Should McDonald's Be Afraid Of Chick-Fil-A?

Mark Kalinowski, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, revealed that Chick-fil-A is a bigger competitor for McDonald's than other burger fast food joints, like Burger King or Wendy. Kalinowski says that the chicken chain is a "serious growing and competitive threat" in an investor brief.

Even though Chick-fil-A won't top McDonald's total sales in the next ten years, Kalinowski argues that it may grow faster than expected. There is a likelihood that if Chick-fil-A can raises its systemwide sales by $6.3-$9.0 billion in the next decade it will be similar to, or even greater than, McDonald's systemwide sales.

In 2013, Chick-fil-A had U.S. sales of $5.052 billion, which is a far cry from McDonald's domestic sales of $35.856 billion. Still, Chick-fil-A has surpassed KFC in the chicken category leader of sales, which hints at the company's possibility to surpass McDonald's as well.