McDonald's Q3 earnings beat expectations, but sales whiffed. Global comparable store sales fell 3.3% in Q3, which was worse than the 2.9% decline expected. "McDonald's third quarter results reflect a significant decline versus a year ago, with our business and financial performance pressured by a variety of factors - from a higher effective tax rate, to unusual events in the operating environments in APMEA and Europe, to under-performance in the U.S., our largest geographic segment," CEO Don Thompson said.