McDonald’s Promises Bigger Burgers Amidst Mixed Q1 Results

McDonald’s has been revamping its menu offerings since the top of Q1, promising an improved flavor from its signature burgers as its consumers’ palette becomes more discerning. Now, however, the fast-food giant is upping the ante.

Fox Business reports that CFO Ian Borden has led the charge to create a “larger satiating burger,” as McDonald’s looks to “further build on our leadership in beef.”

Borden, however, has confirmed that the newer, larger offering has not officially been rolled out at all locations. Rather, the company will “be testing this burger in a few markets later this year, ensuring that it has universal appeal before scaling it across the globe,” he said.

No further information was provided to the outlet as of Tuesday, April 30, but the company confirmed that its beef and chicken product sales were nearly neck-and-neck, raking in about $25 billion each.

Back in February, when McDonald’s announced the larger burgers, CEO Chris Kempczinski explained that their motivation was “addressing an unmet customer need across markets for larger high-quality burgers.”

“We’re working horizontally across the system to innovate,” he said. “As we test and learn, we’ll be working to understand how the new offering will complement our already established burgers, like the Double QPC [Quarter Pounder with Cheese] or the Big Tasty.”

Borden confirmed on Tuesday that the revamped “Best Burgers” have already been rolled out in 80% of the chain’s locations. He also said that the improved burgers will be in “almost all locations before the end of 2026.”

These rollouts, however, have been announced amidst mixed Q1 results.

“Consumers continue to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending, which is putting pressure on the [quick-service restaurant] industry,” Kempczinski stated during the company’s conference call on Tuesday, per CNBC.

While McDonald’s earned a revenue of $6.17 billion against the $6.16 billion expected, earnings per share fell to $2.70 adjusted against the $2.72 expected.

The fast-food chain said the segment’s same-store sales fell 0.2% — marking the first time since 2020 that sales have fallen, due in part to the boycotts of the company amidst the Israel-Palestine conflict, which began after McDonald’s sent complimentary food to IDF soldiers.