McDonald’s Beat Analysts’ Q1 Expectations

McDonald’s (MCD) posted its first-quarter earnings on April 30. For the quarter ending on March 31, the company posted an adjusted EPS of $1.78 on revenues of $4.96 billion. Year-over-year, the company’s revenues fell 3.6%, while its adjusted EPS fell 0.6%.

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For the first quarter, McDonald’s outperformed analysts’ revenue estimate of $4.93 billion and EPS estimate of $1.75. The company outperformed analysts’ SSSG (same-store sales growth) estimate of 3.4% by posting 5.4%. The company posted strong SSSG in all three segments. McDonald’s management credited the deployment of its “Experience of the Future” and its promotional offering for positive SSSG in the United States. On May 30, McDonald’s stock price rose to a high of $200 before closing the day at $197.57—a rise of 0.2% from the previous day’s closing price.

Since the beginning of this year, McDonald’s has returned 11.3%. The company has underperformed compared to the broader equity market. The S&P 500 Index has returned 17.5% YTD (year-to-date). Starbucks (SBUX), Wendy’s (WEN), and Jack in the Box (JACK) have returned 20.6%, 19.2%, and -0.7%, respectively. The broader comparative index, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) has returned 21.3%.