McDonald’s beats on profit and revenue, reverses U.S. same-store sales declines

McDonald's just out with quarterly results. We don't see anything, I don't think, Kate Rodgers in these results from the E. coli, right? No, Joe. I'm sure it will come up on the conference call, but this quarter ended before that began. I'll take you through the numbers here. The fast food giant's results beat on the top and bottom lines, EPS 323 adjusted, better than the 320. Analysts were looking for revenues 6.87 billion, also slightly above the 6.82 billion projected, but same store sales, missing estimates across the board. In the U.S., which is its key market, sales increased 0.3 percent. That was slightly less than the 0.5 percent analysts estimated. The tepid sales growth came amid value campaigns like the $5 meal and marketing successes like its collectible cups, along with growth in digital and delivery. Globally, sales also fell more than anticipated, 1.5 percent drop versus the estimate of down 0.6 percent, rather. International operated market segment sales fell 2.1 percent versus the estimate of down 1.2 percent, and international developmental license market segment sales down 3.5 percent versus the estimate of down 1.2 percent. A number of markets had negative comp sales driven by the U.K. and France, and the continued impact of the war in the Middle East, along with negative comps in China, did weigh on some of those results. Now, the company also declared a 6 percent increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $1.77 per share. The call starts at 8.30, and as mentioned, it will be the first time we're going to hear from CEO Chris Kempchinski amid the ongoing investigation into E. coli at some of its location in the Mountain West states. The company is set to resume serving quarter pounders this week at the some 900 locations that pulled them. They'll be served without onions, which are believed to be the cause of the E. coli, as beef has been ruled out as the source, guys, and we'll bring you any updates from that conference call as we get them. Back over to you, Joe.