McDonald’s posted better-than-expected sales in the first quarter but said high gas prices and consumer anxiety over the Iran war could dent sales this spring.
The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. was $4.55 on Thursday, according to AAA. That was 44% higher than a year ago.
McDonald's Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company has been making progress bringing lower-income customers back into its stores with value meals. But fast food visits by customers with household incomes of $45,000 or less are still declining overall, and the spike in gas prices won't help, he said.
“Clearly, when you have elevated gas prices... that is going to disproportionately impact low-income consumers. And so we expect the pressures there are going to continue,” Kempczinski said Thursday during a conference call with investors.
McDonald's said same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell in the U.S. and some international markets in April. That was partly due to a big surge in sales last April, when a popular Minecraft meal drove traffic. Kempczinski said it's too early to get a read on sales in May and June, although the company is hoping a new beverage lineup which launched in the U.S. this week will generate interest.
“Certainly consumer sentiment is heightened anxiety, let’s just say, and it may have an impact. But, you know, our focus is on controlling what we can control,” Kempczinski said.
McDonald's shares were flat in early trading Thursday.
In the January-March period, McDonald's global same-store sales rose 3.8%. That was better than the 3.7% increase Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
The company kept customers interested with limited-time menu items like the Big Arch burger, a 1,020-calorie behemoth that went on sale in the U.S. in March. The burger became a viral sensation after Kempczinski posted a video of himself taking a nibble from one and was mocked for his tentative bite. Tom Curtis, president of rival Burger King, posted his own video taking a vigorous bite of his chain’s new Whopper.
The Big Arch burger costs well over $8 in many U.S. markets. So McDonald's is trying to emphasize value in other parts of its menu. The company cut prices on some U.S. combo meals in September, and starting April 21, McDonald’s U.S. stores began offering 10 items that each cost less than $3.
Kempczinski said McDonald's experience in other markets like Germany and Australia has shown that the combination of meal deals and low-priced individual items is the best value strategy.
“You need to have a meal deal offering there to be able to drive interest and excitement around some of our core menu items,” Kempczinski said. “But you also need entry-level price points for those folks who are maybe a little bit more stressed around affordability and are looking for, you know, ‘What can I get for $3 or less?’”
The Chicago chain said its revenue rose 9% in the first quarter to $6.52 billion. That was also higher than the $6.47 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to FactSet.
McDonald’s net income rose 6% to $1.98 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $2.83 per share. That was also higher than analysts’ forecast of $2.74.
FILE - A McDonald's logo is shown at a restaurant in Warren, Mich., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said the “need to work tirelessly in favor of peace” was discussed in talks Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who came to Rome on a fence-mending visit after President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo XIV.
During Rubio’s meeting with Leo, and the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, “the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed,” the Vatican said.
In a statement, the Vatican said the two sides then exchanged views on current events “with particular attention to countries marked by war, political tensions, and difficult humanitarian situations, as well as on the need to work tirelessly in favor of peace.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a fence-mending visit to the Vatican on Thursday to underscore strong bilateral ties, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s broadsides against Pope Leo XIV for his opposition to the Iran war angered the Holy See and sparked ongoing sparring between them.
The U.S. State Department said that the meetings with Leo and the Vatican’s top diplomat covered peace in the Middle East and “underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See,” and reflected the “enduring partnership” between them.
Rubio, a practicing Catholic, had an audience first with Leo, which was complicated at the last minute by Trump’s latest criticism of the Chicago-born pope. Leo has pushed back, calling out Trump’s misrepresentations of his views on Iran and nuclear weapons, and insisting that he’s merely preaching the biblical message of peace.
During a 2½-hour visit, Rubio then met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who on the eve of his visit had strongly defended Leo and criticized Trump’s attacks in understated diplomatic terms.
“Attacking him like that or criticizing what he does seems a bit strange to me, to say the least,” Parolin said Wednesday.
After the meetings, the U.S. State Department said that Rubio and Parolin discussed “ongoing humanitarian efforts in the Western Hemisphere and efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East. The discussion reflected the enduring partnership between the United States and the Holy See in advancing religious freedom.”
In a separate statement about the audience with Leo, U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said that the two discussed the situation in the Middle East “and topics of mutual interest in the Western Hemisphere. The meeting underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity,” he said.
