McDonald’s Slowest Quarter in a Year Costs Its US President His Job

McDonald’s Slowest Quarter in a Year Costs Its US President His Job

Tue, August 4, 2026 at 4:33 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• MCD +2.11%

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McDonald's grew U.S. comparable sales 0.8% last quarter, missed estimates, and by Tuesday morning Joe Erlinger was no longer running the American business after almost 7 years. Skye Anderson, a 26-year company lifer, gets it now, with a mandate to bring "focus and urgency" to the home market. Reassuring to learn those were previously unavailable.

CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts the strategy is fine and the execution wasn't, which is corner office speak for "I asked for someone's head, and I'm now holding it up for the cameras."

At the clogged heart of McDonald's problems is that it launched so many new items that it clogged its own kitchens, slowed service, and annoyed customers. The World Cup marketing push landed with a thud. And fewer than 65% of US restaurants sold the sub-$3 value lineup at the prices corporate recommended, which made the centerpiece of the big turnaround effectively optional. Those operators skipped it because their margins have been chewed through by the same inflation hitting the people in the drive-thru. It's hard to discount your way out of a soft patch when the folks actually running the fryers can't afford to play along.

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Customers are still paying more and now showing up less, thanks to gas and groceries eating their budgets, much of that courtesy of the war with Iran. McDonald's is the last stop before people quit eating out altogether, so thinning traffic there says something about American wallets far above the $3 menu.

The real tell, however, is the store count. 50,000 locations worldwide slipped from a 2027 goal to 2028, with CFO Ian Borden citing the aforementioned pressured consumer and cumulative inflation he called "disproportionate and significant." Nobody slows store openings because they like what they see out the window.

Shares are off 13% this year while the S&P gained 11%. Somewhere, a stressed-out Ronald McDonald is turning to Grimace and grumbling, "It's the economy, stupid."