McDonald's (MCD) Earnings Show Fewer US Orders and Bigger Bills
McDonald's (MCD) said its US same-store sales fell 0.2% in the third quarter of 2026, as fewer orders came in and the average bill rose. That placed it 4th of 6 big US chains whose quarters ended in September, far behind Burger King at 8.4%. Profit excluding charges still grew and beat analysts' forecasts.
The short answer. McDonald's US restaurants open at least 13 months took in a little less from July to September than a year earlier, and fewer orders came in. That matters to diners as well as shareholders, since fast-food prices across the US rose 3.2% in the year to September, faster than the price of food at the store. Set beside five other big chains for quarters ending in September, McDonald's came 4th of 6. Since April 2025, its releases have credited more US orders only once in six quarters.
Show the data
| Category | Change |
|---|---|
| Burger King US | +8.4% |
| Starbucks US (to Sep 27) | +7.7% |
| Domino's US (to Sep 6) | +0.3% |
| McDonald's US | -0.2% |
| Taco Bell US | -4.0% |
| Wingstop US (to Sep 26) | -5.4% |
McDonald's third quarter of 2026 in three numbers
Every company reporting the same week, with its date and time, is in StockTitan's Earnings Calendar for the Week of November 2, 2026.
On this page
- McDonald's earnings report and US same-store sales
- McDonald's profit and revenue for the third quarter
- McDonald's vs Burger King and other fast food chains
- Fast food prices compared with grocery prices
- McDonald's dividend, buybacks and debt
- McDonald's 2026 outlook and loyalty sales
- McDonald's NEXT plan and Investor Day
- Frequently asked questions
McDonald's earnings report and US same-store sales
McDonald's US same-store sales fell 0.2%, and McDonald's said fewer orders came in.
Same-store sales compare restaurants open at least 13 months with the same months a year earlier. McDonald's explains the US figure in one sentence of its results release of November 4, 2026: "Comparable sales declined slightly as negative comparable guest counts were largely offset by positive check growth." Guest counts are the number of orders, and the check is the average amount spent on each one.
So fewer orders pulled sales down, and a higher average bill made up most of the gap. By McDonald's own definition, the average bill moves with menu prices and with what people order.
McDonald's expanded its value deals in April, adding a menu of items under $3 and a $4 breakfast meal, Reuters reported on August 4. Speaking about the second quarter, McDonald's executives said the offers brought in fewer extra visits than expected, Reuters reported the same day. In the third quarter release, chief executive Chris Kempczinski pointed to "improvement as the quarter progressed following our intervention on value" in the US. The release does not put a number on that improvement.
In the six quarters from April 2025 to September 2026, McDonald's credited growth in US guest counts only once, in the last three months of 2025, when it pointed to "successful marketing promotions."
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 0.3% |
| Q4 2024 | -1.4% |
| Q1 2025 | -3.6% |
| Q2 2025 | 2.5% |
| Q3 2025 | 2.4% |
| Q4 2025 | 6.8% |
| Q1 2026 | 3.9% |
| Q2 2026 | 0.8% |
| Q3 2026 | -0.2% |
A year earlier, US same-store sales rose 2.4%. Growth reached 6.8% in the last three months of 2025, then slowed to 3.9% and 0.8% in the first two quarters of 2026.
Show the data
| Quarter | US same-store sales | What McDonald's said drove it |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2025 | +2.5% | "primarily driven by positive check growth" |
| Q3 2025 | +2.4% | "primarily driven by positive check growth" |
| Q4 2025 | +6.8% | "positive check and guest count growth primarily from successful marketing promotions" |
| Q1 2026 | +3.9% | "primarily driven by positive check growth" |
| Q2 2026 | +0.8% | "positive check growth, including favorable product mix, partly offset by negative comparable guest counts" |
| Q3 2026 | -0.2% | "declined slightly as negative comparable guest counts were largely offset by positive check growth" |
Source: McDonald's quarterly results releases, Q2 2025 to Q3 2026. McDonald's does not publish a guest count percentage.
McDonald's profit and revenue for the third quarter
Profit grew faster than sales. Leaving out the charges it lists, McDonald's earned $3.57 a share, 11% more than a year earlier and more than analysts expected.
The quarter ran from July through September 2026. Revenue rose 1% to $7.16 billion.
Operating income rose 7% to $3,595 million. That is the profit from running the business, before interest and taxes. Leaving out charges, it rose 8%.
Diluted earnings per share came to $3.51, up 10% from $3.18 a year before. That is the profit for each share after every cost.
That includes charges of $0.06 a share, mostly the cost of reorganizing how the company works, which it calls restructuring. Leaving them out, it earned $3.57 a share, against $3.22 a year earlier.
McDonald's put the profit growth down mostly to its franchised restaurants and to other income. Franchisees pay it rent and fees tied to their sales, so its profit on those rose as their sales grew. It also booked more of what it calls other operating income, from outside its restaurants' daily sales. That includes gains from selling restaurants it ran, which reached $97 million against $35 million a year earlier, as it sold more US restaurants, its supplemental filing showed. That $62 million increase was about a quarter of the $239 million rise in operating income.
