McDonald's sets sights on 50K worldwide restaurants before 2028

McDonald’s has unveiled a massive bid to boost its global presence, setting its sights on reaching a total of 50,000 locations before 2028.

To achieve that goal, the fast-food chain said it seeks to lift its number of restaurants around the world by about 8,800 from the nearly 41,200 it reported in its third-quarter earnings.

The effort will involve a run rate of 1,000 gross openings across the U.S. and international operated markets in 2027, according to McDonald’s.

In the coming year, net new restaurant unit growth will hit over 4%, according to a company forecast. That growth rate is expected to come in the 4-5% range beyond that. 

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The restaurant additions "will mark the fastest period of growth in Company history," McDonald’s said. 

McDonald’s said the net restaurant unit expansion would be accompanied by nearly 2% systemwide sales growth next year, with about 2.5% growth expected beyond then. 

The planned restaurant openings came alongside a slew of other initiatives that McDonald’s revealed on Wednesday, when it is holding its investor day. That event began in the morning. 

In the lead-up to the investor day, analysts had forecasted that the Chicago-based company would outline major unit growth efforts.

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Other moves that McDonald’s said it would undertake included pursuing 250 million, 90-day active loyalty program users by 2027, rolling out its "Best Burger" initiative extensively and further embracing chicken offerings. 

On the chicken front, nearly all McDonald’s markets will get the McCrispy sandwich before 2026, the fast-food chain said. It also has plans to introduce wrap and tender versions of the McCrispy. 

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The efforts are meant to further McDonald’s ongoing "Accelerating the Arches" initiative that kicked off roughly three years ago. It expanded the strategy earlier this year.

The fast-food chain had a market capitalization value of $207 billion as of Wednesday.