McDonald's Profit Soars

McDonald's(MCD Quote) got a big boost from overseas as the fast-food giant recorded a 31% increase in quarterly earnings per share.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings of $946.1 million, or 81 cents a share, compared with $762.4 million, or 62 cents a share a year earlier, beating analyst estimates by 11 cents. EPS was boosted by a 5-cent-a-share currency benefit.

Revenue in Europe rose 23% to almost $2.4 billion, fueled by an 11% increase in same-store sales. But sales in the U.S. were down by 0.8%. Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa grew by 9%, with Australia and China leading the way.

The company also repurchased $2 billion of stock in the quarter and paid a quarterly dividend of 37.5 cents per share totaling approximately $430 million.

McDonald's Fattens Up

Shares of McDonald's were recently trading down 22 cents to $58.45. Major competitor Burger King's(BKC Quote) shares were down 84 cents to $27.65. Burger King will report earnings May 1. Shares of fast-food company Wendy's(WEN Quote), which reports earnings on Friday, also were lower, down 59 cents to $24.71.

McDonald's is one of three companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average reporting earnings today. The others are AT&T(T Quote) and DuPont(DD Quote) .