McDonald's (MCD) Q3 Earnings: What To Expect

Fast-food chain McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) will be reporting results this Wednesday before market hours. Here’s what to look for.

McDonald's beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 2.3% last quarter, reporting revenues of $6.84 billion, up 5.4% year on year. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ same-store sales estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Is McDonald's a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.

This quarter, analysts are expecting McDonald’s revenue to grow 3.1% year on year to $7.09 billion, in line with the 2.7% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $3.33 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. McDonald's has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates four times over the last two years.

Looking at McDonald’s peers in the traditional fast food segment, some have already reported their Q3 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Restaurant Brands delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 6.9%, beating analysts’ expectations by 2.4%, and Domino's reported revenues up 6.2%, topping estimates by 0.9%. Restaurant Brands’s stock price was unchanged after the resultswhile Domino's was up 2.2%.

Read our full analysis of Restaurant Brands’s results here and Domino’s results here.

Debates around the economy’s health and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts have caused much uncertainty in 2025. While some of the traditional fast food stocks have shown solid performance in this choppy environment, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 6% on average over the last month. McDonald’s stock price was unchanged during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $330.10 (compared to the current share price of $296.79).

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