In the US alone, operating income rose 8%, even as same-store sales slipped.
Analysts expected $3.36 a share, in the consensus compiled by Nasdaq, so the $3.57 came in above what they expected. Nasdaq's figure for the year-earlier quarter, $3.22, is the one McDonald's gave without charges.
Across all its markets, same-store sales rose 1.5%. The table below gives each region.
Chief executive Chris Kempczinski said McDonald's "delivered another quarter of global growth, with solid performance across much of our international business." In plain words, the growth came from abroad: same-store sales rose 1.4% in the large markets McDonald's runs itself and 4.2% in markets run by licensees.
Among the large markets it runs itself, Germany and Australia led, while France held the total back. Among markets run by licensees, Japan led, while same-store sales fell in China.
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7,157 million | $7,078 million |
| Operating income | $3,595 million | $3,357 million |
| Net income | $2,486 million | $2,278 million |
| Diluted EPS | $3.51 | $3.18 |
| Diluted EPS excluding charges | $3.57 | $3.22 |
| Global same-store sales | +1.5% | +3.6% |
| US same-store sales | -0.2% | +2.4% |
| International Operated Markets (large markets McDonald's runs abroad) | +1.4% | +4.3% |
| International Developmental Licensed Markets (markets run by licensees) | +4.2% | +4.7% |
| Systemwide sales, all restaurants | over $38 billion | over $36 billion |
Source: McDonald's results releases for the third quarter of 2026 and of 2025. Same-store sales, which McDonald's calls comparable sales, leave out currency moves. Systemwide sales include franchised restaurants, whose sales are not McDonald's revenue.
McDonald's vs Burger King and other fast food chains
Burger King grew fastest in the US among these chains. McDonald's came 4th of 6 big chains whose quarters ended in September.
Burger King's US same-store sales rose 8.4%, up from 3.2% a year earlier, its owner Restaurant Brands International reported on October 29. Starbucks's US same-store sales rose 7.7%, with 2.4% more transactions, in its quarter to September 27.
At the bottom, Taco Bell's US same-store sales fell 4%, Yum Brands said, the subject of StockTitan's Yum Brands earnings article. Wingstop's US same-store sales fell 5.4%, and Domino's rose 0.3% in a quarter that ended on September 6.
So McDonald's US result trailed Burger King, Starbucks and Domino's and beat Taco Bell and Wingstop. Starbucks and Chipotle both said their transactions rose, while McDonald's said its guest counts fell.
Chipotle stays out of the ranking, because its figure covers all its company-owned restaurants, not only those in the US. Its comparable sales rose 2.1%, with 0.8% more transactions, as StockTitan's Chipotle earnings article explained.
Show the data
| Chain | Measure, as the company names it | Growth | Quarter ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burger King US | Comparable sales, US | +8.4% | September 30, 2026 |
| Starbucks US | US comparable coffeehouse sales | +7.7% | September 27, 2026 |
| McDonald's US | US comparable sales | -0.2% | September 30, 2026 |
| Domino's US | US same store sales | +0.3% | September 6, 2026 |
| Taco Bell US | US same-store sales | -4% | September 30, 2026 |
| Wingstop US | Domestic same store sales | -5.4% | September 26, 2026 |
| Chipotle, company-owned restaurants (not ranked) | Comparable restaurant sales | +2.1% | September 30, 2026 |
Source: each company's results release for the quarter. Wendy's reports on November 5, 2026.
Fast food prices compared with grocery prices
Fast-food prices across the US rose 3.2% in the year to September. That was less than all prices rose, but faster than food bought at the store.
The government tracks fast food under the name limited service meals. Those prices rose 3.2% over the 12 months to September 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on October 14. Meals at sit-down restaurants rose 3.8%, and food bought at stores rose 1.8%.
All prices together rose 3.7% over the same 12 months.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant meals | 3.8% |
| All prices | 3.7% |
| Fast food (limited service meals) | 3.2% |
| Food bought at stores | 1.8% |
When store food rises slower than restaurant meals, cooking at home looks cheaper by comparison, and that is the choice a fast-food chain competes with every day.
McDonald's dividend, buybacks and debt
McDonald's raised its quarterly dividend to $1.93 a share in September, its 50th yearly increase in a row.
The new dividend is payable on December 15 to shareholders on the company's books on December 1, McDonald's said on September 17. That adds up to $7.72 a year, up 4% from $1.86 a quarter.
In the third quarter, McDonald's paid $1.3 billion in dividends and spent $519 million buying back 1.9 million of its shares, its supplemental filing showed. Buybacks for the first nine months of 2026 came to $1.8 billion.
Diluted shares averaged 708.3 million in the third quarter, against 715.9 million a year earlier. That count adds shares promised to employees. Long-term debt stood at $39.9 billion on June 30, and cash at $822 million, its second quarter report showed. Its results by quarter are on StockTitan's McDonald's financials page.
McDonald's 2026 outlook and loyalty sales
McDonald's trimmed its plans for new restaurants this year. It now expects to open about 2,500 worldwide in 2026, against about 2,600 in its August outlook.
