---
title: "Confidence Increases in McDonald's Turnaround"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/586dd0cf-e5cb-4a7f-98fd-e9fb731c31a7
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/confidence-increases-in-mcdonalds-turnaround-2931
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
published: 2015-11-20T16:11:50.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T12:18:47.973Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/b2526175e8768fed61cc4e3b05a252056106151120113531.png
---

# Confidence Increases in McDonald's Turnaround

**TL;DR:** McDonald's shares hit an all-time high after reporting a four percent increase in global-same store sales in the third quarter. The company's CEO Steve Easterbrook expressed confidence that the positive trend will continue through the fourth quarter.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2015-11-20. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/confidence-increases-in-mcdonalds-turnaround-2931).*

## Story

McDonald’s shares hit an all-time high last month after the company reported that global-same store sales jumped four percent in the third quarter following six consecutive quarters of flat or negative results. China’s same-restaurant sales increased nearly 27 percent for the quarter, and even the United States market, which had been in a serious lull, reported a 0.9 percent increase in sales at restaurants open more than one year ago.

According to McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, the positive trend isn’t a fluke—the uptick in sales will continue through the fourth quarter.

“The progress we have made in a short amount of time gives me confidence we’re making the right moves to turn around our business and reposition McDonald’s as a modern, progressive burger company,” Easterbrook said in QSR Magazine .

Easterbrook turned skeptics into believers with bold actions like rolling out all-day breakfast in the United States, boosting wages for hourly workers in company-owned restaurants and tweaking quality by starting the lengthy switch to antibiotic-free chicken. The company is also determined to correct many of its key mistakes of the past, including refining—yet improving—its bloated menu.

By focusing on better-quality products, new store designs and new lines of management reporting globally, Easterbrook, who took over for Don Thompson in March, has infused the company with new energy and helped McDonald’s turn the corner.

“I have learned as an observer of McDonald’s and the restaurant industry for more than three decades that the company is filled with smart, focused, hard-working and dedicated people,” said Christopher Muller, a professor of hospitality at Boston University. “While they occasionally lose a step or two, they always seem to pick up the beat again and get back to leading the parade.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- QSR Magazine (publication)
- McDonald's (company)
- United States (location)
- leadership change (topic)
- same store sales (topic)
- China (location)
- turnaround (topic)
- menu refinement (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/confidence-increases-in-mcdonalds-turnaround-2931). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/586dd0cf-e5cb-4a7f-98fd-e9fb731c31a7).