Burger wars: McDonald’s and peers ramp up promotions on National Cheeseburger Day

Wednesday is National Cheeseburger Day, which means most hamburger chains are offering discounts and promotions to lure in customers.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) stood out with a $0.50 double cheeseburger offer for customers that order through the app. Other chains with deals on and around the hamburger holiday include Wendy’s (WEN), Burger King (QSR), Sonic, Jack in the Box (JACK), Whataburger, Culver’s, Five Guys, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., Smashburger, Habit Burger (YUM), In-N-Out Burger, Rally’s, BurgerFi (BFI), Fuddruckers, Wayback Burgers, and Shake Shack (SHAK). Even Denny’s (DENN) and Applebee’s (DIN) are offering cheeseburger deals on Wednesday.

National Cheeseburger Day arrived when the fast-food industry has already turned promotional, led by McDonald’s (MCD) with the extension of its $5 Meal Deal. The $5 promotion features a choice of a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, and a small soft drink. McDonald’s (MCD) is also offering a $2 McCrispy sandwich in honor of National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day on November 9 and will continue to celebrate Free Fries Fridays, where customers can get free medium fries with any $1 minimum purchase. The fast-food chain is also offering local deals. Looking further ahead, McDonald’s (MCD) has a rollout of the large Big Arch menu item planned, which could be introduced at a competitive price level.

In terms of share price, McDonald’s (MCD) has outperformed many of its hamburger peers during the six-month period of higher promotional activity.

The restaurant giant will report Q3 earnings near the end of October. Investors will be highly focused on if McDonald’s (MCD) can flip back to positive same-store sales growth in the U.S. Analysts have turned more cautious on many restaurant stocks due to concerns of macroeconomic pressure on lower-income and middle-income consumers.