McDonald's (MCD) Earnings: Q3 2026 Results

The quarter ended September 30, 2026 and McDonald's published the results on November 4, 2026. Revenue and diluted EPS are shown against Q3 2025, the same quarter a year earlier, which takes seasonal swings out of the comparison. McDonald's reports EPS two ways: GAAP, under the accounting rules every US filer follows, and non-GAAP, which leaves out items the company considers outside its operating results. The release reconciles the two, and when they diverge, the reconciliation says why.

• Q3 2026 results include $56 million of net pre-tax charges ($0.06 per share), mainly restructuring under Accelerating the Organization, against $39 million ($0.04) a year earlier. McDonald's non-GAAP EPS excludes them.

Source: McDonald's Q3 2026 results, November 4, 2026. Also in the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Figures as reported; checked against the release on November 10, 2026.

How McDonald's splits revenue in its own release, under its own labels, for Q3 2026 against Q3 2025. Indented lines are parts of the line above them.

• McDonald's's Revenues from franchised restaurants revenue was $4.5 billion in Q3 2026, up 3% from $4.4 billion in Q3 2025, 63% of total revenue.
• McDonald's's Sales by Company-owned and operated restaurants revenue was $2.5 billion in Q3 2026, down 3% from $2.6 billion in Q3 2025, 35% of total revenue.
• McDonald's's Other revenues revenue was $189 million in Q3 2026, up 25% from $151 million in Q3 2025, 3% of total revenue.

Segment lines are the figures writers cite most often, because they show where the growth in a quarter came from. Companies redraw their segments from time to time and restate the prior year to match, so a year-ago figure here can differ from the one printed a year ago. When that has happened, the note above says so.

From the earnings release

McDonald's gives no revenue or EPS outlook. Its outlook, in the supplemental information filed with the release (Exhibit 99.2), covers unit growth, costs, margin, tax and capital spending.

In its Q3 2026 release, McDonald's said:

“The Company expects net restaurant unit expansion will contribute approximately 2.5% to 2026 Systemwide sales growth, in constant currencies.”

“The Company expects 2026 operating margin percent to be in the mid-to-high 40% range.”

“The Company expects the effective income tax rate for the full year 2026 to be between 21% and 23%.”

“The Company expects 2026 capital expenditures to be about $3.7 billion, with the majority directed towards new restaurant unit expansion across the U.S. and International Operated Markets.”

Source: McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026.

This is the company's own guidance as of Nov 4, 2026, quoted as given. Walnut does not make forecasts of its own. Analyst estimates for the coming quarters are on the MCD forecast page.

Revenue and diluted EPS for the last 5 quarters. Each date links to that quarter's release.

GAAP revenues and diluted EPS, each as first reported in that quarter's release.

We do not hold a confirmed date for McDonald's's next report. Companies post the date on their investor relations site a few weeks ahead, usually with the time of the conference call.

Each quarter keeps its own page with the figures as reported, so a link to one stays pointed at the same numbers after the next report.

• Q3 2026 (this page), reported Nov 4, 2026

McDonald's revenues of $7,157 million in Q3 2026 came from three lines: $4,487 million from franchised restaurants (up 3%), $2,480 million of sales at company-owned and operated restaurants (down 3%) and $189 million of other revenues. About 95% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide were franchised at the end of 2025, so most restaurant sales are not McDonald's revenue: franchised sales were $35,625 million in the quarter, and systemwide sales across all restaurants were over $38 billion, up 4%. (McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Form 10-K, 2025, Feb 24, 2026)

Global comparable sales rose 1.5%. In the U.S. they fell 0.2%, as negative comparable guest counts were largely offset by higher average check. International Operated Markets rose 1.4%, led by Germany and Australia and partly offset by France, and International Developmental Licensed Markets rose 4.2%, led by Japan, with negative comparable sales in China. (McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

By segment, franchised revenues plus company-operated sales were $2,685 million in the U.S., against $2,696 million, $3,598 million in International Operated Markets, against $3,606 million, and $684 million in International Developmental Licensed Markets & Corporate, up 10%. U.S. company-operated sales fell 6% to $742 million, and McDonald's reported $97 million of gains on sales of restaurant businesses in the quarter, against $35 million, mostly from selling more U.S. restaurants. (McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

