
McDonald's Second Quarter May Be Mixed, but It's Not for Lack of New Menu Items
The Golden Arches' second quarter may be mixed when McDonald's (MCD) - Get Report reports earnings Tuesday, but it's not for lack of new products this year.
Analysts expect McDonald's to report earnings of $1.35 a share for the quarter, which would represent a 7.1% increase from the prior year. Same-store sales for McDonald's U.S. market -- its largest -- are seen rising 3.6%, cooling from a supersized 5.4% gain the first-quarter.
McDonald's continued struggles to find the right value message in a competitive fast-food industry -- and broader industry sluggishness that tripped up rivals such as Starbucks (SBUX) - Get Report and Dunkin' Brands Group (DNKN) - Get Report -- may have weighed on second-quarter sales.
Starbucks is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells SBUX? Learn more now.
"Traffic is still negative at McDonald's as the chain continues to wrestle with a Dollar Menu hangover, and prices of its premium items that are perhaps too high for perceived quality relative to chains such as Chick-fil-A or In And Out," wrote RBC restaurant analyst David Palmer in a note to clients in late June.
Palmer, who slashed his second-quarter sales growth estimate for McDonald's to 2.5% from 3.5%, added, "Finding the right value message remains a struggle, which is leading to negative traffic and varied sales trends around the country."
McDonald's has introduced a host of more upscale new foods this year.
Meanwhile, Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski downgraded his rating on McDonald's at the end of June to neutral from buy, citing slowing industry sales in the U.S. and tough sales comparisons for Mickey Dees. The analyst slashed his price target on McDonald's to $129 from $142.
Wall Street's more cautious stance on the Dow component has hung over McDonald's shares like a dark cloud. Shares have fallen 0.3% during the past three months, lagging the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 3% gain. On Monday morning, shares were down 0.7% to $127.40.
Despite the potential sales slowdown, McDonald's does deserve a bit of credit for continuing to unleash a host of new fast foods to reel in customers inundated with choices. Here are eleven new foods McDonald's has tried to sell people in the U.S. this year to appease the voracious appetite of Wall Street.
The lattice crust of the new apple pie just looks sexier.
1. "New Apple Pie"
Where: 950 restaurants in North Carolina and Southern California
Launch Date: July
McDonald's new apple pie (above) just looks like a more edible splurge, no?
The pie uses large slices of apples instead of diced ones, baked inside a lattice crust. As for the filling, it includes five varieties of apple, rather than the six varieties that were historically used.
You can feel your arteries closing while looking at this picture.
2. Lone Star Stack Burger
Where: Participating locations in Texas
Launch Date: June
The latest caloric bomb at McDonald's was actually chosen by consumers. Texas residents were challenged by McDonald's to dream up a new sandwich that represents the Lone Star state. Enter the Lone Star Stack Burger, which was selected as the winner from more than 25,000 entries.
It includes two beef patties, sweet onion barbecue sauce, caramelized onions, Applewood smoked bacon, American and white cheddar cheeses, crinkle-cut pickles, all on two slices of buttery Texas toast.
Another underwhelming McDonald's chicken sandwich.
3. Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Where: Participating locations in the New York Tri-State Area
Launch Date: June
Seeing as this sandwich is being offered in TheStreet's New York City backyard, we recently gave the fried version a try. As with most McDonald's chicken sandwiches (grilled or fried) it was underwhelming due in large part to a lack of seasoning on the chicken. Step it up, McDonald's.
The sandwich is topped with lettuce, tomato, shaved parmesan cheese and caesar dressing, all inside McDonald's classic sesame seed roll.
It's time for these clean McNuggets to be nationwide.
4. "Clean" Chicken McNuggets
Where: 140 stores in Oregon and southwest Washington
Launch Date: March
The new McNugget is still made with 100% white-meat chicken, no artificial flavors or colors and the company's signature seasonings and crispy breading. But the ones being tested in Portland have no artificial preservatives.
So, in effect it looks as if McDonald's has created a "clean" Chicken McNugget. "Clean" ingredients are the new buzzword being used in the fast-food industry in an attempt to address healthier eating trends. A food is commonly referred to as "clean" once it's free of artificial flavors, sweeteners and preservatives.
