McDonald’s shares fell again Monday, extending a steep slide that has pushed the world’s largest restaurant franchisor down more than 20% from its early-year highs, even as the company’s underlying sales trends have continued to strengthen.

Shares of the Chicago-based company were trading at $266.33 as of noon EDT, down $3.43, or 1.27%, on the day. The decline keeps the stock hovering close to its 52-week low of roughly $270, a level it first touched on June 22, and well off its 52-week high of $337.56, reached in late February. The roughly 20% drawdown over the past four months stands in contrast to a business that has, by most measures, continued to perform well operationally.

McDonald’s first-quarter 2026 results, reported earlier this year, showed earnings per share of $2.83, ahead of analyst estimates of $2.74, while revenue climbed 9.4% year-over-year to $6.52 billion. Global comparable sales rose 3.8%, a sharp reversal from a 1% decline in the same period a year earlier, with U.S. comparable sales up 3.9% and international operated markets posting 14% revenue growth. According to recent analyst commentary, the quarter marked the fourth consecutive period of accelerating global comparable sales for the chain, a streak that has continued even as the stock has fallen.

Several factors appear to be weighing on the shares despite that operational momentum. Broader sector rotation has played a meaningful role, with institutional investors shifting money away from defensive consumer names like McDonald’s and into higher-growth technology and semiconductor stocks amid the ongoing artificial intelligence investment boom. Persistently sticky inflation data has also raised concerns that interest rates could stay elevated longer than previously expected, a dynamic that tends to weigh on consumer discretionary spending and, by extension, restaurant stocks broadly. McDonald’s has faced its own version of that pressure directly, with customers increasingly pushing back against menu pricing even as the company has leaned on value-focused promotions to keep traffic steady, particularly among lower-income consumers who have grown more price-sensitive.

Company-specific decisions have added to the uncertainty. McDonald’s recently discontinued its long-running “Wrap of the Day” promotion, a roughly 15-year-old offering, a move some analysts have flagged as a potential risk to customer traffic at a moment when overall quick-service foot traffic across the industry is already softening. At the same time, the company rolled out a new systemwide initiative called “McDonald’s NEXT” earlier this month, aimed at improving food quality, expanding automation, enhancing digital ordering and strengthening franchise economics across its nearly 46,000 restaurants. While the program has been broadly welcomed as a long-term positive, some analysts have characterized the automated rollout as unproven at this stage, introducing near-term execution risk and requiring heavy upfront investment in labor and capital just as franchisee margins are already under pressure. Separately, the company has leaned into nostalgia marketing, reintroducing its Fried Apple Pie to U.S. menus for the first time in 34 years in an effort to drive renewed customer engagement.

Wall Street’s reaction to the stock’s pullback has been mixed. KeyBanc lowered its price target on McDonald’s to $315 from $330 earlier Monday while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares, according to research tracked by financial data providers. Other firms have taken a more cautious stance, with Erste Group and RBC Capital both reaffirming Hold ratings on the stock in recent days. Across a broader pool of analysts, the consensus price target sits at roughly $331, with estimates ranging from a high of $375 to a low of $300, and ratings split between 19 Buy recommendations, 14 Hold ratings and a single Sell, reflecting a genuinely divided view on where the stock goes from here. Some recent insider selling, including a multimillion-dollar stock sale by a top McDonald’s executive earlier this month, has added to investor unease even as at least one institutional investor, SG Americas, increased its stake in the company by nearly 69% during the recent pullback, a move some market watchers have read as a sign of growing conviction that the stock’s decline has been overdone.

McDonald’s underlying financial profile continues to support its reputation as one of the more durable cash-generating businesses in the restaurant industry. The company posted roughly $7.19 billion in free cash flow over the trailing year and reported annual net profit of $8.56 billion, ranking it first among its peers in the broader consumer services sector despite trailing some rivals in total revenue. McDonald’s also remains a Dividend Aristocrat, having raised its payout for decades, including a 5% increase in October 2025 that brought its quarterly dividend to $1.86 per share, translating to a yield of roughly 2.6%, above the broader industry average. The company’s most recent dividend was paid June 16 to shareholders of record as of June 2.

