McDonald's & Starbucks Shares Plunge Severely, Blame Israel-Hamas Conflict!

<p>&nbsp;The two largest US restaurant companies maintain that the Israel-Hamas war has affected their sales since late last year.</p><p><br /></p><p>McDonald's shares fell nearly 4% yesterday after it reported a sales slowdown due to the escalating Middle East conflict caused it to lose revenue in its fourth quarter.</p><p><br /></p><p>Starbucks shares have fallen about 2% since this morning when the company reported that the war situation remains the main topic affecting its sales in the last three months.</p><p><br /></p><p>The giant is among several US companies that agreed to say the Israel-Hamas conflict is affecting their sales and may hit demand targets in future quarters.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Starbucks became the target of a massive boycott when the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) expressed their solidarity with Palestinians brutally killed by Israeli forces.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, the company acted to sue and warn the union for violating trademark ethics.</p><p><br /></p><p>McDonald's Chief Executive Officer, Chris Kempczinki said the company saw weaker sales due to some Muslim countries such as in the Middle East, Malaysia, Indonesia and France carrying out large-scale boycott activities.</p><p><br /></p><p>McDonald's will not expect their sales to recover when the war in the Middle East ends.</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition, some global activists also called for a boycott of US restaurant companies such as Domino's Pizza, Papa John's, Burger King and Pizza Hut.</p>