McDonald’s appeared to miss the mark on its U.S. value proposition.
The fast-food giant’s domestic same-store sales rose just 0.8 percent in Q2, missing internal expectations after a solid start to 2026
Comps were slightly negative in April as McDonald’s lapped its successful Minecraft promotion, and U.S. comps slipped into negative territory again in July. The company blamed the slowdown on a series of self-inflicted mistakes. Its new everyday affordability platform did not produce the anticipated traffic, restaurants struggled under a crowded deployment calendar, and marketing failed to break through.
Those problems collided during a quarter in which McDonald’s pulled back offers valued by some of its most frequent guests. “We don’t have a strategy problem. We simply didn’t execute at the level we needed to in the second quarter,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said during the company’s Q2 earnings call. McDonald’s launched an Every Day Affordable Price menu in late April featuring 10 items priced under $3, along with a $4 breakfast meal deal.