McDonald’s Corp. MCD is a leading fast-food chain that offers various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages, as well as breakfast menus. The company aims to continuously build its brand by adapting to changing consumer preference. McDonald’s posted improved comps in its key regions in the third quarter and it seems that the company’s strategic efforts to boost sales have started yielding results. The company is focusing on product innovation, offering a value menu and rolling out more limited-time offerings which should boost results. Further, McDonald’s is trimming complicated menus, speeding up service, testing customized burgers and sandwiches to compete with other popular restaurants. The company is also working on a digital strategy and mobile technologies to lower costs further. Beginning Jul 1, 2015, the company began operating under four new segments. These new segments are: U.S. – the company's largest segment, International Lead Markets – mature markets which include Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK; High-Growth Markets – markets with high restaurant expansion and franchising potential including China, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and Foundational Markets – the remaining markets in McDonald's system, each of which has the potential to operate under a substantially franchised model. Analysts have been optimistic in the recent months about the company’s earnings and Investors should also note the recent earnings estimate revisions for MCD has been moving upwards over the past 30 days. MCD’s earnings have been strong over the past few quarters. McDonald’s has delivered positive earnings surprises in all the trailing four quarters and has an average positive earnings surprise of 5.38%. Meanwhile, revenues have posted positive surprises in three of the trailing four quarters. Currently, MCD has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) but that could change following McDonald’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below: Earnings: MCD beats on earnings. Our consensus earnings estimate called for EPS of $1.16 per share, and the company reported earnings per share of $1.23 per share. Revenues: MCD reported revenues of $5.90 billion. This beat our consensus estimate of 5.87 billion. Key Stats to Note: Global comps for the first quarter grew 6.2% that compared favorably to 5% growth in the prior quarter. All the segments posted positive comps. However, foreign currency translation hurt profits. How the Market Reacted So Far Shares of McDonald’s were up more than 3% in the pre market trading session, before the earnings release. Following the earnings release, McDonald’s shares were still up by around 2% in the pre-market trading session. The initial reaction doesn’t show whether the investors have considered the results in their favor. However, the full-session’s price movement may give an indication. Check back later for our full write up on this MCD earnings report later! Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MCDONALDS CORP (MCD): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research