S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. McDonald’s franchises and operates fast food restaurants worldwide.

McDonald’s Corp Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet.

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of $1.29 per share, a rise of 12.2% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved up from $1.27. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved up. It has been unchanged at $1.29 during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting net income of $5.23 per share, a rise of 13.9% from last year.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company reported profit of $1.45 per share versus a mean estimate of net income of. The company has beaten estimates for the past three quarters.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $6.78 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 9.2% from the year ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $26.96 billion for the year, a rise of 12% from last year’s revenue of $24.07 billion.

Analyst Ratings: Analysts are bullish on this stock with 18 analysts rating it as a buy, none rating it as a sell and five rating it as a hold.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit rose 8.6% to $1.51 billion ($1.45 a share) from $1.39 billion ($1.29 a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 13.7% to $7.17 billion from $6.3 billion.

Key Stats:

The company has seen net income rise in three straight quarters. Net income rose 15% in the second quarter and 10.9% in the first quarter.

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue rose 16.1% in the second quarter from the year earlier, climbed 8.9% in the first quarter from the year-ago quarter and 4% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Competitors to Watch: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), Good Times Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIMD), Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST), Tim Hortons Inc. (NYSE:THI), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ:PNRA), Nathan’s Famous, Inc. (NASDAQ:NATH), Wendy’s Arby’s Group Inc. (NYSE:WEN), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Sonic Corporation (NASDAQ:SONC) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI).

Stock Price Performance: During October 20, 2011 to January 18, 2012, the stock price had risen $13.21 (15%) from $88.35 to $101.56. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 26, 2011 and May 4, 2011 when shares rose for seven-straight days, rising 2.8% (+$2.09) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 22, 2011 and August 2, 2011 when shares fell for eight-straight days, falling 4% (-$3.45) over that span.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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