McDonald's Posts Solid July Sales, Tops Views

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) doesn't appear to be feeling the effects of the turbulent economic recovery this summer as the fast food titan said Monday its same-store sales soared by 7% in July.

Global sales at locations open at least one year jumped by 7%, easily beating forecasts from analysts for sales to increase by 4.8%. Boosted by beverage sales, U.S. same-store sales were also solid, rising by 5.7%, compared with a gain of 5.3% in Europe.

Like most global companies, McDonald’s continues to see impressive growth in emerging markets as sales in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa segment soared by 10.1%. The company singled out strong results in Japan, Australia and China.

“Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, and our strong July sales performance reflects our commitment to them," CEO Jim Skinner said in a statement. "We're listening to our customers and offering the right combination of high-quality food and beverage choices, convenient locations with extended hours, and outstanding value across the entire menu."

McDonald’s said system-wide sales grew by 6.8%, or 8.3% on a constant currency basis.

Shares of McDonald’s responded well to the news, rising 0.9% to $72.32 after jumping almost 2% on Friday. The Dow component has outperformed the broader markets so far this year, rallying about 15%.