US McDonald's (MCD.US) Stores Hit by Food Safety Incident, Q4 Same-Store Sales May Face Three Consecutive Drops

McDonald's (MCD.US) will announce its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens on Monday (February 10). Wall Street analysts expect the company to report revenue of $6.44 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to $6.41 billion in the year-ago period; and expect earnings per share of $2.83, compared to $2.95 in the year-ago period.

After experiencing a slowdown in the summer, sales rebounded as the company rolled out its value menu and permanently added a chicken Big Mac in early October.

However, in late October, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the 4-ounce beef burger and other menu items containing onion slices at McDonald's restaurants were the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 90 people. McDonald's switched onion suppliers after the outbreak, and the CDC declared the outbreak over in early December.

Foot traffic at McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. dropped sharply in the days after the outbreak was announced, especially in the affected states. It has since slowly rebounded, but analysts expect the company's same-store sales in the U.S. to decline 0.6% in the quarter, according to StreetAccount.

Overall, same-store sales at McDonald's are expected to decline 1%, marking the third consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines for the fast-food chain.