No wonder McDonald’s is about to stop sharing its terrible monthly sales numbers

Late last month, McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook announced that, as of July 1, the company would end its longstanding policy of reporting monthly sales figures, as a way to shift focus to its longterm turnaround plans. It’s not hard to see why; This month’s numbers, its second-to-last monthly update, according to Easterbrook’s plan, are essentially an advertisement for the company’s decline.

Worldwide sales at stores open at least 13 months were down 0.3% in May. The core US market was down 2.7%. Asia was down 3.2%. Europe, the lone bright spot, was up a mere 2.3%.

The company has been reporting appalling monthly sales numbers for more than a year now (the company doesn’t break out monthly sales for the months in which it reports quarterly earnings, so March, December, September, and July show quarterly sales numbers):

The change in monthly reporting is most likely a way to give Easterbrook’s turnaround plan, which he’s begun to detail, some breathing room to work. Its competitors have set a similar standard; Most of its peers decline to share monthly sales data.