McDonald’s Corporation MCD
Stock research in plain language · As of Oct 04, 2026 · updated once a week, after the trading week closes
What the company does
McDonald’s Corporation is a large-cap company in the Consumer Cyclical sector (Restaurants), with a market value of $164.1B, 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 18.8 versus 23.8 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 drops to 17.1 — they expect higher earnings.
The average analyst price target is 297.03, 28% above the current price (their view, not ours).
The stock sits at 2% of its one-year range (0% = the low, 100% = the high).
The risks
- • The stock is 31% below its one-year high.
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 (3.2% a year).
What changed this week
Over the past week the stock fell 1.9% (for comparison: S&P 500 -0.2%, sector ETF XLY -0.5%).
It set a new one-year low this week.
This week's news
- Jim Cramer Says McDonald’s (MCD) is a Buy Opportunity After 24% Drop But There’s a Catch finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-03
- Chipotle (CMG): Is the Growth Runway Still Long Enough to Justify the Premium? finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-03
- McDonald’s (MCD) Stock Looks Fairly Valued After Loyalty Program Launch finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-02
- Amazon (AMZN) and GoodRx (GDRX) Chase Prescription Subscribers as Insurance Coverage Slips finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-01
- McDonald’s (MCD) Launches a Media Network and Starts Selling Drive-Thru Ads finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-01
- Sozzi weighs in on Micron's blowout quarter, chats with Meta's former CTO, & more finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-01
A description of facts from the filings and the market — not investment advice or a recommendation. "Cheap" and "expensive" are always relative to the comparison group.