Here are the stories that caught our eye this week.
Strong McDonald’s Earnings
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) shares hit a new all-time high on Tuesday, surpassing $141 per share, after the company released outstanding first-quarter 2017 earnings.
Buoyed by strong all-day breakfast sales and aggressive share buybacks, the company posted earnings per share of $1.47 in the quarter, a 19.4% increase versus the same quarter last year. Analysts expected McDonald’s to deliver a bottom line of $1.33 per share.
New tech highs
The NASDAQ Composite Index made history this week, surpassing the 6,000 mark for the first time. This happened less than a year after surpassing the 5,000 point mark for the first time since the peak of the dot com bubble in the late-1990s.
The largest NASDAQ ETF, the PowerShares QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) also hit an all-time high, surpassing $136 per share for the first time.
The technology-heavy index was boosted this week by strong earnings from several prominent members, including Netflix, Amazon, and Alphabet.
Medical technology deal
On Sunday, medical device maker Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) announced it would be acquiring rival C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) for total compensation of $317 per share, a 25% increase versus the previous closing price.
The two companies say they will be able to save approximately $300 million annually by combining, and the transaction should improve gross margins by 300 basis points in the first full fiscal year after closing. The deal is expected to close sometime in the fall.