Looking ahead, the company has outlined plans to open roughly 2,600 new restaurants globally in 2026 and has set a target of reaching a mid-to-high 40% operating margin over time, underscoring management’s continued confidence in the underlying business model even amid the stock’s recent weakness. Analysts tracking the company have pointed to a planned investor event tied to the NEXT initiative, expected in September, as the most likely near-term catalyst that could help re-rate the stock if management can convincingly demonstrate progress on automation, digital engagement and franchise profitability.

Risks to that more optimistic view remain real. Restructuring charges tied to the NEXT rollout are expected to run through 2027, while the company faces 4% to 6% higher interest expense and a higher effective tax rate of 22%, compared with roughly 19.8% previously. Broader margin pressure across the restaurant industry, illustrated by a recent decline in Chipotle’s restaurant-level operating margin, suggests McDonald’s is not alone in navigating a tougher cost environment, even as its scale and largely franchised model continue to set it apart from many competitors.

For now, McDonald’s finds itself in an unusual position: a business posting improving sales trends and steady cash generation, trading near multiyear lows on its stock price, caught between near-term investor caution over execution risk and rising costs, and a longer-term bull case built around the durability of its global franchise model and its ability to keep adapting its value proposition to changing consumer habits.

Bed Bath & Beyond is giving its iconic blue coupon a second life — and shoppers who held onto one could cash in.

The company recently announced a nationwide “Legendary Coupon Hunt” to find the oldest surviving Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in America, while giving its customers a shot at a $100,000 home makeover.

Through July 13, shoppers can bring any Bed Bath & Beyond coupon to participating Bed Bath & Beyond + The Container Store and Kirkland’s Home stores nationwide.

MARCUS LEMONIS NAMED BED BATH & BEYOND CEO, DETAILS FUTURE PLANS FOR RETAILER

Bed Bath & Beyond recently announced a nationwide “Legendary Coupon Hunt” to find the oldest surviving Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in America, while giving its customers a shot at a $100,000 home makeover. (Bed Bath & Beyond / Fox News)

Bed Bath & Beyond said the campaign is designed to send Americans searching through kitchen drawers, glove compartments, attics, basements and old scrapbooks for its coupons.

“For decades, our customers treated these coupons like treasure,” Amy Sullivan, president of Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., said in a statement. “They tucked them into purses, filing cabinets, cookbooks and memory boxes because they believed they would be valuable someday. We think they were right.”

Sullivan added, “The Legendary Coupon Hunt is our way of celebrating the customers who helped build this brand while creating one of the biggest customer events in our history.”

BUC-EE’S EXPANDS NATIONAL FOOTPRINT WITH 15 MORE LOCATIONS IN THE PIPELINE

Through July 13, shoppers can bring any Bed Bath & Beyond coupon to participating Bed Bath & Beyond + The Container Store and Kirkland’s Home stores nationwide. (Johnny Milano/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Every coupon, including those that are faded and expired, will be honored and entered into the sweepstakes, the company said.

The grand prize winner will receive a $100,000 home transformation using products and services from Bed Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Kirkland’s, Lumber Liquidators and Cabinets To Go.

The company will also award $500 gift cards to 100 winners and $100 gift cards to 50 winners.

BATH & BODY WORKS EXPANDS BEYOND MALLS WITH ULTA BEAUTY PARTNERSHIP, REVIVES FAN-FAVORITE SCENT

Bed Bath & Beyond said the campaign is designed to send Americans searching through kitchen drawers, glove compartments, attics, basements and old scrapbooks for its iconic blue coupons. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

“The winner of the $100,000 home transformation will have the opportunity to reimagine nearly every room in their home with products, inspiration and solutions from some of America’s most trusted home brands, creating a home that is more beautiful, functional and personalized to the way they live,” as noted in the announcement.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill shares fell again Monday, extending a difficult stretch for the burrito chain as investors continue to weigh whether a recent return to positive customer traffic is strong enough to offset mounting cost pressures squeezing the company’s margins.

Shares of the Newport Beach, California-based company were trading at $32.80 as of 12:19 p.m. EDT, down 55 cents, or 1.63%, on the day. The decline keeps the stock not far above its 52-week low of roughly $28.04, reached late last month, and well below the levels it traded at before a punishing 2025 that erased roughly 40% of the company’s market value from its 52-week high. The stock remains down about 14% so far in 2026 alone.

