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ALEX: Welcome to Beta Finch, your AI-powered earnings breakdown! Today we're digging into McDonald's second quarter 2026 results, and there's a lot to unpack — some real strategic news alongside a leadership change. Before we get into it, quick note: this podcast is AI-generated content for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing we discuss should be considered investment advice. Always do your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
JORDAN: Yeah, and this one's juicy, Alex — because it's not the usual "everything's great" call. McDonald's actually came out and said, in Chris Kempczinski's words, "we don't have a strategy problem, we simply didn't execute."
ALEX: Right, so let's start with the numbers. Systemwide sales grew 4% in constant currency, global comparable sales up 1.3%. Adjusted EPS came in at $3.38, up 5% on a constant currency basis. Solid, but not spectacular.
JORDAN: And the real story is the U.S. — comp sales grew just 0.8% in the quarter, which was below expectations. International actually carried the day here, with IOM up 1.5% and the international developmental licensed markets up 1.9%, led by Japan posting its tenth straight quarter of positive guest counts.
ALEX: So what actually went wrong in the U.S.? CFO Ian Borden broke it into pieces. They launched this new "everyday affordable price" menu — 10 items under $3 — in late April, but execution was spotty. Only about 60 to 65% of restaurants actually followed the recommended pricing.
JORDAN: And here's the kicker — to fund that value push, they pulled back on digital offers and killed the Buy One, Add One for a dollar promotion, which apparently really annoyed their most loyal, high-frequency customers. Kempczinski flat-out called it "a bad trade."
ALEX: Management said that alone accounted for about two-thirds of the traffic miss. The rest came down to their FIFA-themed marketing campaign in June underperforming expectations.
JORDAN: There was also this operational overload problem — Chris painted a great picture of it, basically saying "put yourself in a restaurant manager's shoes." You've got K-Pop Demon Hunters merchandise going up, then three weeks later you're flipping the value menu, then a brand-new beverage platform launches, then FIFA. Crew members are getting whiplash, service times went up, satisfaction scores went down.
ALEX: It's a good reminder that even a company with McDonald's scale and marketing muscle can trip over its own to-do list. Too much "new" at once, poorly sequenced.
JORDAN: Right, and it bled into July too — Borden mentioned U.S. comps were actually slightly negative to start Q3. So this isn't fully behind them yet.
ALEX: Now here's where it gets interesting — there's a leadership shakeup. Skye Anderson, previously COO of McDonald's USA, is stepping in as the new President of McDonald's U.S., effective immediately. Joe Erlinger, who ran the U.S. business for nearly seven years, is leaving the company.
JORDAN: Chris was pretty deliberate about framing this as a planned transition, not a panic move — he name-checked Anderson's 26-year track record, including a stint leading the U.S. West zone where she drove over 30% comp sales growth. But the timing, right after a rough quarter, is obviously going to raise eyebrows.
ALEX: On the brighter side — beverages. McDonald's launched a new beverage platform in the U.S., Canada, and Germany in May, and early results are beating expectations. Higher checks, strong food attachment, and more than half the traffic is coming after the lunch rush — which is exactly the low-volume window they want to fill.
JORDAN: They're also leaning into Red Bull Energizers rolling out in the U.S. soon, and Australia just launched the platform in mid-July. This seems like a l
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Oct 8 20267 min