Fast-food chain McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 9.4% year on year to $6.52 billion. Its GAAP profit of $2.78 per share was 1.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"McDonald's delivered this quarter. Our 6% global Systemwide sales growth shows how we executed with discipline, proving that we can drive results even in a challenging environment," said Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski.

Company Overview

With nicknames spanning Mickey D's in the U.S. to Makku in Japan, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is a fast-food behemoth known for its convenience and broken ice cream machines.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years.

With $27.45 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, McDonald's is one of the most widely recognized restaurant chains and benefits from customer loyalty, a luxury many don’t have. Its scale also gives it negotiating leverage with suppliers, enabling it to source its ingredients at a lower cost. However, its scale is a double-edged sword because there are only a finite of number places to build restaurants, making it harder to find incremental growth. For McDonald's to boost its sales, it likely needs to adjust its prices, launch new chains, or lean into foreign markets.

As you can see below, McDonald’s sales grew at a sluggish 4% compounded annual growth rate over the last seven years as it barely increased sales at existing, established dining locations.

This quarter, McDonald's reported year-on-year revenue growth of 9.4%, and its $6.52 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 0.7%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 5.9% over the next 12 months. Although this projection indicates its newer menu offerings will fuel better top-line performance, it is still below the sector average. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.

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Restaurant Performance

Number of Restaurants

McDonald's opened new restaurants at a rapid clip over the last two years, averaging 4.1% annual growth, much faster than the broader restaurant sector. Furthermore, one dynamic making expansion more seamless is the company’s franchise model, where franchisees are primarily responsible for opening new restaurants while McDonald's provides support.

When a chain opens new restaurants, it usually means it’s investing for growth because there’s healthy demand for its meals and there are markets where its concepts have few or no locations.

Note that McDonald's reports its restaurant count intermittently, so some data points are missing in the chart below.

Same-Store Sales

The change in a company's restaurant base only tells one side of the story. The other is the performance of its existing locations, which informs management teams whether they should expand or downsize their physical footprints. Same-store sales provides a deeper understanding of this issue because it measures organic growth at restaurants open for at least a year.

McDonald’s demand within its existing dining locations has been relatively stable over the last two years but was below most restaurant chains. On average, the company’s same-store sales have grown by 1.7% per year. This performance suggests it should consider improving its foot traffic and efficiency before expanding its restaurant base.

In the latest quarter, McDonald’s same-store sales rose 3.8% year on year. This growth was an acceleration from its historical levels, which is always an encouraging sign.

Key Takeaways from McDonald’s Q1 Results

It was good to see McDonald's narrowly top analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its EBITDA missed. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock traded up 3.1% to $292.75 immediately following the results.

Is McDonald's an attractive investment opportunity right now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).