Chipotle’s struggles trace back to an unusually difficult stretch last year, when the company posted negative comparable restaurant sales for the first time in its history, a streak that ultimately ran for five consecutive quarters. Traffic declined, margins compressed, and two prominent institutional investors, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square and Viking Global, exited their positions in the stock entirely during that period, contributing to the broader selloff that has weighed on shares ever since.

Signs of a turnaround emerged in the company’s first-quarter 2026 results. Chipotle reported revenue of $3.1 billion, up 7.4% year-over-year and ahead of analyst expectations, while comparable restaurant sales rose 0.5%, driven by a 0.6% increase in transactions, finally breaking the five-quarter streak of declining traffic. Chief Executive Scott Boatwright described the quarter as a meaningful step forward for the business.

“Tangible progress across operations, digital, menu innovation, people, and development,” Boatwright said.

Despite that improvement, the same quarterly report revealed continued pressure on Chipotle’s margins. Food, beverage and packaging costs rose to 29.6% of revenue from 29.2% a year earlier, while labor costs climbed to 26.1% from 25.0%. Operating margin for the quarter came in at 12.9%, a notable step down from the company’s peak margins of nearly 18% reached in 2024, before wage inflation, higher beef and freight costs, and softer average restaurant volumes began eating into profitability through 2025. Chipotle’s revenue has nonetheless grown steadily over time, climbing from $7.5 billion in 2021 to nearly $12 billion by 2025, even as the percentage of that revenue converted into operating profit has become harder to sustain.

On the company’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Adam Rymer addressed analyst questions about when margin pressure might ease, noting that the first half of the year was likely to remain the toughest stretch on a year-over-year basis as pricing gradually narrows the gap with inflation. Rymer pointed out that Chipotle’s pricing increase in the first quarter, at 0.9%, remained well below the mid-single-digit pace of inflation the company was experiencing, though he expressed confidence that gap would close as the year progressed. The company guided toward second-quarter comparable sales growth of roughly 1%, a modest step up from the first quarter’s half-percentage-point gain, while indicating that menu mix effects were expected to be roughly flat in the second quarter after dragging on results by about 1% in the first.

Despite the initially positive reaction to those first-quarter results, which had briefly pushed shares up more than 3% on the day they were announced, the stock’s momentum has since reversed sharply. Shares fell 4.6% on June 22 amid lingering concerns that Chipotle’s nascent traffic recovery might not be durable enough to offset both rising input costs and heavier promotional spending, a decline that came alongside a fresh analyst downgrade. Two days later, in the first regular trading session following the Juneteenth holiday, Chipotle shares dropped a further 6% to close at $30.54, a move that outpaced the broader restaurant sector and left the stock only modestly above its 52-week low at the time. Analysts following the stock have framed the central question facing the company not as whether diners are returning, but whether that returning traffic is arriving through smaller average orders, heavier use of loyalty rewards redemptions, and continued price restraint, all of which can support top-line sales while still squeezing profit margins.

Not every recent signal has been bearish. BTIG analyst Peter Saleh set a price target of $45 on the stock in late April, a level that would represent substantial upside from current trading levels and reflects continued confidence among some on Wall Street that Chipotle’s brand strength and long-term unit growth story remain intact even amid near-term margin noise.

Chipotle has also continued to invest in its brand and promotional strategy as part of its effort to sustain the early traffic recovery. The company recently launched its 2026 “Summer of Extras” rewards campaign, which offers free entrée incentives to loyalty program members, and has leaned into limited-time menu items such as Chipotle Honey Chicken as part of a broader push to drive engagement. Underscoring the importance of that strategy, Chipotle recently appointed Fernando Machado as its new Chief Brand Officer, a hire that places renewed emphasis on brand and digital execution as central levers for both traffic growth and pricing power going forward.

How effectively that new leadership and marketing push can translate into sustained comparable sales growth, without further eroding restaurant-level margins, is likely to remain the central question shaping investor sentiment toward the stock in the coming quarters. For a company that built its reputation in part on consistently expanding margins alongside rapid unit growth, the current stretch represents an unfamiliar test of whether Chipotle can simultaneously rebuild customer traffic and protect profitability at the same time, a balancing act that has so far left the stock trading well below the highs it set before its difficult 2025.