McDonald's Sets 2030 Margin and Market Share Targets Under New Growth Strategy

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has outlined a new long-term growth strategy, McDonald’s > NEXT, setting financial and operating targets through 2030 covering margins, restaurant efficiency, market share and systemwide sales.

The company presented the strategy at an investor day at its Chicago headquarters on September 23, 2026.

McDonald’s is targeting an operating margin in the low-to-mid 50% range by 2030, alongside approximately 250 basis points of gross restaurant-level efficiency gains.

The company estimates those efficiency improvements would translate into approximately $100,000 of additional annual cash flow for the average U.S. restaurant.

McDonald’s is also targeting free cash flow conversion in the mid-to-high 80% range by 2030.

Chicken and Beverage Market Share Targets

As part of the strategy, McDonald’s aims to increase its market share in both chicken and beverages by 1.5 percentage points by 2030 while maintaining its existing position in beef.

New restaurant openings are expected to contribute nearly 2.5% to systemwide sales growth in 2027, with that contribution moderating to approximately 2% by 2030.

The company is also targeting general and administrative expenses of approximately 1.9% of systemwide sales by 2030.

McDonald’s Plans $8.5 Billion in Franchisee Support

McDonald’s plans to provide approximately $8.5 billion in partnering support through 2036, including about $5 billion through 2030.

The support is expected to include a combination of rent relief and capital contributions intended to support franchisee participation in the company’s plans.

McDonald’s projects baseline annual capital expenditure of approximately $3 billion between 2027 and 2030. It also expects cumulative capital partnering support of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion over the period.

Strategy Includes AI Deployment

McDonald’s > NEXT is organised around four areas: Menu, Consumer, Restaurant and People.

The strategy will be supported by a programme called Make It Golden, which is scheduled to launch on October 5, 2026.

Under the Restaurant pillar, McDonald’s plans to deploy ArchIQ, a generative artificial intelligence tool, across its U.S. and International Operated Markets.

McDonald’s said it currently serves more than 70 million customers each day and has nearly 220 million 90-day active loyalty members across 70 markets.

The company operates more than 46,000 restaurants globally, approximately 95% of which are franchised.

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