McDonald's climbs as global sales grow by the most in 7 years

• McDonald's reported its second-quarter 2019 results early Friday. The fast-food chain bested analyst expectations, especially in same store sales.
• Global same-store sales expanded by 6.5%, the most in seven years.
• Shares rose roughly 2% in early trading on the report.
• McDonald's has continued to improve its menu, recently rolling out burgers with fresh beef and releasing new breakfast items.
• Watch McDonald's trade live on Markets Insider.

Customers and investors all around the world love McDonald's.

Shares of the fast-food chain jumped as much as 2.49% Friday when the company released its second-quarter 2019 earnings, which beat analyst expectations.

One bright spot was global same-store sales, which expanded 6.5%, which handily beat analyst estimates. It also marked the measure's strongest growth in seven years.

Here's what the company reported versus what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected:

Adjusted earnings-per-share: $2.05 reported versus $2.05 (expected)

Revenue: $5.34 billion reported versus $5.33 billion (expected)

Comparable store sales in the US: +5.7% versus +4.4% (expected)

Global comparable same store sales: +6.5% versus 5.1% (expected)

"With the strong results we achieved in the second quarter, we have now experienced 16 consecutive quarters of positive global comparable sales," CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement.

McDonald's recently bested rival Wendy's when it released a new burger made with fresh beef instead of frozen beef. The change helped it regain the winning burger share in the "informal eating out" category for the first time in five years. The company said that sales of quarter-pounders increased 50% in the first quarter of the national rollout.

The fast-food chain announced this week that it would roll out new breakfast items to boost its morning sales. The new menu items include the McChicken McMuffin, Blueberry McGriddle, and Chicken McGriddle.

"We're still in a market share fight overall because there are more and more people offering breakfast as a competitive play," Easterbrook said on a call with investors in April.

McDonald's recently announced a partnership with DoorDash to deliver most of its menu items to consumers. The deal ended the company's exclusive partnership with UberEats.

Fast-food companies have been on an upward climb recently with restaurants such as Chipotle and Starbucks also reporting strong quarterly earnings. Many fast-food and casual dining companies have seen big gains in shares this year, and some have even outperformed the S&P 500, which has gained roughly 20% year-to-date.

McDonald's is up roughly 21% year-to-date.