McDonald’s Stock Drops as Revenue, Comparable Store Sales Disappoint

McDonald’s (MCD) shares fell on Thursday after the fast-food giant’s first-quarter revenue and comparable sales came up short of analysts’ estimates.

The Chicago-based company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.67 on revenue that decreased 3% year-over-year to $5.96 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected $2.67 and $6.12 billion, respectively.

Global comparable sales fell 1% globally, below the 0.31% growth analysts had forecast, although McDonald’s said comparable sales “were essentially flat” excluding Leap Day last year. They declined 3.6% in the U.S., worse than the 1.37% decline Wall Street had projected.

McDonald’s shares were down 1.4% shortly after the results were released. They entered the day up 10% since the start of the year.

Last quarter, global comparable sales returned to growth after two quarters of declines, but U.S. comparable sales declined 1.4% as traffic was negatively impacted by an E.coli outbreak last October.