McDonald's reportedly is poised to launch the new McNugget nationwide ahead of the summer Olympics in August. A spokeswoman didn't return an email seeking confirmation.
The Big Mac has long lost family members.
5. New Big Macs
Where: 120 restaurants in central Ohio and Dallas.
Launch Date: April
McDonald's is not above tinkering with the most iconic item on its menu, the Big Mac. The Grand Mac (far right) costs $4.89 and is made with two 1/6-pound beef patties on a larger sesame seed bun, compared to a traditional Big Mac (center), which has two 1.6 ounce beef patties. The Mac Jr. (far left) is a essentially a single-layer Big Mac that sells for about $2.39 and $2.59, depending on location. Each sandwich has the traditional Big Mac sauce.
No word yet on whether there are plans to roll out the new Big Macs nationally.
Garlic fries have been a recent win for McDonald's.
6. Garlic Fries
Locations: 240 restaurants in California
Launch Date: May
What began as a test of garlic fries at four McDonald's restaurants in San Francisco in May, has since been expanded to 240 restaurants throughout California due to their popularity among customers.
The "Gilroy Garlic Fries are tossed in stainless steel bowls with a mix of chopped garlic and olive oil, parmesan cheese, parsley and a smidgen of salt. The garlic is grown in nearby Gilroy, California, and is part of what the burger chain says is "part of a trend at McDonald's to experiment with regional flavors and food on its menu."
We are still waiting to try one of these following a Crossfit workout.
7. Breakfast Bowls
Locations: 800 restaurants in Southern California
Launch Date: February
A low-fat egg white at calorie king McDonald's? Go figure.
McDonald's launched an egg white and turkey sausage breakfast bowl that comes packed with leafy kale, spinach, bruschetta and cheese. Another bowl is a touch heartier. It comes with chicken chorizo, eggs, shredded cheddar-jack cheese and pico de gallo. For a few extra calories, McDonald's adds a fried hash brown to the bowl.
Got protein?
8. Greek Yogurt
Locations: 800 restaurants in southern California
Launch Date: February
Regular yogurt is so 1990; what's in now is Greek yogurt because of its high protein levels and low carbohydrate count. McDonald's replaced the yogurt used in its parfaits and fruit smoothies with Greek yogurt made by Chobani in its locations in southern California.
Tons of sneaky calories in this new salad -- don't be fooled by the kale.
9. Southwest Salad
Locations: All McDonald's locations
Launch Date: Undetermined
Kale at McDonald's? It's no joke.
The new salad contains slices of grilled chicken breast, fire-roasted corn, black beans, roasted tomatoes, poblano peppers, shredded cheddar and jack cheeses, chili-lime tortilla strips, cilantro, and a lime wedge-all atop chopped romaine lettuce, baby spinach and baby kale. The salad is served with Newman's Own Southwest dressing.
Another new product that deserves to be available nationwide.
10. Chicken McGriddle
Location: 11 restaurants in Central Ohio
Launch Date: February
McDonald's appears to have another hit alongside garlic fries in the Chicken McGriddle, which originally launched in 11 restaurants in Central Ohio in February. The product's availability has since been expanded to McDonald's restaurants in Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Lima in Ohio.
The concoction is made with two maple-flavored pancakes and a slab of fried chicken.
The Mighty Wing has a checkered history at McDonald's.
11. Mighty Wings
Location: 285 restaurants in Atlanta
Launch Date: April
The bone-in chicken wings, with a somewhat spicy breading, were available until mid-June.
Mighty Wings have a checkered history for the Golden Arches. The product originally launched in 1990, but had been taken off the menu in 2003. McDonald's re-introduced Mighty Wings in September 2013 nationally after a year of testing, and they were a colossal failure as consumers shunned them because of their extra spicy breading and high price. The company was forced to discount millions of wings in order to work through excess inventory, and they were eventually removed from the menu, only to return for a limited-time in Detroit last summer.





















