of expectations. Indeed, it is particularly disappointing when the outcome differs from what was anticipated. At the beginning of 2024, the company announced a profit of $2.95 per share, with revenues amounting to $6.41 billion. Analysts had previously forecast a profit of $2.83 per share and total revenue of $6.45 billion. According to experts, McDonald's shares have shown poor performance this year, even worse than before. However, judging by the Dow Jones index, the company’s stock has increased by 2% since the start of 2024. McDonald's is following a general negative trend among cyclical corporations. Many of them, including Amazon, also reported poor profit margins and revenues. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Amazon's profit was $170 billion with total revenues reaching $165.95 billion. Tesla found itself in a similar situation with revenues not meeting expectations. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.71 per share with total profits amounting to $25.17 billion.