“Certainly, beverages is something that we're expecting is going to be a tailwind for us for the business for the balance of the year and hopefully longer than that.”

In context

“nis Geiger: Following another solid U.S. sales performance in the quarter, can you talk a bit more about how you're thinking about the U.S. sales trajectory over the balance of '26, given some of those key sales drivers that you identified across value and marketing and menu innovation, but also against the currently challenging macro backdrop in the U.S.? Christopher Kempczinski: Yes. Thanks for the question, Dennis. As I look at the marketing calendar that they've got for the U.S. for the balance of the year, I feel very good about the plan that they have in place. I think clearly, we're going to expect to continue to benefit from the McValue program. That's locked in through the balance of the year. And then we have, I think, a great lineup of menu innovation as well as marketing news. Certainly, beverages is something that we're expecting is going to be a tailwind for us for the business for the balance of the year and hopefully longer than that. What's obviously going on is the macro environment and consumer sentiment. That's not new news. But I think probably it's fair to say that it's getting -- it's certainly not improving, and it may be getting a little bit worse. How that plays out in all of this, I think, is an open question. But as Ian said in his comments, our focus is on what we can control. And on that score, I feel very good about the balance of the year. Ian Borden: Dennis, I might just tag on to Chris and just knowing, I'm sure, it will be a focus for lots of the Q&A today, just talk a little bit about kind of Q2 and beyond. I think as you heard us say upfront, I mean, we've had a solid start to the year. And I think what we're most pleased with is just the consistency of our performance across all of the 3 operating”