After successfully launching its 'Best Burger' initiative, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) said on Tuesday that it has created an even larger hamburger and will test it in select markets later this year.
"... as we look to further build on our leadership in beef, our team of chefs from around the world have created a larger satiating burger," CFO Ian Borden announced on today's first quarter earnings call. "We'll be testing this burger in a few markets later this year ensuring that it has universal appeal before scaling it across the globe."
The company said the 'Best Burger' initiative has been deployed in over 80% of their restaurants globally and was recently introduced in France.
"Early results were promising, with lifts across our core burger categories and improved customer satisfaction in both our taste and quality scores," Borden said about the initiative. "And in the U.S., where we're now fully deployed across the country, we celebrated the national launch of Best burger with an iconic character at the center of our advertising. Tapping into the nostalgia of the hamburger, the campaign drove a significant lift in the Big Mac category and contributed to record customer satisfaction scores in the market. The progress we've made with our core burgers highlights what McDonald's can achieve when we tap into the full power of our system size and scale."
McDonald's shares fell 3.5% in early trading Tuesday after the company missed on earnings and comparable sales in the first quarter.
The fast food giant reported Q1 EPS of $2.70, slightly below the consensus of $2.72. Revenue for the quarter was $6.17 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion.
Comparable sales rose by 1.9% in the quarter, missing the expected 2.33% rise.