McDonald's US Sales Slow to 0.8% as One Franchisee Bucks Trend

A national slowdown, a local exception

McDonald's just posted the weakest U.S. sales growth it has seen in more than a year, and the company's own executives say much of the blame lies with McDonald's itself. Comparable sales in the U.S. rose just 0.8% in the second quarter of 2026, down sharply from 2.5% growth in the same quarter last year, according to the company's earnings release 68. Globally, comparable sales climbed 1.3%, also a marked deceleration from 3.8% growth a year earlier 68. Against that backdrop, Business Insider profiled Milwaukee-area franchisee Robert Pyles, who says sales at his seven restaurants are up by double digits year over year — a divergence he attributes to store-level systems, staff development and hands-on ownership rather than any particular app or delivery push 1.

The juxtaposition is the story: a corporate chain describing a traffic and execution problem at the national level, alongside an operator whose restaurants appear to be outrunning that trend through fundamentals that predate any digital strategy.

What went wrong, according to McDonald's

McDonald's leadership was unusually blunt about the cause of the slowdown. CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors the business "slowed significantly" in the second quarter and that results were "below our expectations," adding, "We don't have a strategy problem. We simply didn't execute at the level we needed to" 1314. CNN and the New York Times both report that the company pointed to an overloaded promotional calendar — including tie-ins like a FIFA World Cup meal and a K-Pop Demon Hunters promotion layered on top of a revamped $3 value menu — that overwhelmed kitchens and slowed service 1315. CFO Ian Borden said only about two-thirds of franchisees actually followed the company's recommended pricing on the value menu, with some locations reportedly using the promotion to raise prices on certain items while staying just under the $3 threshold 131415. Borden said the combined effect hurt visits from some of McDonald's most loyal customers, prompting new app promotions and increased marketing behind proven value offers like Extra Value Meals 1315.

The New York Times adds a demand-side dimension largely absent from CNN's account: inflation, and specifically rising gasoline prices tied to the war in Iran, squeezing lower-income consumers who make up a large share of McDonald's customer base 14. McDonald's own release, by contrast, frames the quarter more optimistically, emphasizing positive comparable sales across every segment and describing the U.S. situation as an opportunity to "raise the bar" rather than a crisis 68. The company also announced a leadership change, replacing longtime U.S. president Joe Erlinger with 26-year company veteran Skye Anderson 613.

The digital and loyalty engine keeps growing

Even as U.S. traffic softened, McDonald's digital business kept expanding. Systemwide sales to loyalty members across 70 markets rose more than 20% to $40 billion on a trailing 12-month basis, with 90-day active loyalty users up 13% to nearly 220 million 68. The company has set a target of 250 million active loyalty users and $45 billion in annual loyalty sales by the end of 2027 9. Delivery, meanwhile, is now available from roughly 41,000 restaurants across about 100 markets — some 90% of McDonald's global footprint — and the company wants 30% of systemwide delivery sales to originate directly in its own app by 2027, rather than through third-party platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats 912.

Earlier disclosures show how fast this channel has scaled. In the first quarter of 2022, digital sales across McDonald's six biggest markets topped $6 billion, about a third of systemwide sales there, with digital representing roughly a quarter of total U.S. sales 11. By the second quarter of 2023, that figure had grown to more than $8 billion in the top six markets, nearly 40% of their combined systemwide sales, alongside blowout 11.7% global comparable sales growth 10. Restaurant Business likewise reported over $5 billion in quarterly digital sales across the top six markets, more than 30% of systemwide sales, and noted that strong delivery performance had pushed McDonald's into expanded partnerships with DoorDash and Uber Eats 12.

Crucially, McDonald's defines "digital" broadly — mobile app orders, kiosk orders and delivery orders are all bundled together 79. That means digital growth isn't a clean measure of e-commerce in the retail sense; it's better understood as a shift in ordering infrastructure that can mask whether McDonald's is winning new customers or simply moving existing ones onto new channels.

Walmart's parallel struggle

McDonald's isn't alone in seeing growth cool while digital channels do the heavy lifting. Walmart reported its slowest comparable sales growth in six years, with Reuters and Fortune both citing pressure on middle-income and lower-income shoppers, even as spending from households earning over $100,000 held up 35. Fox Business reported that Walmart's e-commerce sales nonetheless surged, with CEO John Furner touting gains in pickup, delivery and its online marketplace, and crediting improvements in "price, speed and convenience" 4. The Sun reported that Walmart found certain shoppers using a specific website tool ended up spending 40% more, a granular detail not corroborated elsewhere 2. Together, these accounts mirror the McDonald's pattern: overall growth slowing amid consumer strain, while digital and delivery channels post outsized gains that partly offset weaker foot traffic.

Where the reporting agrees

Across outlets, there's consensus that McDonald's U.S. comparable sales growth of 0.8% in Q2 2026 marked its slowest pace in roughly a year, down from 2.5% previously 681314. CNN's two versions of its story and the New York Times agree that executives attributed much of the weakness to an overcrowded promotional calendar and inconsistent franchise-level pricing on the $3 value menu, rather than solely to economic conditions 131415. There's also agreement that McDonald's replaced its U.S. president amid the disappointing results 61314, and that digital, loyalty and delivery metrics kept climbing even as traffic weakened 6891112.

Where it doesn't

The outlets diverge mainly in emphasis rather than in contradicting facts. McDonald's own press materials frame the quarter as broadly positive — positive comparable sales in every segment — while CNN and the New York Times foreground the shortfall and internal missteps 681314. The New York Times leans harder into macroeconomic pressure, tying consumer caution to inflation and gasoline prices from the Iran conflict, a causal thread CNN's reporting doesn't emphasize 14. CNN's reporting attributes the specific franchisee compliance figure — about two-thirds, or 65%, following recommended pricing — to CFO Ian Borden, while the Times cites the same rough figure without the same sourcing emphasis 131415. Business Insider's franchisee profile of Robert Pyles is the outlier in the set: it's the only outlet reporting an operator experiencing double-digit sales growth, and it is explicitly an as-told-to account rather than an audited case study, with no independently verified revenue or transaction data behind Pyles' claims 1.

The reading that holds up

The most defensible account is that McDonald's has a real, self-inflicted execution problem layered on top of a genuinely cautious consumer — and that its expanding digital and loyalty infrastructure is not, by itself, curing either. The financial disclosures are unambiguous: guest counts fell even as checks rose, meaning sales growth increasingly comes from spending more per visit rather than more visits 689. That pattern is consistent with what CNN, the Times and McDonald's own executives all describe. Pyles' story doesn't refute that pattern — it illustrates why some restaurants escape it. If digital ordering creates demand that an understaffed or poorly trained kitchen can't fulfill quickly, it becomes friction rather than growth, which is exactly what Kempczinski and Borden say happened system-wide last quarter. Pyles' emphasis on standardized systems, employee training and owner presence describes the operational discipline that turns digital and delivery demand into repeat business — precisely the ingredient McDonald's corporate has acknowledged was missing in its worst-performing quarter in over a year.