McDonald's U.S. sales slow, but profit rises

Strong international sales helped McDonald's Corp. post a 24 percent gain in first-quarter profit, but investors seemed nervous about the company's first monthly decline of U.S. same-store sales in five years.

The fast-food behemoth easily topped Wall Street forecasts Tuesday when executives said it earned $946.1 million, or 81 cents per share, during the January-to-March period. That's up from $762.4 million, or 62 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Revenue climbed 6 percent to $5.6 billion.

"I'm confident our global momentum will continue," said Chief Executive Jim Skinner.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a quarterly profit of 70 cents per share on revenue of $5.4 billion.

But a 0.8 percent dip in U.S. comparable store figures for March -- an important metric for retailers -- kept McDonald's stock from rising Tuesday, despite assurances from the Oak Brook-based fast-food chain that same-store sales were on track to rebound in April.

"As we've seen before, we believe our U.S. business is not recession-proof, but it is recession resistant," Skinner said. "That's why we are confident in our ability to manage through these economic times."

Investors said they were pleased with the company's performance -- particularly amid a gloomy environment for food companies struggling with rising food prices -- but said they expected short-term focus to be on U.S. comparable sales.

"Aside from this data point, overall business momentum appears very strong as (McDonald's) continues to flex its global strength and capital muscle," Goldman Sachs analyst Steven T. Kron wrote to investors a research note.