McDonald’s Corporation MCD

What the company does

McDonald’s Corporation is a large-cap company in the Consumer Cyclical sector (Restaurants), with a market value of $175.8B, based in the USA.

It employs about 150,000 people and has been listed since Apr 21, 1965.

McDonald's Corporation owns, operates, and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions. The company owns and operates franchised restaurants under various structures, including conventional franchise, developmental license, or affiliate.

Cheap or expensive? priced in line with its group

Its price-to-earnings (P/E) is 20.2 versus 22.6 for 4 direct peers — priced in line with its group.

Revenue is growing 4% versus the same quarter last year.

On analysts' next-year forecasts the multiple rises to 22.6 — they expect lower earnings.

The average analyst price target is 291.69, 17% above the current price (their view, not ours).

The stock sits at 18% of its one-year range (0% = the low, 100% = the high).

The risks

• • Quarterly report in 10 days (2026-11-04) — a day the stock can move a lot.

Strengths

• ✅ Profitable — 33 of every 100 dollars of revenue stays as profit.
• ✅ Generates free cash flow — profit becomes cash in the bank.
• ✅ Most analysts rate it buy (19 vs 1).
• ✅ Pays a dividend (2.9% a year).

What changed this week

Over the past week the stock rose 2.3% (for comparison: S&P 500 -0.4%, sector ETF XLY +0.6%).

This week's news

• Climb Bio Presents Initial PrisMN Phase 2 Data from Budoprutug in pMN at an Oral Session at ASN Kidney Week 2026 finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-24
  What the article says

  Climb Bio, Inc. Low dose (200 mg) budoprutug demonstrated B-cell depletion, PLA2R Ab reduction, and immunologic remission at 12 weeks, consistent with Phase 1b data; additional data from the PrisMN Phase 2 study anticipated in 2027 200 mg and 600 mg doses have been generally well-tolerated Separate MCD case study… source ↗

• McDonald's Japan (TSE:2702) Stock May Look Fully Valued On Earnings finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-24
  What the article says

  McDonald's Holdings Company (Japan) has logged strong share price gains in recent years, which puts fresh attention on whether its earnings are doing enough work to justify where the stock trades today. With that kind of backdrop, you need to ask whether you are paying a fair price for each yen of profit. Over the… source ↗

• How Investors Are Reacting To Arcos Dorados Stock After Earnings Estimate Upgrades finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-24
  What the article says

  Arcos Dorados Holdings is being highlighted for a sharp expected 207.7% earnings increase in 2026, alongside upward revisions to those earnings forecasts in the past two months. The company is also drawing attention for its EV to EBITDA valuation, which some analysts view as signaling a potentially undervalued Latin… source ↗

• Why Is McDonald's (MCD) Challenging Tokenized Trading Of Its Shares? finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-23
  What the article says

  McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) and several large U.S. issuers have formally objected to tokenized trading of their shares on the OKX-ICE venue. The coalition is using recent SEC exemptive relief to argue that tokenized versions of their stocks should not trade without issuer consent. Corporate filings highlight concerns about… source ↗

• BC-Most Active Stocks finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-22
  What the article says

  NEW YORK (AP) — prices for the Nasdaq composite, NYSE and NYSE American listed most active stocks. Nasdaq most active stocks: Stock Name Volume High Low Last Change SHF Holdings Inc. 261,679,175 0.2698 0.19 0.2304 +0.0762 Callan JMB Inc. 86,631,439 0.5861 0.4328 0.4851 -0.0238 22nd Century Group Inc. 86,349,291 0.437… source ↗

• TOUS les JOURS Appoints Max Gallegos Chief Marketing Officer to Lead North American Growth finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-22
  What the article says

  Former McDonald's executive brings more than 25 years of experience to lead marketing across the United States and Canada BUENA PARK, Calif., October 22, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TOUS les JOURS, the global Korean bakery café brand, appointed Max Gallegos as Chief Marketing Officer for North America. He will lead… source ↗

What changed since last week

• New risk flag: earnings report coming up.