Stifel, Morningstar Analysts React To McDonald's Decision To Quit Reporting Monthly Sales

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) announced on Wednesday it will cease reporting its monthly same-store sales metrics as of July 1. June will serve as the company's final monthly release and will be included in its second quarter results.

Speaking to Benzinga, Stifel Associate Michael Olsen suggested that the move wasn't unexpected, but at the same time, decreasing transparency by no longer reporting anticipated sales metrics is "not good." However, Olsen added that the street "won't look to far into it."

"Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) also did [something similar] in transitory state," the analyst added. "Seems to be more of a trend to only report quarterly numbers."

Finally, Olsen added that if McDonald's were to continue reporting monthly sales metrics during its transitory state it "could be an administrative nightmare."

Related Link: Here's What Happened When Wal-Mart Stopped Reporting Monthly Retail Sales

Morningstar analyst RJ Hottovy shared a similar view.

Also speaking to Benzinga, Hottovy noted that the decision isn't "a huge surprise" given a new management team that wants to focus on the bigger picture that is quarter to quarter and not month to month.

He also added that fewer companies are reporting monthly sales metrics and this is fine from his point of view, as monthly sales metrics aren't often used in valuation models given the "minimum amount of value."

"It certainly helps on a directional basis," Hottovy said. "But there are many other things going on [from a] month to month basis."

Looking forward, Hottovy suggested that McDonald's is unlikely to revisit its decision and report monthly sales metrics in the future. He pointed out that other large retailers including Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) stopped reporting monthly metrics with no consequences.