Same store sales at McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) were released today and investors had a chance to take a look and make some informed decisions on how to act. For those still mulling the information over, here is our take on the news.

The Event

McDonald’s reported same store sales growth of 3.7% in August. Analysts were expecting 3.9%. The growth shows improvement from July’s flat same store sales. Growth in the United States was in-line with expectations, but missed the view in Europe where the debt crisis and subsequent austerity measures appear to have negatively impacted results.

Shares of McDonald’s fell sharply in July, but have since rebounded. The stock is trading slightly higher despite the weaker than expected same store sales.

Analysis

On the surface the news from McDonald’s would appear to be negative, but can you really be disappointed by a 20 basis point miss? With Europe in disarray and skittish consumers one could argue that McDonald’s has performed very well.

Analysts expect the company to make $1.47 per share in the current quarter ending September 30, 2012. McDonald’s missed estimates in the June quarter by 6 cents per share ending an impressive run of beating the number.

Action

There is no action to take on this news immediately.

Instead make note of the performance and any weakness in the stock between now and when the company reports earnings for the September quarter in October. While the same store sales look weak, they were not sufficiently weak to derail what should be a bounce back quarter for the company.

I’m looking to trade this one on the long side immediately prior to the earnings report.

This article was originally written by Jamie Dlugosch for Traders Reserve