McDonald’s is still on track for 50,000 restaurants by 2027

McDonald’s sales are booming abroad, with plans for international expansion forging ahead… potentially why the company’s stock was up 5% on the morning its most recent results were announced despite US sales stalling.

Indeed, the majority of the company’s new restaurants are set to be opened outside of the US in the years ahead. On the earnings call, Ian Borden, the company’s Global Chief Financial Officer, said: “Globally, we plan to open approximately 2,200 restaurants this year, with about 1/4 of these openings in our US and IOM segments. We expect to open more than 1,600 restaurants in our IDL segment, including about 1,000 in China. Overall, we anticipate slightly over 4% unit growth from the nearly 1,800 net restaurant additions in 2025.”

That’s a continuation of the strategy of the last few years, which has seen the company trim its US store portfolio — actually shutting ~900 branches nationwide from 2015 to 2021 — while expanding overseas. Indeed, the company says it’s “on track to reach 50,000 restaurants by the end of 2027,” which would mark its fastest ever period of global expansion.