Longbow analyst Alton Stump said his conversations with McDonald's franchisees in the U.S. lead him to believe same-store sales are up 5%-5.5% to date in Q3. The analyst, who noted that consensus is for McDonald's U.S. comps to grow 5.2% in the current quarter, keeps a Neutral rating on McDonald's 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.