McDonald’s Corporation has unveiled new growth and financial targets under its McDonald’s NEXT strategy, including $8.5 billion in planned support for restaurant modernization through 2036, an operating margin target in the low-to-mid 50% range by 2030, and approximately 250 basis points in gross restaurant-level efficiency improvements. The company also aims to increase its market share in both chicken and beverages by 1.5 percentage points by 2030, while maintaining its leadership position in beef.
The strategy builds on McDonald’s Accelerating the Arches initiative, introduced in 2020, and is designed to increase customer visits, improve restaurant economics, and strengthen the company’s ability to reinvest in future growth.
McDonald’s NEXT brings together menu innovation, personalized customer engagement, restaurant modernization, and employee development. The company intends to use its global scale, technology infrastructure, and customer data to improve operations while creating additional opportunities for sales growth.
The strategy is supported by McDonald’s existing global footprint of more than 46,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, approximately 95% of which are owned and operated by independent local business owners.
McDonald’s serves more than 70 million customers daily and has a menu featuring 17 brands generating at least $1 billion in annual sales each. Its loyalty programs have nearly 220 million members active within the previous 90 days across 70 markets.
These capabilities provide the foundation for the company’s next phase of growth, particularly as McDonald’s expands its use of customer information and technology to improve the restaurant experience.
A major component of NEXT is increasing McDonald’s presence in product categories where management sees opportunities to attract additional customers.
The company is targeting 1.5 percentage points of market share gains in chicken and another 1.5 percentage points in beverages by 2030, while maintaining its existing leadership in beef.
These goals are part of its Menu NEXT initiative, which emphasizes product quality, consistent execution, and menu innovation to increase customer preference and encourage more frequent visits.
Consumer NEXT focuses on developing stronger customer relationships through personalized experiences and the company’s global loyalty infrastructure.
By combining customer insights with its digital platforms, McDonald’s intends to create more relevant offers and increase repeat visits.
Restaurant NEXT concentrates on simplifying operations, modernizing restaurant designs, and deploying technology to improve productivity.
A central component is ArchIQ, McDonald’s generative AI-enabled technology platform, which will be deployed at scale as the company implements operational improvements across the United States and its International Operated Markets.
McDonald’s expects the combination of restaurant modernization, simplified operations, and technology to deliver approximately 250 basis points of gross restaurant-level efficiency improvements.
According to the company, these improvements could generate approximately $100,000 in annual cash flow benefits for the average U.S. restaurant, with most of those benefits expected to contribute to restaurant profitability over time.
McDonald’s estimates that participating franchisees could achieve an approximately four-year payback on their investments, after accounting for the company’s financial support.
To facilitate implementation, McDonald’s plans to provide approximately $8.5 billion in total NEXT partnering support through 2036, including about $5 billion through 2030.
The support will consist of a combination of rent relief and capital contributions intended to accelerate restaurant modernization, technology deployment, and operational improvements.
Individual markets will determine their implementation schedules based on local conditions, franchisee investment capacity, and expected financial returns.
People NEXT, the fourth component of the strategy, focuses on providing employees with the resources and capabilities to deliver more consistent customer service.
These efforts will be reinforced by Make It Golden, a multiyear initiative launching on October 5, 2026, McDonald’s Founder’s Day. The program will bring together the company’s global restaurant network around improved food quality and hospitality.
Alongside the operational changes, McDonald’s introduced several financial targets for the coming years.
The company expects restaurant expansion to contribute nearly 2.5% to Systemwide sales growth in 2027, moderating to approximately 2% by 2030.
By 2030, McDonald’s is targeting an operating margin in the low-to-mid 50% range, while reducing general and administrative expenses to approximately 1.9% of Systemwide sales.
Its free cash flow conversion rate is expected to reach the mid-to-high 80% range by 2030.
From 2027 through 2030, McDonald’s anticipates approximately $3 billion in annual baseline capital expenditures, based on current foreign exchange rates. It also plans an additional $1.5 billion to $2 billion in cumulative capital partnering support during that period to accelerate the deployment of Restaurant NEXT.
These financial commitments reflect McDonald’s strategy of improving restaurant productivity while expanding its capacity to invest in new locations, technology, and customer experience initiatives.
The company expects the combination of higher customer traffic, operational efficiency, and improved franchisee economics to support sustainable sales growth and stronger financial returns.
KEY QUOTES:
“McDonald’s has the unmatched scale, customer insights, brand loyalty, and operational capabilities to not only adapt to the next wave of change in our industry, but to turn it into an advantage. That’s what McDonald’s > NEXT is about: to be the first choice for more customers, more often – while making our restaurants stronger and easier to run. We are confident that executing across the key components of NEXT will unlock stronger restaurant economics, generate attractive returns for the Company, our franchisees and shareholders, and increase capacity to keep investing in growth.”
Chris Kempczinski, Chairman and CEO of McDonald’s
“McDonald’s scale and financial strength reflects decades of disciplined execution, prudent decision-making, and a proven ability to create long-term value. McDonald’s > NEXT builds on that foundation while allocating capital to drive growth and productivity. The financial targets we are introducing today are grounded in the expected economics of Restaurant > NEXT and the opportunities we see ahead.”
Ian Borden, Executive Vice President and Global CFO of McDonald’s
