McDonald’s worth meals turn around US sales in third quarter

worth meals helped turn around McDonald’s U.S. sales in the third quarter with customers smarting from higher prices all over, but that recovery could be dented in the final months of the year by an E. coli outbreak tied to the business’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.

U.S. same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least a year — rose 0.3% in the July-September period, the business said Tuesday. McDonald’s launched a $5 worth meal in late June after a disappointing second quarter, and it said the worth communication resonated with consumers.

The $5 deal was so successful that McDonald’s recently extended it to December at most of its U.S. stores.

But last week, a crisis hit. McDonald’s pulled Quarter Pounders off the menu at around 3,000 stores after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that the burger’s slivered raw onions were the likely factor of E. coli contamination. The outbreak has killed one person and sickened at least 75 others across 13 states.

McDonald’s said Sunday it has stopped getting onions from that supplier. It expects to put the Quarter Pounder back on all of its U.S. menus within the week, although it will be served without onions at 900 stores. But it’s not yet obvious how much the recall hurt demand.

McDonald’s also struggled outside the U.S. in the third quarter. Chinese demand was frail as the that country’s economy slows, with customers choosing cheaper rivals, and the business has also been hurt by the war in the Middle East.

McDonald’s same-store sales fell 1.5% companywide during the third quarter. That was worse than the 0.6% decline Wall Street was predicting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

McDonald’s turnover rose 3% to $6.87 billion for the quarter. That was slightly higher than the $6.82 billion analysts were predicting.

McDonald’s net turnover fell 3% to $2.25 billion. Adjusted for one-period items, including the costs associated with acquiring McDonald’s business in Israel, the business earned $3.23 per distribute, which was higher than the $3.21 per distribute Wall Street was expecting.

Shares of McDonald’s Corp. were down nearly 2% before the opening bell Tuesday.