The new outlook is in McDonald's supplemental filing of November 4. Openings in the US and the large markets it runs abroad are now about 700, against about 750 in the August filing.
Spending on new restaurants, equipment and other long-lived assets, called capital expenditures, is now expected at about $3.7 billion. In August, McDonald's expected $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion.
Other targets stayed the same. McDonald's still expects about 2,100 more restaurants at the end of 2026 than at the start, after closings. It still expects operating income for the year to equal a mid-to-high 40% share of revenue.
Sales to loyalty members, customers who identify themselves with its rewards program when they order, came to more than $11 billion in the third quarter, the release said. A year earlier, they were over $9 billion.
Over the past year, loyalty sales reached $41 billion, against about $34 billion a year earlier.
McDonald's now counts them in 70 markets, against 60 a year earlier, so the two totals do not cover the same markets.
McDonald's NEXT plan and Investor Day
McDonald's push for better food and service began on October 5, after this quarter ended.
On August 4, McDonald's named Skye Anderson president of McDonald's USA. Her appointment would bring "focus and urgency" to the US business, chief executive Chris Kempczinski said in the second quarter release.
On September 23, McDonald's set out its plan for the years ahead, called McDonald's NEXT. It said it would give franchisees about $8.5 billion of support through 2036, as rent relief and money for upgrades. The money is meant to update restaurants and their technology, according to its Investor Day release. McDonald's estimated that franchisees would earn back what they put in within about four years, counting its help.
The push for better food and service, called Make It Golden, began on October 5. So the third quarter shows McDonald's before these changes, and the fourth quarter is the first one that includes them.
What to watch
- How much did McDonald's owe at the end of September? Its third quarter report on Form 10-Q will say. The second quarter report came three days after those results.
- How did Wendy's US sales compare? Wendy's reports its third quarter before the market opens on November 5, 2026.
- Whether US orders grew after the October changes: McDonald's fourth quarter release. Last year's came on February 11, 2026.
Our numbers
These figures are our calculations from the sources linked in this article. Each chain counts its own restaurants a little differently, and a release that names no guest counts says nothing either way about orders.
- 4th of 6: McDonald's place among six big US chains without table service, sorted by US same-store sales growth for quarters ending in September 2026, each figure from the company's own release.
- 1 of 6: the quarters from April 2025 to September 2026 in which McDonald's release credited growth in US guest counts.
- About a quarter: the $62 million rise in gains from selling restaurants, divided by the $239 million rise in operating income.
Frequently asked questions
When does McDonald's report earnings?
McDonald's reported its third quarter 2026 results on November 4, 2026, before the US stock market opened. Its call with analysts was at 7:30 a.m. Central time (8:30 a.m. ET).
Is McDonald's traffic down?
Yes, in the US. McDonald's said fewer orders came in during the third quarter of 2026, when US same-store sales fell 0.2%.
How did Burger King's US sales do?
Burger King's US same-store sales rose 8.4% in the quarter that ended on September 30, 2026, up from 3.2% a year earlier, Restaurant Brands International said. That was the fastest of six big chains whose quarters ended in September.
What is McDonald's dividend?
McDonald's pays $1.93 a share each quarter, or $7.72 a year. The next payment is on December 15, 2026, to shareholders on the company's books on December 1, after the 50th yearly increase in a row.
What is McDonald's outlook for 2026?
McDonald's expects to open about 2,500 restaurants worldwide in 2026, a little fewer than it expected in August, its November 4 filing said. It plans to spend about $3.7 billion on capital expenditures, the low end of its earlier range. It still expects operating income at a mid-to-high 40% share of revenue.
Are fast food prices going up?
Yes. Fast-food prices across the US rose 3.2% in the 12 months to September 2026, faster than the 1.8% rise in food bought at stores, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. McDonald's release does not give its own menu prices.
Sources
- McDonald's on StockTitan
- McDonald's: third quarter 2026 results, November 4, 2026
- McDonald's Form 8-K, exhibit 99.2, third quarter 2026, November 4, 2026
- McDonald's Form 8-K, exhibit 99.2, second quarter 2026, August 4, 2026
- McDonald's: second quarter 2026 results, August 4, 2026
- McDonald's: first quarter 2026 results, May 7, 2026
- McDonald's: fourth quarter and full year 2025 results, February 11, 2026
- McDonald's: third quarter 2025 results, November 5, 2025
- McDonald's: second quarter 2025 results, August 6, 2025
- McDonald's: NEXT strategy and Investor Day, September 23, 2026
- McDonald's: dividend increase, September 17, 2026
- McDonald's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026
- Restaurant Brands International: third quarter 2026 results, October 29, 2026
- Starbucks: fiscal fourth quarter 2026 results, October 29, 2026
- Yum Brands: third quarter 2026 results, November 3, 2026
- Wingstop: fiscal third quarter 2026 results, October 28, 2026
- Domino's Pizza: third quarter 2026 results, October 13, 2026
- Chipotle: third quarter 2026 results, October 28, 2026
- Wendy's: third quarter 2026 results date, October 8, 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index, September 2026
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