Quick and cheap are two of the first words that come to mind when thinking about fast food. But some McDonald’s customers have criticized the restaurant giant over recent higher menu prices, prompting the CEO to address the issue of affordability during the company’s latest earning call.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski spoke to analysts on Monday morning about the fast food chain’s mixed fourth quarter results, as well as the global market impact with ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Muslim communities, and ultimately about how to re-engage lower-income customers.

After the earnings results were posted, McDonald’s shares tumbled nearly 4% on the New York Stock Exchange by closing.

While global same-store sales – meaning stores that have been open for at least a year – were up 3.4%, short of Wall Street’s expectations, Kempczinski said those earnings results were impacted by the war in the Middle East.

Domestically however, same-store sales were up by 4.3%, which was more closely aligned to previous quarters and company expectations for what the CEO called “normalized growth.”

  • @Buddahriffic
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    710 months ago

    In the short term. In the long term, I believe they align. Too bad the people running most companies tend to focus more on the short term than the long.

    • @surewhynotlem
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      1710 months ago

      But that’s the problem. Investors don’t have long-term interests. They don’t desire it.

      • @Buddahriffic
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        410 months ago

        Yeah and even the laws consider short term trades as something held for only a year. It should be longer than that.

        Though even if the interests align and investors seek to earn money in good faith from building trust with their consumers, the investment class is still leaching off the labor of the workers.