McDonald''s idea of serving breakfast loses strength

(Bloomberg)--the initiative to serve breakfast all day is losing its character of novelty at McDonald''s.
When the cafeterias of the U.S. company began serving Egg McMuffins and other breakfast items at any time of the day in 2015, the change was happy customers and fueled a surge that lasted a year. But now the effect is diminishing: Although the General profit surpassed analysts '' estimates in the last quarter, same store sales in the U.S. fell 1,3%.
With the downturn of the breakfast served all day, McDonald''s now search your next big growth engine in the US. The company evaluates the use of technology, including touch screens and mobile applications, to help boost domestic sales. But no one knows for sure how fast the strategy will pay off, said Michael Halen Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst.
"We still don''t know where the sales are coming," he said. "People are in wait-and-see mode."
Shares of McDonald''s arrived in fall 2% to $119.82, on Monday after the publication of the results. The action went up 3% last year.
The picture was better abroad. Globally, same store sales rose 2,7%, surpassing the 1,4% gain predicted by analysts. The profit was $1.44 per share in the period, against an estimate of $1.41.
'' Challenging '' Comparison
CEO Steve Easterbrook began the largest network of fast food in the world to take command two years ago. The expansion of breakfast--a former customers '' request--was an important part of the strategy and helped take the McDonald''s of the crisis in sales last year in the United States. But that impulse sales weakened.
The company attributed the blame for falling sales in the U.S. in the fourth quarter to "challenging comparison" with the increase from a year earlier to serve breakfast all day.
McDonald''s still faces the general slowdown in the restaurants, which increases the pressure to reduce prices and offer more aggressive promotions. The breakfast shift, alone, is not enough.
"It was a bad quarter in the sector," said Halen.