McDonald's May U.S. sales may top estimates-survey

LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp.'s (MCD.N) increase in May sales at U.S. restaurants open at least 13 months may easily exceed Wall Street expectations, according to a survey of 23 franchisees published on Thursday.

In a research note, restaurant stock analyst Mark Kalinowski said a survey of franchisees representing about 154 McDonald's restaurants showed that U.S. same-store sales were up 8.3 percent in May. That is well above the average analyst estimate of 4.8 percent, Kalinowski said.

McDonald's, which has more than 13,000 restaurants in the United States, is set to report May same-store sales on Friday. A company spokesman would not comment on Kalinowski's survey or analysts' expectations.

"This 8.3 percent figure does NOT represent any type of forecast by me," Kalinowski wrote, adding that the restaurant chain's "Shrek The Third" movie tie-in and demand for new chicken Snack Wraps likely aided results during the month.

In the report, Kalinowski said that in his 25 previous McDonald's franchisee surveys, actual U.S. same-store sales figures were within 100 basis points of the survey results on 17 occasions.

McDonald's shares were up 22 cents to $50.86 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

((Reporting by Nichola Groom, editing by Tim Dobbyn; Reuters Messaging: nichola.groom.reuters.com@reuters.net, Tel:+1-213-955-6755)) Keywords: MCDONALDS SURVEY/

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