McDonald's beats on earnings, sales expectations
Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter came in at $1.44, slightly higher than analysts' expectations of $1.41 per share. Additionally revenue was just head of expectations of expectations at $6.03 billion against projections of $6.00 billion.
Sales crushed expectations with a 2.7% gain year-over-year for same store sales, much higher than the expectations of 1.4% growth.
"Our efforts yielded a more streamlined and focused organization that generated solid fourth quarter and full year results, including our strongest annual global comparable sales growth since 2011 along with record franchisee cash flows in many of our major markets," said CEO Steve Easterbrook in a statement accompanying earnings. "I am confident that we're on the right path as we pursue our goal of being recognized by our customers as the modern, progressive burger company."
Following the announcement, McDonald's stock was up slightly by 0.2% in pre-market trading as of 8:04 a.m. ET.