** Shares of fast food chain McDonald's MCD.N up about 1% at $297.94 in volatile premarket trading
** Co posts surprise 0.4% rise in quarterly global same-store sales, beating analysts' estimates of 0.63% decline
** Co's fourth-quarter comparable sales in International Developmental Licensed Markets segment rise 4.1%, beating analysts' expectations of a 0.43% drop, primarily led by Japan and Middle Eastern markets
** Still, fourth-quarter comparable sales decline 1.4% in the U.S., wider than analysts' estimate of a 0.4% decline, as customer visits declined after an E.coli outbreak in October 2024
** Co expects 2025 operating margin to be in the mid-to-high 40% range, compared with a reported margin of 45.2% for the full-year 2024
** MCD stock fell 2.2% in 2024
(Reporting by Aamir Sohail in Bengaluru)
((Aamir.Sohail@thomsonreuters.com;))