McDonald’s is reportedly giving bacon away with every order today. While it might be seen as a regular promotion, the move is certain to attract thousands or even millions of additional sales today. Bacon is a massive selling point in the US fast-food industry.

https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/1088916443641597953

McDonald’s is by far the highest-priced stock in fast-food, clocking in $100 higher per share than its nearest competitors. Their assets extend beyond fast-food. They net as much as a third of their revenue from renting commercial real-estate to franchisees.

Bacon Giveaway Not Bringing Home the Bacon?

Over 200 million Americans consume some amount of bacon each year. A minority consume five pounds or more in a year.

McDonald’s closed out yesterday’s trading slightly higher than it began the day. But early trading today shows the promotion could be having a negative impact on trader sentiment. Quarterly sales will have to justify giving away the meat which costs, on average, more than $5 per pound.

Competitor Doubles Down on #BaconHour

McDonald’s competitor Wendy’s answered the bacon challenge by giving away its Baconator sandwich all week. The McDonald’s promotion is only for Tuesday. In an effort to build its DoorDash delivery service, Wendy’s is giving a free Baconator sandwich to anyone spending $10 or more and using the service. All week.

Join us on Twitch from 1-4 EST as we celebrate Year of the Pig the best way we know how, with all things Bacon! Hit up that DoorDash delivery and get the payload moving. https://t.co/sQfjVH1iaa — Wendy's (@Wendys) January 29, 2019

Wendy’s shares were down half a percent in the morning trading session. Each share of WEN is currently worth almost 10% of a single share of MCD. By press time WEN shares were trading at $17.23.

Wall Street Losing Taste for Fast Food This Morning?

Domino’s also suffered a little bit this morning.

Domino’s had lost over $1 from its share price of more than $275 in the first two hours of trading.

Many fast-food chains are privately held or held by conglomerates that make it difficult to chart their individual performance. On that note, Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC, saw a massive morning spike toward $93.50 before deflating back into the mid-$92 range.

Needless to say, it’s been an interesting morning for quantitative traders on Wall Street, who may program their bots to trade based on fractional shifts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was wending within a 100 point range over the morning. Several tech companies are expected to announce earnings this week. Money could be leaving fast food stocks and heading into tech as a generally positive outlook — despite crazy markets a couple months back — is reported by Silicon Valley companies.

Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView