10:46 AM EDT, 10/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- McDonald's (MCD) E. coli outbreak from Quarter Pounders is expected to have a much smaller impact than Chipotle Mexican Grill's ( CMG ) 2016 incident, Wedbush said in a report Wednesday.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked an E. coli outbreak to McDonald's Quarter Pounders, with 49 cases reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11 across 10 states, resulting in "10 hospitalizations and one death," Wedbush said.

McDonald's linked the illnesses to slivered onions from a single supplier for the Quarter Pounder and has removed the burger from restaurants in several states, including Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

During its peak impact, Chipotle's same-store sales growth fell by 29.7% in Q1 of 2016 and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization decreased from $894 million in 2015 to $181 million in 2016, the report said.

McDonald's is expected to face a limited impact mainly in affected states, and it can respond more swiftly than Chipotle, whose brand was closely tied to quality and a different customer base.

The full extent of infections is not expected to become clear for another two weeks, when most cases are likely to have emerged, Wedbush said.

Wedbush has an outperform rating on McDonald's with a 12-month price target of $295.

Shares of McDonald's were down more than 4% in recent Wednesday trading.

Price: 300.75, Change: -13.94, Percent Change: -4.43