McDonald's Corp. lost nearly $7 billion in value within hours after Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden announced on Wednesday that boycotts in the Arab region and the Muslim world will continue to impact sales this year.

Since last October, the Arab and Muslim worlds have witnessed a boycott campaign against companies, including McDonald's, that are seen as supporting Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.

During Wednesday's trading, McDonald's stock plunged more than 3%, heading for its biggest daily loss in 5 weeks.

The company's stock fell 3.37% or $9.93 to $284.36 at the time of writing, resulting in a loss of $6.87 billion for the company.

This came after Borden acknowledged that international sales will decline sequentially in the current quarter as a result of continued conflict in the Middle East and weak demand in China.

Borden said at the UBS Global Consumer & Retail Conference that first-quarter comparable sales in McDonald's International Developmental Markets segment licensed to McDonald's will be "slightly lower" than the previous three-month period.

The world's most ubiquitous restaurant chain is in trouble as boycotts continue.

Customers in the Arab and Muslim worlds were outraged after McDonald's in Israel announced in October that it would provide free meals to Israeli soldiers.

In an attempt to alleviate this outrage, some McDonald's branches in the Arab region have announced donations for Gaza relief.

Last month, McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempczynski warned that "misinformation" in the Middle East and elsewhere is hurting sales.

The company in February widely missed Wall Street's fourth-quarter sales estimates in this segment, partly due to protests and boycotts against many Western brands for their pro-Israeli stance in the five-month-long aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Source: Agencies