McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD), the popular hamburger chain, missed the mark on quarterly sales estimates put out by Wall Street analysts in its third-quarter as it failed to fend off competition from Burger King, KFC and other rivals.
In the three months ended September 30, the ubiquitous fast-food chain, earned $2.11 per share on revenue of $5.4 billion, falling short of the $2.21 in earnings per share on sales of $5.5 billion, which had been expected by Wall Street.
In response to the lackluster showing, investors punished McDonald’s shares slightly, pushing them down 2.9% to $203.36 as markets opened on Tuesday.
READ: Beyond Meat shares jump as McDonald’s reveals plans to test plant-based burger using its patties in Canada
A bright spot was the US fast-food chain’s improvement in comparable sales growth, which came in at 5.9%, thanks to its success in France and the UK.
McDonald’s has lost ground to Burger King recently following its arch-rival’s introduction of the Impossible Whopper, a plant-derived alternative to hamburgers. To fight back, McDonald’s just last month revealed that it would begin testing its own plant-based burger in Canada, according to media reports.
McDonald’s is also buckling under pressure from the fried-chicken specialist KFC, which has been quick to roll out a plant-based burger as well.
Adding to its misery, the once-dominant fast-food chain’s growth in same-store sales also missed estimates in the quarter, hitting just 4.8% and missing the Street’s estimate of 5.2%.