Will McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) Egg White Delight Leave Investors Hungry?

Furthermore, both McDonald’s and Yum! Brands are rapidly expanding in Asia, where smaller chains like Panera and Chipotle are virtually nonexistent. In fact, McDonald’s opened 256 restaurants in China in 2012 alone, making significant headway toward its goals of having at least 2,000 locations there by the end of this year. Yum! Brands, however, boasts a huge head start with more than 5,000 locations in China, with management recently stating they intend to nearly triple that number to more than 14,000 units over time — or nearly the same number as McDonald’s currently maintains in the United States. Even so, that doesn’t mean both Yum! Brands and McDonald’s can’t coexist in the nation of more than 1.3 billion people as the disposable income of its growing consumer class continues to rise.

Foolish final thoughts
In the end, investors need to remember that our world is absolutely enormous, and they should be encouraged to know McDonald’s rock-solid brand gives it the luxury of tweaking its menu offerings from time to time. This flexibility has allowed McDonald’s to not only survive, but also thrive in spite of its competition for the better part of the last century.

Despite the recent run-up of its shares, then, we should also keep in mind McDonald’s currently trades at a reasonable 18.4 times trailing earnings, which isn’t substantially higher than its five-year average P/E ratio of 17. As a result — and noting Mickey D’s sustainable 3.1% dividend yield — I’m convinced investors won’t regret adding this stock to their portfolios if they can continue to maintain a long-term mind-set.

The article Will McDonald’s Egg White Delight Leave Investors Hungry? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Steve Symington.

Fool contributor Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonald’s, and Panera Bread. The Motley Fool owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonald’s, and Panera Bread.

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