McDonald's is betting on chicken and beverages to drive growth in the next phase, but new consumer spending data shows that the fast-food giant is facing fierce competition from rivals that focus on these areas.

At the Investor Day in September, McDonald's announced a plan to gain an additional 1.5 percentage points of market share in both the global chicken and beverage markets by 2030. The fast-food chain considers these two categories as important opportunities to expand its business beyond beef.

CEO Chris Kempczynski ( Chris Kempczinski ) stated to CNBC that the scale of these markets highlights the potential for upward growth.

Chicken is a market segment worth $130 billion. We hold approximately 20% of that market share. Beverages, on the other hand, are a market segment worth about $230 billion, and we have a 10% share in that sector.Kempczynski said that, compared to the global beef market which is worth 50 billion US dollars, McDonald's has greater room for growth in the chicken and beverage sectors; in the beef market, McDonald's holds approximately 40% of the share.

But new data suggests that it may not be easy for McDonald's to gain more spending from its competitors in the chicken and beverage categories. Exclusive data provided by Consumer Edge shows that among McDonald's customers, many of the chain restaurants that receive the most spending focus on these two segments. Consumer Edge tracks credit card and debit card transactions.

Among McDonald's customer base, Chick-fil-A increased its spending share at limited-service restaurants by 0.58 percentage points in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, representing the largest growth among the chain brands tracked by Consumer Edge.

The coffee business is also striving to gain more spending from McDonald's customers. The chain brand that only offers drive-thru services, 7 Brew, saw a 0.4 percentage point increase, while Starbucks, Dutch Bros, Coffee, and Dunkin also made it into the top ten list of brands with the highest growth rates. Overall, these four coffee chains increased their share of spending by a total of 0.88 percentage points.

McDonald's remains the largest single-chain brand in terms of customers' spending at limited-service restaurants, but its share has decreased compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, Burger King ( Burger King ), which is part of the Restaurant Brands International group, has seen a 0.24 percentage point increase, making it the brand with the largest growth among hamburger chains.

Consumer Edge Senior Vice President Michael Ganser ( Michael Gunther ) said, "As people become more discerning in their consumption, there is a fierce competition over spending less on dining."

These data can only illustrate part of McDonald's competitive landscape in the areas of chicken and beverages, as they cannot accurately track what customers specifically order at the counter.

Günther added, "If they [McDonald's] can attract diners with attractive options, that could work."

Despite McDonald's being plagued by weak sales, executives stated that they saw signs of improvement at the end of the third quarter. During the Investor Day event, McDonald's reported that same-store sales in the United States experienced slight negative growth in July and August, but the company expects a turnaround to positive growth in September.

Data from Consumer Edge also shows that McDonald's annual expenditure share narrowed in all income groups in September.

Wall Street also questions how quickly the chicken and beverage strategy will yield returns.

Analyst Danilo Gargiulo ( Danilo Gargiulo ) later stated to McDonald's investors that the new American beverage products did not generate sufficient sales to offset the overall weakness, and that the company's next-generation chicken offerings – including hand-coated chicken and grilled chicken menu items – were launched later than he had anticipated.

Gargiulo wrote in the report: "To achieve [the company's growth plan] McDonald, the investment scale required for Next is higher than our expectations, and it puts additional pressure on recent profits."

He rated the stock as being in line with the broader market, with a target price of $295. Last Friday, the stock closed at around $235.