McDonald's earnings beat, but traffic to its U.S. restaurants falls

McDonald's on Wednesday reported mixed quarterly results as traffic to its U.S. restaurants fell, leading to a slight decline in domestic same-store sales.

The fast-food giant reported a 0.2% decrease in sales at its U.S. restaurants that have been open at least 13 months. Even so, the segment performed better than the 0.5% decline that Wall Street anticipated, according to a survey of analysts by StreetAccount.

At the company's investor day in September, executives said that same-store sales in July and August were slightly negative but they expected September to return to same-store sales growth.

"In the U.S., we're encouraged by improvement as the quarter progressed following our intervention on value," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement.

Kempczinski said in August that the company's U.S. business was falling short on execution, particularly on the implementation of its value offerings. Like many restaurants, McDonald's has leaned into discounts to attract budget-conscious diners over the last two years.

Shares of the company rose more than 2% in premarket trading.

Here's what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

The company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $2.49 billion, or $3.51 per share, up from $2.28 billion, or $3.18 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring charges and other items, McDonald's earned $3.57 per share.

Net revenue rose 1% to $7.16 billion.

The company's same-store sales rose 1.5%, lifted by its international segments. That topped analysts' expectations of a 1.3% increase, according to StreetAccount.

McDonald's international developmental licensed markets business, which includes Japan and China, reported same-store sales growth of 4.2%. Wall Street was forecasting same-store sales growth of 2.1% for the division, based on StreetAccount estimates.

The company's international operated division, which includes top markets like Australia and Germany, saw same-store sales growth of 1.4%. Still, the business underperformed Wall Street's expectations. Analysts were projecting same-store sales would rise 2.1%, according to StreetAccount. France was a weak spot, McDonald's said.