By Bill Pan
McDonald’s reported mixed third-quarter results as fewer visits to its U.S. restaurants outweighed higher spending per customer.
Sales at U.S. restaurants open for at least 13 months fell by 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the company said Nov. 4. Higher average checks largely offset the drop in customer traffic but were not enough to produce overall growth.
Even so, that segment returned to growth in September after declining in July and August.
The improvement followed efforts to restore mobile-app promotions aimed at frequent customers and shift more advertising toward popular meal deals.
“In the U.S., we’re encouraged by improvement as the quarter progressed following our intervention on value,” Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement.
During Wednesday’s earnings call, Kempczinski said McDonald’s had begun an eight-week test of new affordable menu options at approximately 1,900 U.S. restaurants.
The company is testing two value menus: mix-and-match bundles that give customers more choice and fixed bundles that combine selected items at a set price. Franchisees operating about 4,000 additional restaurants have independently introduced similar offers.
Together, the locations represent more than 40 percent of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants.
“Our goal is to launch a new program nationally in early 2027,” Kempczinski said.
Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said restored digital offers, including a $2 breakfast sandwich and free fries with a $1 minimum purchase, generated stronger-than-expected increases in customer visits and sales.
McDonald’s will continued to emphasizing meal deals in its marketing, Borden said.
The challenge of persuading customers to visit more often while also maintaining spending per visit extends beyond McDonald’s.
In the third quarter, U.S. fast-food traffic declined by 2.6 percent compared to a year earlier, while average prices rose by 2.6 percent, according to restaurant consultancy Revenue Management Solutions.
Those trends led to a 0.6 percent quarterly growth in net sales.
Just 35.5 percent of fast-food locations recorded sales growth during the quarter, down from 56.3 percent in the second quarter, the consultancy said. It marked the first time in six quarters that locations with declining sales clearly outnumbered those posting gains.
“The decline is almost entirely about guests: stores are holding check but losing visits,” Revenue Management Solutions said.
Despite weak performance at home, McDonald’s international same-store sales increased by 1.5 percent in the quarter.
Sales at company-operated restaurants rose by 1.4 percent, led by Germany and Australia, while weakness in France partly offset those gains. Its licensed restaurants recorded growth of 4.2 percent, driven by Japan and partly offset by declining sales in China.
“In the majority of our large international markets, we’re holding or gaining share,” Borden said on the call. “It’s a soft consumer environment, but we’re doing well.”
Total revenue increased approximately 1 percent to $7.16 billion. Net income rose 9 percent to $2.49 billion, or $3.51 per share, compared with $2.28 billion, or $3.18 per share, a year earlier.
Across company-operated and franchised restaurants, systemwide sales increased by 4 percent to more than $38 billion.
McDonald’s has raised its quarterly dividend by 4 percent to $1.93 per share.
