Operations

McDonald's commits $8.5B to restaurant modernization

Photo: McDonald's

September 23, 2026

Summarize with

McDonald's has unveiled its McDonald's > NEXT strategy, first announced in June, outlining new growth and productivity targets aimed at increasing customer visits, improving restaurant operations and strengthening franchisee profitability, the company announced in a news release. McDonald's plans to provide approximately $8.5 billion in support through 2036, including $5 billion by 2030, to accelerate restaurant modernization, technology deployment and operational improvements.

The strategy builds on McDonald's Accelerating the Arches initiative and focuses on four areas: menu innovation, personalized customer engagement, restaurant efficiency and employee hospitality. McDonald's is targeting 1.5 percentage points of market share gains in both chicken and beverages by 2030 while maintaining its leadership position in beef.

"McDonald's has the unmatched scale, customer insights, brand loyalty, and operational capabilities to not only adapt to the next wave of change in our industry, but to turn it into an advantage," Chris Kempczinski, chairman and CEO of McDonald's, said in the release.

A central component of NEXT is the deployment of generative AI-enabled ArchIQ technology, alongside simplified operations and modernized restaurant designs. McDonald's expects these improvements to generate approximately 250 basis points in gross restaurant-level efficiency gains, equivalent to roughly $100,000 in annual cash flow benefits for the average U.S. restaurant. The company estimates the investments will deliver an approximately four-year payback for franchisees after partnering support, with most of the efficiency benefits expected to improve restaurant profitability over time.

McDonald's also announced new financial targets, including an operating margin in the low-to-mid 50% range by 2030 and annual baseline capital expenditures of approximately $3 billion from 2027 through 2030. The company expects restaurant expansion to contribute nearly 2.5% to systemwide sales growth in 2027, moderating to approximately 2% by 2030.

The strategy will be supported by Make It Golden, a multiyear, systemwide initiative launching Oct. 5, McDonald's Founder's Day. The program will focus on food quality, hospitality and delivering a more consistent customer experience across the company's more than 46,000 restaurants worldwide.