McDonald's tops sales, profit expectations
McDonald's tops sales, profit expectations
While the restaurant industry remains in the dumps courtesy of an eroded economy, McDonald's Corp. keeps chugging along, and Friday posted better-than-expected sales and profit for the fourth quarter.
The Oak Brook-based company has managed to play up value offerings, such as its dollar menu, to recession-weary consumers, without resorting to the sort of widespread discounting that could hurt its bottom line.
For the quarter, the fast-food giant said it earned $1.22 billion, or $1.11 per share. That's 23 percent more than a year earlier, though the most-recent quarter included a one-time benefit of 8 cents per share.
Even without that one-time gain, McDonald's would have topped analysts' quarterly per-share profit estimates by a penny. Meanwhile, McDonald's revenue climbed 7 percent, to $5.97 billion, slightly above the $5.94 billion expected by analysts.