Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. It's good to have you here on this Thursday, February 12th. I'm Julie Morgan. McDonald's celebrated with the Grinch that kept on giving this holiday season as promotions helped boost Q4 sales. McDonald's Corporation rallied on Wednesday after recording its best quarter of the year.
However, the rally did not continue. Shares are down 0.2% in pre-market action. Global comparable sales rose 5.7% in Q4. and were up 6.8% in the U.S. Notably, the restaurant chain added market share during the quarter without seeing a decline in operating income. It was also noted that the Minecraft promotion and demand for Grinch collectibles both drove traffic. The U.S.
comparable sales tally was said to be boosted by marketing initiatives, including the Monopoly event and the Grinch meal.
Chapter 2: What recent successes has McDonald's experienced in sales?
The Big Arch was noted to be a strong menu offering in select markets where it is being tested. McDonald's plans to keep adding new beverage options after seeing strong results. On the development front, McDonald's said the chain is still on track for 50,000 global restaurants by the end of 2027. New restaurant openings were noted to be accelerating.
Apple's iPhone was the only smartphone to see growth in China sales in January, according to CounterPoint Research. Every major Chinese mobile maker from Huawei Technologies to Xiaomi saw major declines in a market that was down 23% overall. Bloomberg News reported citing CounterPoint researchers that this was largely due to reduced subsidies and a shift in the timing of the Lunar New Year.
The iPhone 17 lineup, however, helped Apple to 8% growth, raising its share of the market to roughly a fifth, sharing the lead with Huawei Technologies. Southwest Airlines is teaming up with Starlink. Southwest will provide its Rapid Rewards members with free Starlink internet connectivity. The airline plans to integrate the service on more than 300 aircraft by the end of this year.
The first Starlink-equipped aircraft will enter service this summer. SpaceX-engineered Starlink will deliver Wi-Fi across Southwest's network of 11 countries. Here's a look at a few other trending articles. The House votes to end tariffs on Canada as six Republicans defy President Trump. Cisco projects more than $5 billion in AI orders for fiscal year 26.
And Applovin outlines 5-7% Q1 sequential revenue growth. By the way, Cisco and Applovin are both on our biggest movers list in negative territory this morning. On our Catalyst watch for the day, Datadog will host an investor day in New York City.
The Bright House financial buyout offer from Aquarian, the Ryerson-Holding Olympic Steel merger, and IBM's acquisition of Confluent all go to a shareholder vote. On Wall Street, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is down 0.3% at $64 a barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.6% at $67,000. Gold is down 0.4% at $50.65. The FTSE 100 is up 0.2% and the DAX is up 1.5%.
Fastly is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. FSLY is up 41% after delivering a strong Q4 beat and issuing guidance that significantly topped expectations. And on today's economic calendar, I have two items for you. 8.30 a.m. the employment situation and at 10 a.m. existing home sales. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening.
To take full advantage of Seeking Alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.
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