Before equity markets ring the opening bell Wednesday morning, McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) will have revealed just how bad its first quarter really was. Because no one is expecting the company to do anything positive, the first look at the results may look good. That warm and fuzzy feeling will not last.

The fast-food giant is expected to post earnings per share (EPS) of $1.06 on revenues of $5.96 billion. In the first quarter a year ago, McDonald’s posted EPS of $1.21 on revenues of $6.70 billion. In 2013 the company reported EPS of $1.26 on revenues of $6.61 billion. See the pattern here?

Just three months ago, analysts were projecting EPS of $1.18 after fourth quarter EPS of $1.13, but global same-store sales fell 1.8% in January and 1.7% in February, pretty much ending any hopes that the chain would show a serious turnaround in the quarter.

McDonald’s finally booted Don Thompson from the CEO job and new CEO Steve Easterbrook, who took over on March 1, has presided over the company’s announcement to raise base wages for its lowest paid employees to $9.90 by July and to more than $10 an hour by next summer. The raise applies only to the 90,000 or so employees in the approximately 1,500 company owned and operated stores.

The wage increase did not satisfy worker groups that have been trying to get the company to pay a minimum of $15 an hour. Perhaps even worse from McDonald’s view is that franchisees are not happy with the pay hike because it increases pressure on them to raise wages at their locations, something they say leaves them with little or no profit because McDonald’s already wrings out a large slice of revenues for franchise fees and other items.

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McDonald’s biggest problem is that many diners want better food than the fast-food behemoth offers and that means higher prices and that, in turn, drives some customers away. The value menus and coffee drinks introduced years ago were the company’s last big successes.

Thompson had the bad luck to follow Jim Skinner, who had plucked the low-hanging fruit years before. Whether or not Easterbrook has the next big idea remains to be seen, and after less than two months in the corner office, it is too early to declare either victory or defeat. And that is what we are likely to hear — give us a chance, we’re really moving in the right direction now.

In the mid-afternoon on Tuesday, McDonald’s shares traded down about 1.2%, at $95.06 in a 52-week range of $87.62 to $103.78. The consensus price target on the stock is just over $100.00. Since March 1, analysts at RBC Capital Markets and Guggenheim have put the equivalent of Buy ratings on the stock.

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