McDonald’s delivered stronger-than-expected results in the fourth quarter of 2025, surpassing Wall Street forecasts as its focus on value meals and promotions drew more customers and boosted sales for the third straight quarter in the United States.
The fast-food giant reported global same-store sales growth of 5.7% in the quarter, well above the roughly 3.8–3.9% that analysts had predicted. In the U.S., same-store sales rose 6.8%, beating expectations of around 5.1%. For the full year 2025, U.S. same-store sales increased 2.1%, topping the estimated 1.6%. Internationally, same-store sales grew 3.1% for the year, exceeding forecasts of 2.6%.
Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski highlighted the success of the company’s value strategy. “McDonald’s value leadership is working,” he said. “By listening to customers and taking action, we have improved traffic and strengthened our value and affordability skills.”
Key drivers included the relaunch of Extra Value Meals in September 2025, which offered discounts like 15% off certain combos, along with specific deals such as a $5 Sausage McMuffin with Egg Meal and an $8 Big Mac Meal. These built on the earlier McValue platform launched in January 2025. Popular promotions also helped, including the return of the Monopoly game and the holiday Grinch Meal, which drove record sales days, massive digital engagement, and even briefly made McDonald’s a top seller of socks worldwide.
Loyalty programs played a big role too. Systemwide sales to loyalty members rose 20% to nearly $37 billion across 70 markets, with 90-day active users increasing 19% to about 210 million.
Financially, adjusted earnings per share climbed 10% to $3.12, beating the expected $3.04 (or around $3.03–$3.05 in some estimates). Revenue for the quarter reached $7 billion (or precisely $7.009–$7.01 billion in reports), slightly above the forecasted $6.8–$6.85 billion. For the full year, revenue hit $26.9 billion, topping estimates of $26.7 billion.
Despite the positive results, challenges remain ahead. CFO Ian Borden noted that the fast-food environment in the U.S. and other markets will “remain challenging” in 2026. He expects first-quarter results to slow compared to the strong fourth quarter, partly due to severe weather in late January that reduced traffic and led to some restaurant closures or reduced hours—an impact of about 1% (100 basis points) for the quarter.
For 2026, McDonald’s plans capital spending of $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion, focused on opening roughly 2,600 new locations globally (with a net addition of about 2,100). This includes around 750 in the U.S. New units are expected to drive about 2.5% of systemwide sales growth.
Overall, McDonald’s value push and marketing efforts helped it gain ground with price-sensitive customers—especially lower-income ones who had been visiting less—while navigating inflation in food and labor costs. The results show the strategy is paying off in the short term, even as the company prepares for a tougher year ahead. Shares of McDonald’s (MCD) closed at $323.21 on February 11, down 0.85% for the day.
