McDonald’s Breaks a Sweat After Trump’s Surprise Visit, Emphasizing “Political Neutrality”

Concerns Over Democratic Boycott After Trump's Visit
"McDonald Is Neither Red Nor Blue"

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump held a surprise event working as a one-day employee at a McDonald's store in Pennsylvania as part of his election campaign, prompting McDonald's to declare political neutrality and struggle to clarify the situation. The company emphasized that the event was not led by the headquarters but was independently organized by the franchise owner, aiming to preempt any potential boycott campaigns by U.S. Democratic Party supporters. Concerns have also arisen that the recent stock price rally, following positive investment opinions from Wall Street, may come to a halt.

Concerns over Democratic boycott after Trump's visit: "We do not support any specific candidate"

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According to CNN on the 21st (local time), McDonald's stated in an internal memo shared with employees, "McDonald's has never supported any specific elected candidate, and we will not support anyone in this presidential race either." They added, "We are not red or blue, but golden," declaring political neutrality. The memo was signed by the U.S. McDonald's President Joe Erlinger and the entire senior leadership team.

McDonald's also clarified in the memo that the event of former President Trump's store visit and one-day employee activity was not hosted by the headquarters. McDonald's explained, "The McDonald's store in Pfisterville, Bucks County, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, visited by former President Trump, is owned by franchisee Derek Giacomantonio, who accepted Trump's visit request from local law enforcement." They added, "He and his team took pride in serving the community and providing delicious food." Furthermore, they emphasized, "Accepting former President Trump's visit request was approached from the perspective of one of our core values, 'Open Doors for All.'"

On the 20th, former President Trump visited the McDonald's store in Pfisterville, Bucks County, northern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, personally frying French fries and taking orders at the drive-thru, working as a one-day employee. Subsequently, the U.S. Democratic Party criticized the activity as hypocritical.

U.S. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz posted a video of Trump cooking fries on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating, "This man has spent decades freezing workers' wages and cutting millions of dollars in overtime pay," strongly criticizing Trump's political performance as hypocritical.

Positive Wall Street investment opinions... Will the stock price rally continue?

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McDonald's is emphasizing political neutrality more strongly due to concerns that the entire brand might be perceived as supporting former President Trump and the Republican Party, potentially leading to a boycott by Democratic supporters. Previously, McDonald's became a target of boycott campaigns across the Middle East after offering discounts to Israeli soldiers at a franchise store in Israel.

McDonald's stock price, which had been on the rise recently, fell immediately after former President Trump's visit. On the 21st, McDonald's stock closed at $314.89, down 0.53% from the previous session. The stock had been rising for some time following positive investment opinions from Wall Street investment banks, but political risks have suddenly emerged.

Recently, Deutsche Bank raised McDonald's target price from $290 to $345. Deutsche Bank strategist Lauren Silverman emphasized in a letter to clients that "McDonald's is significantly undervalued compared to its competitors." She explained, "McDonald's has posted better performance than its competitors, but this is not reflected in the stock price at all." Since the S&P 500 index has risen about 23% since the beginning of the year, while McDonald's stock price has increased only about 5%, there is considerable room for further growth.

Wall Street's overall evaluation of McDonald's is positive. Among 38 investment banks, 19 have a Buy rating, 5 have an Overweight rating, and 14 have a Hold rating.