McDonald’s Tops U.S. Sales Expectations With Mascot Grimace

(CTN News) – According to McDonald’s, it reported earnings and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations on Thursday due to a rebound in China sales and the popularity of its mascot Grimace in the United States.

The theme of this quarter, if I am being honest, was Grimace,” said CEO Chris Kempczinski.

In premarket trading, the company’s shares rose more than 1%.

Based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv, here are the results the company reported compared to what Wall Street expected:

Achieved earnings per share of $3.17 adjusted vs. an expectation of $2.79

There was a revenue of $6.5 billion as compared to the expected $6.27 billion

In its second quarter results, the fast-food giant reported net income of $2.31 billion, or $3.15 per share, up from $1.19 billion, or $1.60 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

A total of $18 million was spent by the company during the third quarter on its corporate restructuring, which included layoffs and buyouts for some of its employees in April.

Excluding those charges and other items, McDonald’s earned $3.17 per share.

In the first quarter of this year, net sales grew by 14% to $6.5 billion.

In the last quarter, the company’s same-store sales rose 11.7%, topping StreetAccount’s estimates of a 9.2% increase. In terms of same-store sales, McDonald’s three divisions reported double-digit increases in all of them.

It was also reported that same-store sales rose 10.3% in the U.S., McDonald’s’ largest market. Additionally, McD’s also announced that visitors to their U.S. locations grew for the fourth quarter in a row.

Some of these visits may have been attributed to the company’s marketing efforts, such as its Grimace Birthday Meal that was released in the final weeks of the quarter. This combo meal, which included a photo-friendly purple milkshake, went viral on social media as a result of nostalgia fueled by the character in McDonald’s Land.

In the international markets where McDonald’s operates, same-store sales increased by 11.9% from last year. A strong performance in the division was driven by the United Kingdom as well as Germany, the company said.

As a result of increased demand in China, where the economy has still to fully recover from the prolonged Covid lockdown, McDonald’s international development licensed markets posted same-store sales growth of 14% year over year.

The company’s new business ventures department is also working on launching a spinoff brand under the company’s brand name CosMc’s, Kempczinski said. In terms of the new brand, it will be a small-format restaurant with “all the DNA of McDonald’s, but with its own unique personality.”

At its investor day in December, the company plans to share more information about the venture with investors.

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