McDonald's U.S. sales slip 0.2 percent as it leans harder on value

What happened

McDonald's reported on Wednesday 4 November that global comparable sales grew 1.5 percent in the third quarter, while sales at established U.S. restaurants slipped 0.2 percent. ^{[1, 5]}

Comparable sales count restaurants open at least 13 months. International Operated Markets were up 1.4 percent, led by Germany and Australia and partly offset by France. International Developmental Licensed Markets were up 4.2 percent, led by Japan, with China negative. ^[1]

AP reported the global figure as 1.3 percent; the company's release and Yahoo Finance give 1.5 percent. ^{[1, 3, 4]}

Why it matters

The U.S. decline was the company's first since early 2025, AP reported. The company said fewer guest visits were largely offset by bigger average checks. A year earlier, U.S. comparable sales were up 2.4 percent and the global figure 3.6 percent. ^{[1, 3]}

Sales, revenue and profit

Systemwide sales, which count every restaurant including those franchisees run, were up 4 percent to over $38 billion, the company said. Revenue was up 1 percent to $7,157 million. It is mostly franchised revenues, $4,487 million of rent and royalties, plus $2,480 million of sales at the company's own restaurants. ^{[1, 2]}

Operating income was up 7 percent to $3,595 million, and up 8 percent excluding $56 million of charges, mostly restructuring, the release said. U.S. operating income was up 8 percent to $1,625 million. Net income was $2,486 million, up 9 percent. ^{[1, 2]}

Value and the low-income customer

Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in the release that the U.S. improved 'as the quarter progressed following our intervention on value.' AP reported that restored in-app deals and marketing shifted toward value meals helped push U.S. same-store sales positive in September and October. ^{[1, 3]}

The release itself does not mention lower-income customers. On the investor call, Kempczinski said 'You need to have good entry-level value, particularly with the low-income consumer,' AP reported. He said an eight-week test of mix-and-match and fixed-price bundles had begun at 1,900 U.S. restaurants, and about 4,000 franchisees had launched bundles of their own. ^{[1, 3]}

Kempczinski said sales of the company's $5 and $6 Meal Deals were up 7 percent from a year earlier, Yahoo Finance reported. ^[4]

What settles it next

AP reported that McDonald's plans new value-oriented meal bundles early next year, after the bundle test. The company said it expects about 2,100 net restaurant additions in 2026 and capital spending of about $3.7 billion. The fourth-quarter results are the next record of whether the September and October turn held. ^{[2, 3]}

Who it reaches

McDonald's (MCD) is direct: the results and the value plan are its own, filed with its current report of Wednesday 4 November. Franchisees own about 95 percent of its U.S. restaurants, AP reported, so they decide much of what reaches the menu board. ^{[3, 5]}