Franchised restaurant margins, franchised revenues less occupancy costs, were $3,800 million, up 3%. Company-operated margins were $392 million, flat, with the U.S. down 16% to $75 million and International Operated Markets up 4% to $299 million. (McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

McDonald's says systemwide sales to loyalty members across its 70 loyalty markets were $41 billion over the trailing twelve months and more than $11 billion in the quarter. It had 13,821 restaurants in the U.S. at September 30, 2026, against 13,633 a year earlier. (McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

McDonald's GAAP diluted EPS rose 10% to $3.51 in Q3 2026 (11% in constant currencies). Its non-GAAP EPS of $3.57 excludes $56 million of net pre-tax charges, or $0.06 per share, mainly restructuring under Accelerating the Organization, an effort to modernize ways of working that McDonald's expects to complete during 2027. The year-ago figure excluded $39 million, or $0.04 per share. (McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

McDonald's other operating income was a net $139 million, against $37 million a year earlier, made up of the $97 million of restaurant sale gains and $75 million of equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates, which McDonald's attributes mainly to better restaurant performance in China. McDonald's says higher other operating income and sales-driven franchised margins were the main drivers of the quarter's results. (McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted weighted average shares fell to 708.3 million from 715.9 million. McDonald's spent $519 million on treasury stock purchases in the quarter and $1,314 million on dividends, and it raised the quarterly dividend 4% to $1.93 per share. The effective tax rate was 22.0%, against 22.8%. (McDonald's Q3 2026 release, Nov 4, 2026; McDonald's Form 10-Q, Q3 2026, Nov 6, 2026; McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

Diluted EPS divides net income by the weighted average number of shares outstanding in the quarter, plus the shares that options and other equity awards could add. Buybacks shrink that count and lift EPS for the same profit; share issuance and stock awards enlarge it.

McDonald's does not guide revenue or EPS. Its full-year 2026 outlook, published in the supplemental exhibit filed with the release, expects net restaurant unit expansion to add about 2.5% to systemwide sales growth in constant currencies, SG&A of about 2.2% of systemwide sales, an operating margin in the mid-to-high 40% range, interest expense up 4% to 6%, an effective tax rate of 21% to 23%, and capital expenditures of about $3.7 billion. (McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

McDonald's expects to open about 2,500 restaurants in 2026 and to add about 2,100 net, toward a target of 50,000 global units by the end of 2028. It expects a free cash flow conversion rate in the low-to-mid 80% range for 2026. (McDonald's Q3 2026 supplemental information (Exhibit 99.2), Nov 4, 2026)

A consensus figure is the average of the models published by the analysts who cover McDonald's, collected by a data provider and revised up to the day of the report. A quarter that lands above it says how expectations were set as much as how the business did, and the share price on the day also reflects the guidance and the lines no consensus covers.

The consensus figures on this page are Yahoo Finance's, as pulled on the date shown. Each comes with the number of analysts behind it; the smaller that number, the more one revised estimate can move the average.

The figures below are the ones McDonald's's own release and filings put weight on for Q3 2026, with the latest reported value for each.

What the quarter means for a holding is a separate question from what it reported. The case for and against owning MCD is on is MCD a buy or a sell?, what analysts expect next is on the MCD forecast, and what the company does is on the McDonald's (MCD) stock page.

Every number on this page can be traced to a document McDonald's published. Checking one takes a couple of minutes, and it is worth doing before you quote a figure anywhere.

• The results release is the document linked in the source line above. Companies publish it on their investor relations site at the moment results go out, and it carries the headline tables: revenue, operating income, net income and EPS for the quarter and the year-ago quarter.
• The same release is filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K under Item 2.02, usually on the day of the report. The SEC copy does not change after the fact, which makes it the safer thing to link when you cite a number.
• The quarterly report (Form 10-Q) follows within a few weeks and carries the full financial statements, the segment note and management's discussion of what changed. The fourth quarter is covered by the annual report (Form 10-K) instead.
• Restated comparisons are flagged in the notes on this page. When a company redraws its segments or changes how it adjusts EPS, it restates the year-ago column, so the year-ago figure in a new release can differ from the one printed a year ago. This page always uses the comparison in the newer release, because that is the like-for-like one.

A walk-through of every line in a release, with what each one tells you, is in how to read an earnings report.