Maxim analyst Stephen Anderson said he still views Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) as one of the strongest candidates for a potential acquisition in the Quick Service restaurant space even after JAB Holdings' deal for Panera Bread (PNRA) takes it out of the running for now. He sees the best likelihood for Dunkin' M&A coming from a "multinational, multi-concept franchise operator," such as Yum Brands (YUM), he tells investors. Anderson, who thinks Dunkin' U.S. "held its own" during the quarter despite McDonald's (MCD) having gained market share through beverage discounting, keeps a Buy rating and raised his price target to $64 from $61 on Dunkin' Brands shares.

Citi lowered the firm's price target on McDonald's to $297 from $312 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst looked at the recent pullback in the shares as a potential opportunity to get more positive on McDonald's. However, while Citi thinks some of the recent pressure on shares came from faltering high-frequency data, it finds it hard to make a valuation-based or high-frequency data-driven case to own McDonald's shares ahead of a "rock and a hard case" Q1 earnings setup. If the company walks away from guidance for 3%-4% U.S. same-store-sales in 2024, it further biases estimate revisions down, and if it maintains it, optimistic guidance remains a bear case, the analyst tells investors in a research note.