For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 12, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), Burger King (BKC), Yum! Brands (YUM), Papa John's International (PZZA) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

McDonald’s Sales Grow

Despite a sinking global economy, McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) continues to grow same-store sales while maintaining healthy margins and outperforming competitors. In the current economic environment where GDP is falling and unemployment is on the rise, McDonald’s was able to boost its

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Despite a sinking global economy, McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) continues to grow same-store sales while maintaining healthy margins and outperforming competitors. In the current economic environment where GDP is falling and unemployment is on the rise, McDonald’s was able to boost its domestic share with its Dollar Menu products like the Big Mac and McCafe premium coffees.   McDonald's’ global same-store sales for the month of July rose 4.3% (versus 8.0% increase last year for the comparable month). System-wide sales for the company’s worldwide restaurants fell 0.3% for the month, due to the adverse impact of foreign currency translation. However, in constant currencies, system-wide sales increased 6.2%.   McDonalds’ U.S. business same-store sales rose 2.6% in July (versus 6.7% increase last year for the comparable month) boosted by new product offerings.   In Europe, same-store sales jumped 7.2% (versus 7.6% increase last year for the comparable month) driven by ...

McDonalds Corp. (MCD) continues to rack up impressive gains, distinguishing itself as a steady player in a very choppy market.

Company Description

McDonalds Corp, operates one of the world's largest fast food chains, with over 35,000 restaurants world wide. The company has a market cap of $63 billion.

McDonalds is set to report its second-quarter results on July 15, and if the company's first-quarter results, reported on Apr 22 are any indication, investors should be pleased.

First-Quarter Results

Although sales were down 10% from last year, income was up to $979.5 million from $946.1 million last year. Earnings came in at 83 cents, one penny better than the consensus.

Global same-store sales were up 4.3%, with Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions leading the way at 5.5%.

McDonalds also noted that its McCafe initiative was trending ahead of schedule

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Markets traded down for the majority of the trading period as investors are cautious on the sustainability of the recent market rally of nearly 40% since its March lows.  However, a late afternoon surge bolstered the indices upward to close marginally flat on the day; the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.36, or 0.2%, to 8,764.49 as Cisco Systems and Travelers, Inc officially replaced Citigroup and General Motors.  Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 were down 7.02 and 0.95, or 0.38% and 0.10%, to close at 1,842.40 and 939.14 respectively.   Commodities fell today as crude lost $0.35 to settle at $68.09 per barrel and gold decreased $10.10 to close at $952.50.  Prices on 10-year bonds fell marginally as well, pushing the yield up 0.0270 to 3.889%.   The biggest gaining sector today was Financials, finishing 1.1% higher as investors increased buying volume ahead of the Fed’s official announcement of which companies

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