New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- What McDonald's intended as a reset became, for many investors, confirmation of a problem without a clear timetable for repair.

the market's verdict on an Investor Day that was supposed to stabilize the stock, not drive it lower.

CEO Chris Kempczinski, addressing analysts and institutional holders at the company's first Investor Day in nearly three years, made explicit what quarterly results had only implied. Flat restaurant traffic and sticky consumer inflation are not a temporary headwind. In his framing, they are the operating environment the restaurant industry should be designing around. "The winners will be the companies that create more demand and deliver it more efficiently," Kempczinski told the room in C...