McDonald's (MCD 0.58%) may have missed on both the top and bottom lines in its recently reported fourth quarter of 2024, but that didn't stop several analysts from becoming more bullish on its prospects.

A clutch of them raised their price targets on the durable fast-food company's shares, one of whom was Jefferies' Andy Barish. Let's see what he now thinks of the company, and whether that perspective is realistic.

Post-earnings reaction

Barish made his move on Monday, shortly after McDonald's published those results. It wasn't exactly a drastic change in view, as he added $4 per share to his existing price target for a new figure of $349. Since the latter was 13% above the stock's closing price at the time, it shouldn't be any surprise to learn that Barish maintained his existing buy recommendation on the fast-food giant's shares.

Some might consider this to be counterintuitive, given the company's performance. After all, it fell short of the analyst consensus estimates for both revenue and profitability; such a dynamic tends to guarantee more pessimistic takes on a stock.

According to reports, Barish felt that the decline in U.S. same-restaurant sales that affected fundamentals was broadly expected by investors. On the other side of the coin, McDonald's topped the average estimate for same-restaurant international revenue, and it still has excellent potential for continued growth in key metrics.

Buy the growth

Like the Jefferies pundit, I've been a McDonald's bull for some time now, and I see no reason to abandon that stance.

Management has executed very well on several long-tail growth initiatives, including but by no means limited to a wide rollout of its labor- and time-saving kiosk ordering system. It's a busy planet, and the company is still a world-beater in its niche, so continued success is in the cards.