The Vatican didn't immediately comment on the audiences.
Rubio also has meetings Friday with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Those meetings might not be much easier for Washington's top diplomat, given both have strongly defended Leo against Trump’s attacks and have criticized the Iran war as illegal — drawing the president's ire.
Rubio insisted this week that the visit had been in the works for a while, but that “obviously we had some stuff that happened.”
The tensions began when Trump lashed out at Leo on social media last month, saying the pope was soft on crime and terrorism for comments about the administration’s immigration policies and deportations as well as the Iran war. Leo then said that God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who wage war.
Later, Trump posted a social media image appearing to liken himself to Jesus Christ, which was deleted after a backlash. He has refused to apologize to Leo and has sought to explain away the post by saying that he thought the image was a representation of him as a doctor.
Rubio said that Trump’s recent criticisms of Leo were rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians.
Leo has never said Iran should obtain nuclear weapons and that the Catholic Church “for years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there.”
“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” Leo said late Tuesday, after Trump again accused him of being “OK” with Iran having a nuclear weapon.
By Thursday, tensions seemed to have eased.
In the exchange of gifts at the Vatican, Rubio presented Leo with a small crystal football paperweight. He acknowledged Leo’s known allegiance to the Chicago White Sox, saying “you’re a baseball guy, but it has the seal of the State Department,” on it.
“What to get someone who has everything?” he joked as he picked the paperweight up.
Leo, for his part, gave Rubio a pen apparently made of olive wood — “olive being of course the plant of peace,” Leo said — with his coat of arms on it and a picture book of Vatican artworks.
Rubio has often been called on to tone down or explain Trump’s harsh rhetoric. Trump also has criticized Meloni and other NATO allies for a lack of support for the Iran war, recently announcing plans to withdraw thousands of American troops from Germany in the coming months.
Giampiero Gramaglia, former head of the ANSA news agency and its onetime Washington correspondent, said that he didn’t expect much to come out of Rubio's visit for Italian or Vatican relations. He, and other Italian commentators, believe Rubio instead was looking to smooth over relations with the pope for his own political ambitions, as well as the upcoming midterm U.S. congressional elections and 2028 presidential race.
“I doubt Rubio has the role of conciliator for Trump,” he told Italy's Foreign Press Association. “I have the perception that Rubio’s mission is more about himself” and his political ambitions as a prominent Catholic Republican.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, undersecretary in the Vatican’s culture office, said that Rubio’s mission wasn’t to “convert” the pope to Trump’s side. Rather, Washington “has come to acknowledge — implicitly but legibly — that (Leo’s) voice carries weight in the world that cannot simply be dismissed.”
“The situation created by President Trump’s remarks required a high-level, direct intervention, conducted in the proper language of diplomacy: a semantic corrective to a narrative of frontal conflict with the church,” he wrote in an essay this week.
Rubio said that topics other than the Iran war were on the agenda for the Vatican visit, including Cuba. The Holy See is particularly concerned about the Trump administration’s threats of potential military action there following its January ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has said frequently that Cuba could be “next,” and even suggested that once the Iran war is over, naval assets deployed in the Middle East could return to the United States by way of Cuba.
Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk.
“We gave Cuba $6 million of humanitarian aid, but obviously they won’t let us distribute it," Rubio said. “We distributed it through the church. We’d like to do more.”
Matthew Lee, the AP's diplomatic writer, reported from Washington.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is greeted by a Vatican official as he arrives at the St. Damasus courtyard to meet with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is greeted by Archbishop Petar Rajič, the new Prefect of the Papal Householdas as he arrives at the St. Damasus courtyard to meet with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the St. Damasus courtyard after meeting with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the St. Damasus courtyard after meeting with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
In this handout photo provided by Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV exchanges gifts with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, as they meet in the pope's private library at the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Vatican Media via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Wife Jeannette arrive at Rome's Ciampino airport for a two-day visit to Italy and the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch upon hi arrival at Rome's Ciampino airport for a two-day visit to Italy and the Vatican, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Pope Leo XIV arrives at the swearing in ceremony for 28 new Pontifical Swiss Guards in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the room after speaking to the media in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
