McDonald's reported a profit of $3.38 per share for the second quarter of 2026, beating the $3.32 that Wall Street analysts expected. But revenue came in at $7.10 billion, just short of the $7.13 billion estimate. Overall profit was $2.36 billion, up from $2.25 billion the same quarter a year before. (CNBC)

In plain terms, McDonald's made more money than expected, but brought in slightly less total revenue than predicted.

A key number for restaurants is "same-store sales" — whether locations that were open a year ago are selling more or less than they did back then. Global same-store sales grew 1.3%, matching expectations. Outside the U.S., results were stronger: international markets McDonald's runs directly grew 1.5%, and markets where it licenses its brand to local operators grew 1.9%. But in the U.S., same-store sales grew just 0.8%. The average bill per customer went up, but fewer customers came through the doors. (CNBC)

CEO Chris Kempczinski was blunt about the U.S. shortfall. He blamed two problems: the company's discount deals weren't being rolled out consistently, and some new menu items were too complicated, slowing down service and frustrating customers. (CNBC)

The Discount Problem

McDonald's has been pushing an "under $3 menu" to attract budget-conscious diners. But by the end of Q2 2026, only about 60% to 65% of U.S. restaurants had actually put it in place. Here's why: most of McDonald's roughly 13,000 U.S. restaurants are franchised, meaning individual business owners run them. The company can't just flip a switch — it has to persuade thousands of independent operators to adopt the discount menu on their own timelines. Kempczinski said franchisees have not consistently followed through. (CNBC)

Think of it like a school district trying to get every teacher to use the same lesson plan. Some pick it up right away; others drag their feet. When one in three classrooms isn't using the plan, the results suffer.

This isn't a new strategy. McDonald's had been pushing affordable meal bundles throughout 2025, and it worked — global sales beat estimates in Q2 2025 (Reuters). By Q3 2025, U.S. same-store sales had risen 2.4%, up from just 0.3% a year earlier, as value meals pulled in cautious diners (Reuters). Q4 2025 profit of $3.12 per share beat the $3.05 consensus, with revenue up 10% to $7.01 billion (Reuters). Other chains followed suit — CNBC reported in December 2025 that Chili's and Taco Bell were also leaning into value meals (CNBC).

The broader context here is that the value strategy worked on paper through 2025, but Q2 2026 exposes the real-world friction of getting thousands of independent restaurant owners to actually do it. A 60–65% rollout rate means roughly one in three U.S. McDonald's wasn't running the discount program the company has called its main way to bring in more customers. And rising bills alongside falling foot traffic suggests the restaurants still serving customers are doing so at higher prices — not that the discounts are bringing in enough new visitors.

The menu-complexity problem makes things worse. McDonald's has a track record of simplifying its menu to speed up service, having cut items like salads, bagels, and yogurt parfaits during the pandemic (CNBC). The Q2 2026 commentary suggests the company went the other direction since then, adding complicated items on top of a franchise system where consistency is already hard to maintain.

New Leadership and What Comes Next

McDonald's named Skye Anderson, a 26-year company veteran, as president of U.S. operations effective August 4, 2026, replacing Joe Erlinger. (CNBC)

McDonald's said its U.S. same-store sales should return to expected levels in 2027 — but only if it improves operations and marketing. That's a one-year timeline based on fixing the same problems the company just called disappointing. (CNBC)

International Strength and Other Factors

Outside the U.S., the story is different. The 1.5% sales growth in markets McDonald's runs directly and 1.9% in licensed markets suggest the discount and promotion strategy is working better internationally, where franchise structures and competition differ. McDonald's also dealt with a separate issue: it lost the Big Mac trademark in the EU in June 2024 (CNBC), though the financial impact doesn't show up separately in these results.

The comparison to a year ago matters. Q2 2025 was when McDonald's value meals first beat expectations, setting a high bar for 2026. The company had also spent over $100 million in November 2024 to recover from an E. coli outbreak that happened before the value push (CNBC). Separately, McDonald's has been testing voice-ordering technology at drive-thrus to save on labor, alongside competitors like Yum Brands and Wendy's (CNBC). It's not clear whether that technology played a role in the service-time problems Kempczinski mentioned.

In my view, the Q2 2026 results are really about cost-cutting and higher prices doing the heavy lifting, not growing sales. Profit beat expectations by six cents while revenue missed by $30 million. The company's promise of a 2027 recovery depends on fixing problems it hasn't yet solved at scale, and the new U.S. president, Skye Anderson, now has to get franchisees on board with the value menu while also simplifying how restaurants operate. Both tasks point the same way: fewer, simpler initiatives done well across the board.