A series of consumer-facing companies announced their quarterly results this week, giving executives from these titans a chance to give their perspectives about consumers, the economy, inflation and ongoing concerns about affordability.
The commentary included officials from McDonald’s (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT), Airbnb (ABNB) and Ford Motor Co. (F).
Executives from many companies, including McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, highlighted a continued focus on affordability among their customers. Meanwhile, Hilton’s boss gave an extremely upbeat assessment, saying that inflation is lower than has been reported and middle-class consumers are seeing real wage growth.
Here’s a breakdown of what these executives had to say about the consumer and affordability:
McDonald’s (MCD)
General Tone: McDonald’s executives expressed cautious optimism about their value strategy while acknowledging continued pressure on lower-income consumers. They emphasized that value and affordability are “core to our DNA” and highlighted their success in gaining market share with low-income consumers through their Extra Value Meals, or EVM, program. The company sees the need to appeal to both price-sensitive and premium-seeking customers simultaneously.
Key Quotes:
“Industry-wide, we’ve seen traffic hold up pretty well with upper income consumers and traffic has been pressured with lower income consumers. And of course, lower income consumers are more value and affordability sensitive.”— Christopher Kempczinski, Chairman, President & CEO
“The expectation for the balance of ’26 is that, that low-income consumer is going to continue to be under pressure, and there should be, call it, mid-single-digit growth available with the upper income consumer. And so how do we make sure we’re winning with both of them.”— Christopher Kempczinski, Chairman, President & CEO
The Coca-Cola Co. (KO)
General Tone: Coca-Cola executives acknowledged macroeconomic pressure on lower-income consumers while maintaining confidence in their ability to navigate these challenges through disciplined revenue growth management and offering value at various price points. They emphasized the importance of providing consumers with the right brand, pack size, and price point combinations.
Key Quotes:
“We delivered strong results despite continued macroeconomic pressure on lower-income consumers.”— Henrique Braun, EVP & Chief Operating Officer (CEO-elect)
“What we think will happen is people will choose to spend the cash they’ve got on certain things… And at the end of the day, what that all boils down to is we have to make them the brands and the beverages that they want to have and want to be able to spend their disposable income on.”— James Quincey, Chairman & CEO
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
General Tone: AB InBev executives acknowledged a “constrained consumer environment” that impacted near-term demand across CPG, or consumer packaged goods, categories. They noted specific challenges in Brazil where consumers faced stress from high inflation and disposable income pressures, but expressed optimism about improving conditions as weather normalized and price gaps closed.
Key Quotes:
“While near-term demand across many CPG categories was impacted by a constrained consumer environment and unseasonal weather, we continue to invest in our strategic priorities.”— Michel Doukeris, Chief Executive Officer
“One was part of the consumers under stress in disposable income because of the high inflation… As we kept running our revenue management agenda, there were like relative price gaps in Brazil hanging there for over a year.”— Michel Doukeris, Chief Executive Officer
Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT)
General Tone: Hilton’s CEO expressed optimism about the macroeconomic outlook, citing declining inflation, expectations of continued interest rate reductions, and a favorable deregulatory environment. He viewed these factors as converging positively for consumer spending and business investment.
Key Quotes:
“Number one being inflation does structurally continue to come down. If you really factored for the lag effect of the housing input, which is over 30% of the contribution to the inflation numbers and you factor what it is real time, I would argue it’s actually lower than is being reported.”— Christopher Nassetta, President, CEO & Director
“What does that mean? That means expectation, which I believe that rates will continue to come down, which will be stimulative and positive in a bunch of ways.”— Christopher Nassetta, President, CEO & Director
“I think right now, you’re starting to see the first prints of middle class real wage growth that means people have more disposable income and they will be spending more money, including on our products.” — Christopher Nassetta, President, CEO & Director
Airbnb (ABNB)
General Tone: Airbnb executives focused on affordability from a pricing strategy perspective, highlighting their transition to a simplified fee structure that has resulted in modestly lower effective prices for guests, which they view positively from an affordability and demand elasticity standpoint.
Key Quote:
“In making the migration, what we found is that many of the hosts did not take up their rate. Instead, the effective ADR to guests came down modestly, which obviously you can conclude is really great from an affordability perspective as well as elasticity.”— Ellie Mertz, Chief Financial Officer
Ford Motor Co. (F)
Note: The Ford transcript focused primarily on operational performance, tariffs, and supply chain issues (Novelis fires). Executives did not provide significant commentary specifically on consumer affordability or inflation pressures in the excerpts provided, though they did mention plans to “expand our market coverage with more affordable trucks and SUVs.”
Key Quotes:
“At the same time, we also plan to expand our market coverage with more affordable trucks and SUVs.”— James Farley, President, CEO & Director
“We’re launching a cost-efficient universal EV platform that will drive profitable growth in the lower-price segments where the EVs have continued to thrive in America.”— James Farley, President, CEO & Director
“We believe this platform localized in LAP will hit the majority of profitable EVs sold in the U.S., which are $35,000 EVs, high volume. Tesla has shown that they could—we can make money in that market even without subsidy from the government at the right cost level.”— James Farley, President, CEO & Director