McDonald's Corp reported unexpected flat sales in July at established restaurants around the world, as austerity measures in Europe and global economic volatility pressured its results.
Analysts polled by Consensus Metrix were expecting a gain of 2.3 percent at restaurants open at least 13 months.
Shares of the world's largest hamburger chain fell 2.8 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Late last month, McDonald's said it had expected July same-restaurant sales to rise, but not as much as the 3.7 percent gain reported for the second quarter. Expectations were low ahead of the results.
July sales in the United States and Europe were down 0.1 percent and down 0.6 percent, respectively.
Analysts, on average, had expected a 2.2 percent gain from the United States and a rise of 2.4 percent for Europe.
Same-restaurant sales from the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region were down 1.5 percent, compared with the 1.4 percent increase analysts had expected.
