Comparing Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK) with McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) may sound like comparing apples to oranges, but there is a connection. Where McDonald’s executes at a high degree, leans into digital, and takes market share, Jack in the Box suffers from a series of executive missteps that culminated in lost market share, reduced shareholder value, increased debt, and suspended capital returns.
The connection? Jack in the Box's problems can be corrected. It won’t take McDonald’s place as the world’s largest restaurant, but it can take cues from its more successful competitor, reclaim lost glory and reinvigorate shareholder value. Last year’s CEO change is the first of many events likely to take this consumer stock back to higher levels, if not back to its highest levels, in time.
