A new study of legalized marijuana users found McDonald's to be their top dining choice over other fast food stops, something that could give an added boost to the restaurant's already strong sales trends.
"We found that 43% of people who bought legal marijuana chose McDonald's [over a four week period] as their go-to place to eat fast food when experiencing the munchies," Green Market Report's Cynthia Salarizadeh wrote in a post Wednesday entitled "Cannabis Consumers Prefer McDonald's and Taco Bell over Burger King and Arby's."
Multiple Wall Street firms such as Credit Suisse and Longbow Research have raised their sales estimates for McDonald's this month after strong feedback from franchise restaurant owners. McDonald's stock is crushing the market this year. It shares are up 27 percent year to date through Wednesday versus the S&P 500's 12 percent gain.
The survey showed Taco Bell was the second most popular fast food restaurant chain, with 18 percent of legal cannabis consumers visiting the restaurant in the past month.
The Green Market Report worked in conjunction with Consumer Research Around Cannabis to conduct the survey of adults who bought marijuana from a legal retailer or dispensary. The report also estimated 4.7 million people have legally purchased cannabis.