TL;DR
McDonald's announced an $8.5 billion investment in its 'Next' program during its Investor Day presentation. The investment is part of the company's plan to remain competitive.
Will McDonald’s latest aggressive move work?
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast The Week in Restaurants looks at the Investor Day presentation at the fast-food giant, which announced $8.5 billion in investments behind its “Next” program. We will discuss that move and what it can do for the restaurant chain.
Darden earnings came out this week and we will discuss how Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and the brand’s other chains are performing.
The episode was also recorded at our FSTEC conference and we talk about what we heard during the event.
On Tech Check, Joe Guszkowski talks more. About FSTEC.
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Restaurant Business Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants.
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In this story
This story was originally published in Restaurant Business on September 25, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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