McDonald's Ditches U.S. President Amidst Disappointing Sales Growth

McDonald's U.S. President Joe Erlinger was replaced by Skye Anderson after the company reported disappointing domestic comparable sales growth of just 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 2.5 percent a year ago.

The company beat Wall Street earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $3.38 topping the $3.32 forecast, but underlying U.S. numbers told a different story, with guest counts falling and value promotions failing to draw back lower-income customers.

Kempczinski, McDonald's Chairman and CEO, attributed the shortfall to execution issues rather than strategy problems, stating 'we simply didn’t execute at the level we needed to.'

This marks a second year of underperformance for Kempczinski as CEO, with the company's stock down nearly 13 percent for the year.