Some say it's football, some say it's a hot dog. Others argue it's apple pie and a muscle car.
But for folks who are brand aware, there is perhaps nothing more ubiquitously and recognizably American than the Golden Arches.
Related: McDonald's CEO sends dire warning to California
We are, of course, talking about McDonald's MCD, which recently pleased investors with a better-than-expected Q3 earnings report. With a 14% revenue beat and a 6.5% earnings-per-share beat, the fast-food giant had a bumper quarter.
"Around the world, we're operating from a position of strength as the industry's market-share leader. In Q3, we achieved comparable global sales of nearly 9%," Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski told analysts on the earnings call.
Part of its secret to success has been keeping its prices relatively low and stable, as the price of almost everything has gone up over the past year.
"Between inflation remaining high, the elevated cost of fuel, interest rates, housing affordability pressures and more, consumers all over the world are having to pay more and more for everyday goods and services, proving time and time again in difficult economic times, the McDonald's brand and our positioning on value is an opportunity for us," Kempczinski added.
It might seem like enough to simply offer value and popular products to hungry customers. But the company continues to iterate and try new things — and a recent partnership is proving to be particularly fruitful.
Key McDonald's partnership may expand
Keen to cater to the early risers, McDonald's has been making further advances in the breakfast realm, ramping up its coffee and other cafe-style offerings.
Central to this effort has been its partnership with Krispy Kreme DNUT, which began in 2022 and has been reliably humming ever since.
While the fast-food giant remains mum on the efficacy and penetration of its individual partnerships, Krispy Kreme was keen to mention its success in its Q3 earnings call on Thursday.
"While nothing has been finalized, we are excited about our continued partnership with McDonald's, and we are in advanced discussions about expanding the relationship," Chief Operating Officer Josh Charlesworth divulged on the call.
Pressed further on what an expanded partnership might look like, and when customers might expect it, Charlesworth told analysts that while scaling the partnership would require a lot of up-front cost, the payoff appears to be worth it.
"The learning has been very interesting through the pilot that we've done with them throughout the year in Kentucky, and that is a nature of a lot of the discussions with McDonald's right now, ongoing analysis and discussion with them, covering the operational execution, making sure the donuts always arrive at the right time, right quality, understanding then indeed are the requirements that would be needed to scale beyond Kentucky, and of course, commercial viability of the whole thing," he explained.
He added that Krispy Kreme is happy to be a "donut donor" to quick-service restaurants, and the collaboration has succeeded. "We've seen that both the loose donuts and the prepacked donuts are well received," he said.
As for when the partnership might expand into the other 49 states, we're going to have to wait for an official announcement.
"There's nothing finalized with McDonald's, so we'll continue to update you on our plans as we have more information," Charlesworth said.
