NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - McDonald's Monday raised its profit targets as the No. 1 fast-food chain, benefiting from a weaker dollar, enjoyed stronger sales in Europe.

The news, which sent McDonald's shares up as much as 2.7 percent, came even as year-to-date sales slumped in Asia, the Middle East and Africa amid economic weakness and lingering fears of Mad Cow disease.

For the quarter ending in June, the world's biggest restaurant chain now expects to earn 38 cent to 39 cents a share, excluding one-time items. A survey of 17 analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call forecasts second-quarter earnings of 35 cents to 38 cents a share, with an average of 37 cents.

For the year, McDonald's (MCD: up $0.52 to $29.64, Research, Estimates) expects earnings excluding items of $1.47 to $1.52 a share; analysts expect $1.45 to $1.49 a share, with a mean forecast of $1.47, according to First Call.

Monday's news comes amid a good time for McDonald's shareholders. Company stock is trading near its 52-week high of $31.

McDonald's credited Europe, where it expects operating profits this year to rise in the high-single to low-double digits from year-ago levels, as the company enjoys a boost from translating profits into dollars from euros, which have gained this year.

Excluding the effect of currencies, European sales rose 9 percent in the first two months of the quarter and 10 percent year-to-date, McDonald's said.

"They delivered on the earnings line but seem to have fallen short on the sales line," Mitch Speiser, who covers the company for Lehman Brothers, told Reuters. "The benefits of foreign exchange seem to have offset sales weakness, particularly in the United States and Asia."

Europe has driven business. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said systemwide sales for the first two months of the second quarter were $6.9 billion, up 1 percent from a year earlier. Year-to-date, sales increased 3 percent to $16.6 billion.

But McDonald's said Asia, Middle East and Africa sales slumped 7 percent during the first two months of the second quarter and 4 percent year-to-date. It blamed "weak economies in several markets."

"In addition, in Japan, general food safety concerns continue to impact sales, even though McDonald's Japan only uses beef from Australia and New Zealand," McDonald's said.