McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), which owns and franchises restaurants worldwide, reports third-quarter results before the US open tomorrow, Wednesday 4 November. That is ahead of the US open at 14:30 UK time, so UK traders will see the reaction form. The exact release and call times have not been confirmed.
The shares closed today at $263.04, down 0.98%. That is 13.4% above the 2 October close of $231.89 and 14.8% above the $229.20 low hit on 5 October. It is still 13.3% below the first close of 2026, $303.26 on 2 January, and 23.0% below this year’s high of $341.75 on 2 March.
The consensus, the average analyst forecast, is earnings per share of $3.36 compared to $3.22 a year ago. Zacks Investment Research puts revenue at $7.28bn, 2.9% above a year earlier.
Bloomberg estimates, cited by Yahoo Finance, point to global comparable sales (sales at restaurants open over a year) up 1.4%, against 3.6% a year ago. They have US comparable sales down 0.5%.
Last time, on the 4th of August, earnings per share were $3.38 against a $3.32 estimate, but revenue of $7.10bn missed. Quartz reported US comparable sales up 0.8%, slowing from 2.5% in the first quarter. The shares rose 1.2% on the day to $268.34. Earnings have beaten consensus in three of the last four quarters, according to Zacks.
The US business is the focus. Franchisees’ top concerns, according to BTIG analyst Peter Saleh, are “lower-income challenges, disappointing promotions and overly crowded marketing calendars”. Placer.ai, a foot-traffic analytics firm, found visits declined from a year ago.
Skye Anderson, the newly named president of McDonald’s USA, is working on a new value menu for 2027. Citi analyst Jon Tower said “another attempt at entry-level value should come in early ’27”, and that he still has confidence in beverages as a broader platform.
Saleh also said franchisees are “highly skeptical” that the margin gains behind the $8.5bn NEXT investment plan are possible. Management had said international comparable sales growth would accelerate, so that line is also one to check.
With the shares up since early October, US comparable sales against the expected 0.5% decline will be the figure to check tomorrow, alongside any value-menu commentary.