All-Day Breakfast Boosts McDonald's Sales for Third Quarter in a Row

McDonald's much-talked-about turnaround plan seems to be working: This morning the fast food giant reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2016, and same-store sales are up 6.2 percent (5.4 domestically) — better than analysts expected, reports CNBC. As a result, the company's stock price jumped by 2.5 percent this morning.

McDonald's says all-day breakfast continues to bolster sales, along with its McPick 2 meal deal (though the latter was recently changed from a two-for-$2 to a two-for-$5); having a Leap Day this year also gave the company a boost, providing an additional day of sales and an estimated $6 million in extra revenue. It's the third quarter in a row the chain has seen a jump in sales, following a two-year decline.

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But analysts warn things might not looks so rosy for the second sales quarter: They say the fast food industry as a whole saw a drop in business during March, with a 3.6 percent decline in guests; this is attributed to a few different factors including bad weather, the Easter holiday, and people wanting to save money in the face of "downbeat economic talk by presidential candidates."

McDonald's will report additional info on its quarterly sales as well as outlook for the months ahead on an earnings call to be held later today. The turnaround plan laid out by CEO Steve Easterbrook in mid-2015 includes shuttering under-performing stores as well as making some efforts to simplify its menu and modernizing the look of its stores and packaging.