McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) outlined a new long-term growth strategy called McDonald's > NEXT at an investor day held at its Chicago headquarters on Sept. 23, 2026, introducing financial targets tied to restaurant efficiency, operating margin expansion, and category market share gains.

The company set a target to expand its operating margin to the low-to-mid 50% range by 2030 and achieve approximately 250 basis points of gross restaurant-level efficiency gains, which it estimates would be equivalent to roughly $100,000 in annual cash flow benefits for the average U.S. restaurant. Free cash flow conversion is targeted in the mid-to-high 80% range by 2030.

McDonald's also targets gaining 1.5 percentage points of market share each in the chicken and beverage categories by 2030, while maintaining its existing position in beef. Unit expansion is expected to contribute nearly 2.5% to systemwide sales growth in 2027, moderating to about 2% by 2030. General and administrative expenses are targeted at about 1.9% of systemwide sales by 2030.

To support franchisee participation, McDonald's plans to provide approximately $8.5 billion in total partnering support through 2036, including approximately $5 billion through 2030, through a combination of rent relief and capital support. Annual baseline capital expenditures from 2027 through 2030 are projected at about $3 billion, plus $1.5 billion to $2 billion in cumulative capital partnering support.

The strategy includes four pillars — Menu, Consumer, Restaurant, and People — and is supported by a program called Make It Golden, set to launch on Oct. 5, 2026. The Restaurant pillar includes deployment of a generative AI tool called ArchIQ across U.S. and International Operated Markets.

McDonald's reported serving more than 70 million customers daily and having nearly 220 million 90-day active loyalty members across 70 markets. The company operates more than 46,000 restaurants globally, with approximately 95% franchised.