Mac Jr., Dollar Coffee Credited For McDonald's Q1 Top-Line Strength

Shares of McDonald's Corporation MCD were trading higher by more than 3 percent early Tuesday morning at $138.36 after the fast-food restaurant chain posted a better-than-expected first-quarter report.

If McDonald's stock holds on to its pre-market gains it will open above its all-time high of $134.76.

McDonald's said it earned $1.47 per share in the quarter on revenue of $5.68 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.33 per share on revenue of $5.51 billion.

Q1 Overview

Here are some of McDonald's highlights for its first quarter:

• Global comparable sales rose 4.0 percent and were positive in every geographic segment.
• Revenue for the quarter fell 4 percent (or 3 percent in constant currencies) due to a negative impact from re-franchising.
• However, consolidated operating income rose 14 percent from a year ago to $2.034 billion.
• Net income for the quarter also rose 8 percent from a year ago to $1.2148 billion.
• McDonald's returned $1.6 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases.
• The company reaffirmed its commitment to return $22 to $24 billion to investors through 2019.

U.S. Strength Continues

McDonald's U.S. segment has been showing encouraging metrics since the launch of the All Day Breakfast offering and realized a 1.7 percent comparable sales growth in the first quarter.

McDonald's cited its strong U.S. performance to its strategic menu offerings, including the Mac Jr. and beverage (such as dollar coffee) value promotions. Looking forward the company said it will continue to focus on driving guest count and growth.

"Our efforts to build a better McDonald's are yielding meaningful results with continued positive momentum and a strong start to 2017 that includes positive comparable sales across all segments, higher global guest counts and enhanced profitability," said McDonald's president and CEO Steve Easterbrook.

"There's a sense of urgency across the business as we take actions to retain existing customers, regain lapsed customers and convert casual customers to committed customers. We're continuing to build a more personalized and enjoyable visit, which delights customers with the taste and quality of our food and offers the highest level of convenience, in order to gain traffic in an increasingly competitive industry and deliver profitable growth for our System and shareholders."

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McDonald's CEO: Traffic Isn't Soft, It's Down __________ Image Credit: By Evan-Amos (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons