McDonald’s Earnings Jump 56%

McDonald’s Corp. posted a 56% increase in first-quarter earnings Tuesday, extending an impressive yearlong comeback for a company that was jolted last week by the sudden death of its chief executive.

CEO Jim Cantalupo, who died of a heart attack while in Florida for a McDonald’s convention, was replaced by the fast-food chain’s 43-year-old president and chief operating officer, Charlie Bell.

Bell paid tribute to Cantalupo in a news release accompanying McDonald’s quarterly earnings report as “an incredibly inspiring and passionate leader” and said he was committed to strengthening McDonald’s and “continuing the momentum that began under Jim’s leadership.”

Net income for the first three months was $511.5 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with $327.4 million, or 26 cents, a year earlier. That matched the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Revenue was $4.4 billion, up 16% from a year earlier.

After suffering from weak results for the previous two years, McDonald’s has bounced back to report higher comparative sales from its U.S. restaurants in each of the last 12 months. Sales have risen sharply with help from new products, later hours and a Cantalupo-led focus on food and service quality over expansion and capital spending.

The leading burger chain also has profited from a slump at No. 2 Burger King Corp. and a rebound in the restaurant industry as a whole. Now it is embarking on a marketing blitz to promote new, more diet-conscious offerings, such as fresh-fruit Happy Meal options for kids.

Even before Cantalupo’s April 19th death, however, the company’s comeback was expected to cool off as soon as next month as results suffer from comparison with last year’s exceptionally strong numbers.

McDonald’s shares fell 12 cents to $27.20 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange before the earnings report was released.