Americans spend less on fast food due to economic uncertainty

McDonald’s similar global sales witnessed a decrease in the first quarter, as consumers, which weighing economic uncertainty, bought fast food.

The company said that its similar global sales decreased by 1 % on an annual basis in the first quarter, as its similar sales in the United States witnessed a decrease of 3.6 %.

Analysts expected a 0.95 % increase for the first article and a 0.5 % decrease for the latter.

The results chanted warnings from Pizza Domino’s Pizza, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Starbucks that the Americans were spending less to eat as inflation and Destious economic expectations Consumer confidence.

Consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in 5 years in April

The fluctuations of tariffs by the Trump administration have exacerbated the pressure of the wallet and the companies’ disruption, threatening to raise costs and overcome supply chains.

The American economy is struggling, as the latest data showed that he was contracting for the first time three years ago in the first quarter, which increases the chances of stagnation.

“The richest consumers are more likely to have the effect of inflation, and one of the first areas you will abandon food,” told Emarketer Sky Canaves Reuters.

index	protection	last	Changing	% Change
Associate	McDonald’s Corp.	315.86	-3.46	-1.08 %
astonishment	Starbucks Corp.	80.66	+0.61	+0.76 %
CMG	Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.	50.47	-0.02	-04 %
DPZ	Domino’s pizza incal.	484.85	5.53	-13 %

During the company’s call, CEO of McDonald’s Chris Kara The aforementioned geopolitical tensions “added to the economic uncertainty and its consumer morale more than we expected” during the first three months of the year.

He said that McDonald’s was “expected the QSR traffic traffic in the first quarter”, but it decreased “more than we expected” in America and “several other large markets.

In the United States, specifically, Kempczinski said that the traffic traffic from low -income consumers “has almost decreased from two numbers” and traffic has fallen from fast -income fast food “almost”.

“However, the traffic growth from the high income regiment is still strong, which shows the divided American economy, as consumers with low and medium income are installed in particular due to the cumulative effect of inflation and increased concern about economic expectations,” he said.

Kimbesinski said he believed McDonald’s “could overcome these difficult circumstances better than most of them” and “we expect to surpass our competitors by harnessing the strength of our brand and the strength of our global scope.”

He said that the value and the ability to bear the costs “are very important in such an environment,” adding that the company also focuses on New food innovations Marketing for consumers.

McDonalds Add New menu element: McCRISPY strips

Financial Director Ian Borden told analysts and investors that the 5 -dollar meal deal for the company will remain in the list during the rest of the year as part of its valuable list offers.

In late April, CEOs of Chipotle, Other fast food chainI also noticed that the “slowdown in consumer spending” provided the opposite wind in the first quarter, as it reported its quarterly financial results.

“In February, we started to see that the high level of uncertainty that consumers feel began to influence their spending habits,” said CEO Scott Bodright. “We can see this in our visit study where saving money due to concerns about the economy was the tremendous reason that consumers were reducing the frequency of restaurant visits.”

Chipotle to open Mexican sites for the first time in 2026

He said this contributed to a slowdown in the company’s “basic transactions” and continued until April.

Similar restaurant sales of Chipotle witnessed a 0.4 % decrease in the first quarter.

Reuters contributed to this report.