McDonald's is putting chicken rolls back on the menu. Will it help restore sales?

McDonald's in the United States returns to the menu Snack Wrap - a chicken dish similar to the twister from KFC. The restaurant chain is trying to attract low-income customers amid declining sales. The return of the popular product may help McDonald's regain momentum lost after the outbreak of intestinal infections, according to Jefferies;

McDonald's will reintroduce the Snack Wrap - a chicken cutlet roll with lettuce, grated cheese and sauce in a wheat tortilla - in the U.S. starting July 10. This dish disappeared from the menu in 2016 due to the difficulty in preparation. The decision disappointed fans - they launched an online petition for the return of the Snack Wrap, which garnered 19,000 signatures. 

«Snack Wrap is coming back. It's because you asked for it. We heard you,» McDonald's U.S. president Joe Erlinger said in a video message to consumers.

The fast-food giant is using the popular dish to reverse a trend of declining revenue driven by reduced spending by low-income consumers and a downturn in traffic at the chain's restaurants following last year's E. coli outbreak. McDonald's comparable U.S. sales dropped 3.6% in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarterly decline after a 1.4% drop in the fourth quarter of last year.

«Geopolitical tensions have increased economic uncertainty and worsened consumer sentiment more than we expected. Low- and middle-income consumers are increasingly pressured by the combined effects of inflation and growing anxiety about the future of the economy,» McDonald's CEO Christopher Kempczynski told investors.

To entice consumers with affordable prices, the company launched the discount platform McValue in early January, but the effect has been minimal, Yahoo Finance writes. Investors believe affordable food prices will draw consumers to McDonald's during an economic downturn, the Financial Times notes. This year, the chain continued to use previously tried-and-true promotions, such as $5 lunch. The company also introduced limited offers - like lunch combos featuring collectible figures based on Minecraft. 

When the company first hinted at the return of Snack Wrap in December 2024, Jefferies analyst Andy Barish told Yahoo Finance that it could help McDonald's regain lost momentum. «The return of Snack Wrap in 2025, in our view, will allow McDonald's to partially regain some of the positive momentum we saw in October before the E. coli contamination incident. We're talking about positive comparable sales and traffic growth,» Barish said.

In addition, against the backdrop of rising prices, chicken meat is becoming an important sales driver: its popularity among fast-food chains is growing faster than that of beef, the publication notes.

Since the beginning of the year, McDonald's shares have gained more than 7.8%, outperforming the S&P 500 index, which added 1.2%, and ahead of rival Yum! Brands (up 6.3%). However, the growth rate is behind Burger King and its parent company Restaurant Brands International, whose shares have strengthened 10.5% since the beginning of January.

According to MarketWatch, of the 37 analysts tracking McDonald's securities, just over half recommend buying them: 17 rate Buy and 2 Overweight. The remaining 18 advise holding the stock in a portfolio (Hold). The Wall Street consensus price target is $334.4 per share for the restaurant chain, up 7% from the closing price on June 3.