McDonald's (MCD) reported $5.96 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 2025, representing a year-over-year decline of 3.5%. EPS of $2.67 for the same period compares to $2.70 a year ago.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of -2.12% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.08 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $2.64, the EPS surprise was +1.14%.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how McDonald's performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Comparable sales growth - U.S. - YoY change: -3.6% versus -1% estimated by 10 analysts on average.
• Comparable sales growth - International Operated Markets - YoY change: -1% compared to the 0.5% average estimate based on 10 analysts.
• Comparable sales growth - International Developmental Licensed Markets & Corporate - YoY change: 3.5% versus 3% estimated by 10 analysts on average.
• Systemwide restaurants - Total Systemwide: 43,756 compared to the 43,738 average estimate based on nine analysts.
• Revenues- Company-owned and operated sales- Total: $2.13 billion compared to the $2.24 billion average estimate based on 10 analysts. The reported number represents a change of -9.5% year over year.
• Revenues- Franchised revenues- Total: $3.66 billion versus $3.74 billion estimated by 10 analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -1.7% change.
• Revenues- Total Other revenues: $162 million versus $112.86 million estimated by eight analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +78% change.
• Revenues- Company-owned and operated sales- International Developmental Licensed Markets & Corporate: $99 million versus $161.31 million estimated by six analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -53.3% change.
• Revenues- Franchised revenues- International Operated Markets: $1.55 billion versus the six-analyst average estimate of $1.57 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -2%.
• Revenues- Company-owned and operated sales- U.S. $724 million versus the six-analyst average estimate of $755.20 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -7.3%.
• Revenues- Company-owned and operated sales- International Operated Markets: $1.31 billion compared to the $1.35 billion average estimate based on six analysts. The reported number represents a change of -3.9% year over year.
• Revenues- Total Company-owned and operated sales and Franchised revenues- International Developmental Licensed Markets & Corporate: $528 million versus the six-analyst average estimate of $602.83 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -15%.

View all Key Company Metrics for McDonald's here>>>

Shares of McDonald's have returned +2.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -0.7% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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