“We expect that net restaurant expansion in 2026, along with restaurants we opened in 2025, will contribute approximately 2.5% to system-wide sales growth.”

In context

“technology that meets customers and our restaurant teams where they are. It's all part of how we're modernizing the way McDonald's shows up every day. And now I'll turn it back over to Ian. Ian Borden: Thanks, Jill. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain confident in our strategy and our ability to outperform our competitors in any operating environment by focusing on what we can control and by leveraging our global scale and financial strength. We believe the underlying assumptions for our 2026 outlook are prudent and reflect our expectations that the QSR industry environments in the U.S. and across many markets will remain challenging. Should the environment improve beyond our expectations, we believe McDonald's is well positioned to benefit disproportionately relative to our competitors. We expect that net restaurant expansion in 2026, along with restaurants we opened in 2025, will contribute approximately 2.5% to system-wide sales growth. We expect our operating margin to be in the mid- to high 40% range and to expand from our 46.9% adjusted operating margin in 2025. We're targeting G&A as a percentage of system-wide sales for the full year to be about 2.2%, reflecting our ongoing investments in our strategic growth drivers like technology and digital and Global Business Services or GBS. These investments are designed to unlock efficiencies in running the business and to support long-term growth for our people and stakeholders. Below the operating line, we expect interest expense to increase between 4% to 6% from the prior year, primarily due to higher average interest rates and expect our full year effective tax rate to be between 21% and 23% with some volatility quarter-to-quarter that may cause the quarterly rate to be”