McDonald’s shares gain for a second straight session on Thursday, burger chain plans another round of layoffs, WSJ reports

According to a Thursday report by the Wall Street Journal, which cited a company email sent to all employees, suppliers and franchisees in the United States, McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) intends to conduct another round of layoffs in an attempt to further flatten out its management structure.

McDonald’s shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Thursday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since April 30th. The stock went up 4.37% ($7.10) to $169.48, after touching an intraday high at $169.92, or a price level not seen since February 2nd ($172.73).

Shares of McDonald’s Corporation have retreated 1.53% so far in 2018 compared with a 3.62% gain for the underlying index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, McDonald’s Corp’s stock surged 41.41%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

“We are putting into place a new U.S. field structure that will better support our franchisees and will ensure McDonald’s continues on a path to being more dynamic, nimble and competitive”, Terri Hickey, a spokesperson for McDonald’s, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The memo also revealed that Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s Corps USA President, had said some employees would ultimately leave the burger chain. However, Kempczinski did not specify to what extent McDonald’s workforce would be reduced.

According to CNN Money, the 24 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding McDonald’s Corporation’s stock price, have a median target of $190.00, with a high estimate of $204.00 and a low estimate of $168.00. The median estimate is a 12.11% surge compared to the closing price of $169.48 on June 7th.

The same media also reported that 16 out of 29 surveyed investment analysts had rated McDonald’s Corporation’s stock as “Buy”, while 10 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the McDonald’s stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $170.04
R2 – $170.61
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $171.17
R4 (Long Breakout) – $172.86
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $174.83
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $175.83

S1 – $168.92
S2 – $168.35
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $167.79
S4 (Short Breakout) – $166.10
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $164.13
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $163.13

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $160.30
R1 – $161.58
R2 – $164.00
R3 – $165.28
R4 – $166.56

S1 – $157.88
S2 – $156.60
S3 – $154.18
S4 – $151.76