McDonald's CEO Cantalupo Dies of Heart Attack

Bell "was the right candidate," said Scott Rothbort, president of LakeView Asset Management and a contributor to Street Insight. "He should be a solid force for years to come in continuing the spirit of Cantalupo." (Rothbort is long McDonald's shares.)

Company observers expect the new CEO to continue with Cantalupo's turnaround strategy. Last week, McDonald's forecast higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings and said March sales jumped 11.5% overall, but the stock fell as investors worried about anemic sales overseas. Same-store sales in Europe dropped 2.9%; the region makes up about one-third of the company's total profit.

CIBC analyst John Glass went as far as downgrading the shares on April 14, noting that the stock market was becoming "hyper-sensitive" to McDonald's same-store sales results and warning that comparisons would toughen in May.

Investors had been pampered with six straight months of double-digit U.S. same-store sales and five straight months of positive same-store sales in Europe. As a result, the stock closed down 4.5% on April 14, the first day of trading after last week's announcement.

In his note, Glass said he is most concerned about the company's operations in Europe. The analyst thinks food price increases are harder to pass along to consumers in the fast-food arena.

Doug Christopher, an analyst at Crowell, Weedon & Co., agreed that same-store sales monthly comparisons will get harder in May, but said they are likely to remain consistent in the positive 3% to 6% range both in the U.S. and overseas. Christopher said the percentage increases won't be as huge as they have been in the past year.

"What we've seen these last few months has been amazing," Christopher said.

Christopher, who is personally long McDonald's stock, expects that in the next year, the company's turnaround will be completed. (Crowell, Weedon & Co. does not do investment banking.)