Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Thursday, May 1st, and I'm your host, Kim Con. Our top story so far,

President Donald Trump is a big fan of tariffs and a big fan of McDonald's, but is one hurting the other?

Amid souring consumer sentiment, diners cut back on quarter-pounders as McDonald's saw its

biggest decline in U.S. sales since the pandemic.

U.S. comparable sales fell 3.6% in Q1, the largest drop since Comps fell 8.7% in Q2

of 2020.

The latest earnings reports also showed a 3% year-over-year decline in

consolidated revenue and a 2% drop and diluted EPS to 260. CEO Chris Kempchinsky said,

Consumers today are grappling with uncertainty, and the sales decline was primarily driven

by negative comparable guess counts.

Barry Rittholz's Wittles Wealth Management says the numbers are soft data, sentiment, turning into hard data, sales.

During the earnings call, McDonald's management said economic pressures are hitting mid-income consumers and highlighted that it is cautious in general about the health of U.S. consumers.

But it's not all doom and gloom.

The company expects guest count and market share to improve in Q2 due largely to some of its

marketing initiatives and a trading down impact in the restaurant sector.

T.D. Cohen analyst Andrew Charles acknowledged the tough quarter that highlighted that the company

expects to open 2,200 restaurants in 2025 globally,

which are expected to contribute slightly over 2% to system-wide sales growth.

Charles also reminded investors that the firm's channel checks suggest improved April performance,

driven by Minecraft ahead of the May 5th launch of McCrispy Strips.

Evercore ISI also noted that the U.S. trends largely stabilized in March

...