PREVIEW: McDonald's shares flat ahead of quarterly result

Shares of McDonald's MCD.N are up 0.86% to $317.25 ahead of earnings report due before the bell Thurs, with investors focused on sales in the U.S., which is the fast food giant's biggest market

Last quarter, MCD posted the biggest drop in U.S. sales in nearly five year weighed down by an E.coli outbreak

MCD is expected to report rev of $6 bln, down 1.24% a year ago, and adj EPS of $2.66, down 1.56% a year earlier

MCD's rev and EPS have exceeded analyst expectations 5 times in the last 8 quarters

MCD is up ~9% YTD vs the Dow Industrial Average .DJI, which is down 5.5% YTD