A number of years ago, there was a movie made about Roy Kroc the former CEO of McDonald’s. He was a salesman for milkshake company and went to California where a restaurant run by the McDonald brothers ordered more milkshake machines than any other customer. Mr. Kroc loved the business and eventually brought the franchise system to the US with its headquarters in Chicago. The franchise system revolutionized the restaurant industry and most people have eaten at a franchised restaurant for some of their meals. The concept is going strong and will continue.

In an article by Dee-Ann Durbin of the Associated Press, McDonald’s expects to open nearly 10,000 restaurants over the next 4 years to have over 50,000 restaurants in operations. In the US, the number will be 900, in the other G7 countries about 1,900 and 7,000 in international markets with over half in China.

The company took 33 years to open its first 10,000 restaurants and 18 years to grow from 30,000 to 40,000 and expects 4 years to go to 50,000. The company has the formula down pact.

In comparison to Starbucks, it has expects to grow from 38,000 to 55,000 stores by 2030.

McDonald’s announced a multiyear partnership with Google Cloud to speed things up in the restaurant. Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski said the cloud will speed things up such as menu recommendations on ordering kiosks or drive thru lane. The new system will allow managers to optimize staffing.

Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said the company has the confidence to invest in new stores and new technology because of the strong performance of its stores. Worldwide sales are up 9%.

The company is focused on its core menu items which make up 65% of its sales. It is selling about $34 billion in beef and $25 billion in chicken annually with the chicken sales are rising faster than beef. In turns of coffee, sales are 8 million cups a day and the company is moving towards one brand the McCafe and ensure consistency across the globe.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, McDonald’s is a company that continues to grow and people enjoy the food. Their revenues allows the company to reinvest into the company and there are many robotic options for the future for example one chain of restaurants using robotic frying. If a company can continue to reinvest in operations and grow, as long as you like the food it is worth investing in.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.