The world's largest fast food chain, McDonald's Corp., layed open its pandemic-related pain this morning when the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed expectatons due to declining sales worldwide and reduced guest count and breafast business in the key U.S. market.

The company reported a sharp drop in adjusted earnings to 66 cents a share in the quarter, compared with $2.05 a share in the year-ago period. Prior estimates called for earnings of 73 to 76 cents a share.

Net income fell to $483.8 million, or 65 cents a share during the quarter from $1.5 billion, or $1.97 in the year-ago period.

Revenue dropped 30% during the second quarter to $3.76 billion from $5.4 billion in the year-ago period. That period, of course, covered the bulk of the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S., where the company has the lion's share of its stores.

The QSR has had only limited dine-in at some stores during part of the second quarter. Instead at most locations during the period, it has had service via drive-thru, delivery and carryout. As of June 30, the brand said "nearly all" of its stores globally were open in some form.

Comparable store-sales fell 23.9% worldwide during the quarter, while systemwide sales fell 24%.

"We saw continued improvement in our results throughout the second quarter as markets reopened around the world," Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's president and CEO said this morning related to the report. "I'm especially proud of the way the McDonald's System continues to provide a safe environment for both customers and crew, building on our 65 year legacy as a responsible and reliable choice for safe food. We're confident that the strong foundation we've built, combined with the unique advantages of our System, position us well to continue operating successfully during this pandemic and emerge even stronger."

The company said that global comparable sales results sequentially improved throughout the second quarter of 2020 as markets reopened restaurants and governments eased restrictions.In the U.S. the story was similar, with comp sales benefiting from what the brand called "strong average check growth," though comp sales and guest counts remained in the negative, particular for the breakfast daypart.

Internationally, the brand's comparable sales results were hurt by temporary restaurant closures and limited operations, particularly in the U.K. and France, it said. Though comp sales stayed negative across nearly all markets in the quarter, results sequentially improved as well across markets. In fact, comp sales were positive in Australia for May and June.

The company said comp sales were most notably impacted by temporary restaurant closures in Latin America. China also racked up negative comp sales, while Japan posted positive comp sales for the quarter.

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