McDonald’s reports a significant sales decline in the U.S. as anxious customers pull back on spending

McDonalds released its earnings report for the first quarter of 2025 early this morning. According to the report, U.S. comparable sales decreased by 3.6% from the previous year, primarily driven by reduced guest counts.

This is the fast food giant’s largest U.S. sales drop since the second quarter of 2020, when U.S. sales plunged 8.7% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Grappling with uncertainty’

The fast food retailer reported that U.S. store revenue dipped to $5.96 billion, below a Bloomberg consensus estimate of $6.12 billion cited by Yahoo Finance. In the earnings report, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski noted that “Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty.”

Chicago-based McDonald’s said adjusted earnings per share were $2.67. The earnings report also indicated that global sales fell 1.0%, with the most notable decline in sales in the U.K.

McDonald’s shares (NYSE: MCD) were down 1.53% in early-afternoon trading on Thursday following the report. The stock is up 7.71% year to date.

Fast food embracing value meals amid consumer caution

Consumers appear to be tightening their spending due to economic uncertainty, likely not helped by President Trump’s broad tariffs and erratic trade policies, which have made people anxiousness about increased costs and a possible recession.

In this morning’s earnings call, Kempczinski warned, “we’re not immune to the volatility in the industry or the pressures that our consumers are facing.”

McDonald’s menu prices have notably risen along with inflation in recent years, leading to customer backlash. More recently, however, the fast food retailer has attempted to increase customer traffic by releasing new menu items and promoting value-focused deals.

Recent discount deals include the McValue menu, which features buy one, add one for $1 items, and $5 Meal Deals. Other fast-food chains have made similar moves to boost sales.

Meanwhile, the burger giant plans to continue to offer meal deals like this, according to McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden.

“While we may adjust our current McValue offerings over time,” Borden said on the earnings call, “for the remainder of 2025, we’ll continue to include everyday value meal deals starting at $5 given how the current $5 meal deal in particular has resonated with customers.”