McDonald’s traffic is heavy, and its profits surge

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Traffic at McDonald’s restaurants was surprisingly strong during the first quarter, pushing the world’s biggest burger chain far past Wall Street expectations.

Comparable-store sales in the U.S., where the company has struggled, rose 2.9 per cent. They rose 5.5 per cent globally, which is a lot stronger than the 3.6 per cent increase that industry analysts had forecast, according to a survey by FactSet.

The company, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, earned $1.38 billion, or $1.72 per share, for the period ended March 31. A year earlier the hamburger chain earned $1.21 billion, or $1.47 per share.

Earnings, adjusted for pretax expenses, came to $1.79 per share, which is way better than the per-share earnings of $1.67 that industry analysts had projected, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.

Total revenue declined to $5.14 billion from $5.68 billion, but managed to edge out forecasts.

Shares of McDonald’s Corp. rose almost 4 per cent before the market opened on Monday.

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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MCD at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MCD