NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2017 / Shares of McDonald's Corp. and Starbucks both were slightly lower as the trading day ended Thursday. As the companies made changes to their top management structure, other issues were clouding stock values, in part from both companies seeking to advance their technology to be more consumer-friendly.

RDI Initiates Coverage:

Starbucks Corporation https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=SBUX

McDonald's Corporation https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=MCD

Starbucks' stock dropped by $0.04 a share to close at $55.85. The company has found itself in the middle of conservative consumer revolt after its announcement that it would hire 10,000 refugees worldwide in a protest to President Trump's immigration actions. Some advertising and marketing agencies are saying that such actions have hurt the company brand, particularly in light of the fact that four years ago Starbucks had promised to hire 10,000 veterans and military family spouses.

Beyond the political controversies, the company today announced stockholders have elected three new members to the board of directors. Satya Nadella, Rosalind Brewer, and Jørgen Vig Knudstorp. These additions are moving in as now former CEO Howard Schultz is leaving. As a director, Nadella won't have any specific role in company's day to day operations, but he might be helpful to offer some insight to Starbucks' new CEO Kevin Johnson to fix some concerns like long customer waiting time for walk-in customers. Starbucks introduced a mobile application 18 months ago that allowed customers to order ahead, and quickly has been popular, but individual stores have had trouble keeping up with the crunch-time traffic, leaving walk-in customers unhappily waiting.

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McDonald's closed the trading day at $129.00 per share, down $0.10. McDonald's is into the burger and fast-food business, similar to Starbucks that is in the specialty coffee business and, as Starbucks has started offering some technological solutions, McDonald's also started hiring people in this direction. Bob Rupczynski, an experienced marketer whose approach is heavily data-driven, has been hired as the company's global vice president of media and customer relationship management. McDonald's has seen its sales lagging recently, and is implementing a plan to make its digital marketing plan more robust and effective. Mobile ordering is on the company's menu for 20,000 stores across the United States. It can be safely said that McDonald's took notice of Starbucks own mobile app troubles and brought Rupczynski in to head off any potential customer complaints.

Earlier this week, the company announced it would be making the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken sauces available in Canadian grocery stores across the country for off-the-shelf sale. While no details were immediately available, the company is clearly focusing on improving customer relations globally in hopes of rekindling customer interest in the brand.

Access RDI's McDonald's Research Report at: https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=MCD

Our Actionable Research on Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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