OAN Staff James Meyers
10:35 AM – Thursday, May 1, 2025
Fast-food chain McDonald’s reported its worst quarterly sales numbers in the United States since 2020.
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The fast-food chain reported U.S. “same-store” sales dropped 3.6%, which McDonalds claimed was due to financially strapped consumers. It’s the worst decrease since the COVID-19 pandemic, when same-store sales fell by a whopping 8.7%.
Same-store sales, which is also referred to as comparable-store sales or “comps,” is a retail metric that measures the revenue growth (or decline) of stores that have been open for a certain period of time—usually at least one year.
McDonald’s Corp. CEO Chris Kempczinski seemingly blamed President Donald Trump during a Thursday earnings call, saying that the reason for the low sales was due to “the divided U.S. economy where low- and middle-income consumers are being particularly weighed down by the cumulative impact of inflation and heightened anxiety about the economic outlook.”
During the earnings call, the McDonald’s CEO also noted that they will be revamping their McValue menu choices, while extending its $5 Meal Deal throughout the rest of the year.
Additionally, the company will be adding new menu items to win back more customers. This includes the “fan favorite” chicken strips, which are coming back permanently, and the limited-edition meal deal with “A Minecraft Movie.”
Furthermore, the fast food chain suggested that it will boost profits by adding new drinks to the menus, taking ideas from its CosMc’s brand. CosMc’s is a spinoff restaurant from McDonald’s, designed as a beverage-led concept with a focus on specialty drinks and snacks. It’s a separate brand from the traditional McDonald’s, but operates under the same parent company.
Meanwhile, according to Street Account, analysts were expecting a U.S. same-store sales decline of 1.7% in the first quarter. As a result of the announcement, shares in McDonald’s dropped 1.3% to $315.42 in early Thursday trading. Additionally, the company announced a first-quarter net income of $1.87 billion, or $2.60 per share, down from $1.93 billion, or $2.66 a share, the previous year.
Meanwhile, revenue fell 3% to $5.96 billion, which fell below expectations of $6.09 billion.
However, international developed licensed markets, which are composed of countries China, Japan, and Brazil, reported a sales increase of 3.5% — going above expectations of a 3.2% jump.
Despite the sales falling in the U.S., McDonald’s is still reportedly planning to open 2,200 locations and spend between $3 billion and $3.2 billion capital expenditures this year, according to a regulatory filing.
The new locations are expected to boost sales by 2%, according to the company.
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