McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company is no longer planning for a near-term recovery in consumer demand, describing elevated inflation and largely flat industry traffic as the operating environment for the foreseeable future. His remarks at the company’s September 23, 2026, investor day came six days after the Federal Reserve raised the upper bound of its federal funds target rate to 4.00% from 3.75%. McDonald’s shares are down 22% year to date and fell nearly 5% on investor day. Second-quarter U.S. comparable sales rose 0.8%, while July comparable sales were slightly negative; global comparable sales slowed to 1.3% from 3.8% a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share were $3.38 on $7.10 billion of revenue. The company also pushed back its target of reaching 50,000 restaurants globally from the end of 2027 to 2028. Investors were not reassured by the McDonald’s Next strategy or $8.5 billion in planned franchisee support through 2036, although McDonald’s has recorded 50 consecutive years of dividend increases and yields roughly 3.2% at a price-to-earnings ratio near 20.