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

Good afternoon. Today is Wednesday, February 26th, and I'm your host, Kim Khan. Our top story is so far.

Restaurants are scrambling to deal with high egg prices, but McDonald's is bucking the trend of passing on cost to customers.

McDonald's announced that it will not impose any surcharges when serving eggs as part of its meals.

It will absorb the extra cost of higher egg prices, unlike competitors, Waffle House, and Denny's, that have instituted egg surcharges.

The most significant factor driving up egg prices is the ongoing outbreak of highly

pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu. The deadly strain of H5N1 has led to the

culling of millions of chickens since 2022, severely impacting the egg supply chain. As of January

2025, more than 134 million birds have been affected in the United States, which has

thrown the supply and demand balance out of whack. The avian bird flu is deadly to poultry,

including chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Notably, more than 1,500 total commercial

and backyard flocks have tested positive for bird flu across all 50 states in Puerto Rico.

When a flock tests positive, all birds must be

cold to stop the spread. On the sunny side, though, McDonald's is also offering a new $1

McMuffin promotion on its app for National Egg McMuffin Day on March 2nd. The move is aimed at

attracting lower-to-middle-income consumers who have turned away from splurging on dining

out due to high costs. Earlier this week, Denny's announced that some restaurants in the U.S.

will temporarily add a surcharge to meals with eggs.

The amount of the extra fee will vary by region and location.

The chain said, we do our best to plan ahead with our vendors on items like eggs

to minimize the impact market volatility has on our costs and menu pricing.

In today's trading, stocks are rebounding after the recent sell-off.

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