McDonald's (MCD) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a leading global fast‐food restaurant operator and franchisor. The company’s primary business involves the development, operation, and franchising of a broad portfolio of quick‐service restaurants. Through a combination of company‐owned and franchised outlets, McDonald’s delivers consistent, affordable food and beverage offerings across diverse markets, leveraging standardized cooking processes, supply chain efficiencies, and branding to maintain its position in the fast‐food industry.

McDonald’s menu features core items such as hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and McNuggets, world‐famous fries, and a variety of breakfast foods. The McCafé line extends the company’s beverage portfolio with coffee, espresso and cold drinks, while seasonal and limited‐time offerings support regional tastes and promotional campaigns. McDonald’s continues to invest in digital ordering, self‐service kiosks, mobile apps and delivery partnerships to enhance convenience and customer engagement.

The company traces its roots to a single drive‐in restaurant founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California, in 1940. Entrepreneur Ray Kroc joined the business as a franchise agent in 1955, opening the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois, and guiding the chain’s rapid expansion. Over the following decades, McDonald’s grew into one of the world’s most recognizable brands, with corporate headquarters now located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Illinois.

Today, McDonald’s operates in more than 100 countries through a network of tens of thousands of restaurants, the majority of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees. The company’s executive leadership is headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski, supported by a global management team responsible for operations, marketing, supply chain and franchise relations. This structure enables McDonald’s to adapt to local preferences while maintaining consistent standards of quality, service and cleanliness worldwide.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $310.73 to $313.70
• 50-Day Range: $291.70 to $317.11
• 52-Week Range: $276.53 to $326.32
• Volume: 2.31 million shs
• Average Volume: 2.97 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $223.09 billion
• P/E Ratio: 26.79
• Dividend Yield: 2.26%
• Price Target: $325.14
• Consensus Rating: Hold

McDonald's Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

McDonald's scored higher than 85% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 46th out of 211 stocks in the retail/wholesale sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

McDonald's has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on 11 buy ratings, 14 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for McDonald's is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

McDonald's has been the subject of 16 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 8.24%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for McDonald's are expected to grow by 8.24% in the coming year, from $12.25 to $13.26 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of McDonald's is 26.79, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 278.34.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of McDonald's is 26.79, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Retail/Wholesale sector average P/E ratio of about 20.67.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

McDonald's has a PEG Ratio of 3.19. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.14% of the float of McDonald's has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

McDonald's has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in McDonald's has recently increased by 2.78%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

McDonald's pays a meaningful dividend of 2.26%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

McDonald's has been increasing its dividend for 49 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of McDonald's is 60.67%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, McDonald's will have a dividend payout ratio of 53.39% next year. This indicates that McDonald's will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -2.39

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.14% of the float of McDonald's has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

McDonald's has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in McDonald's has recently increased by 2.78%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.81

News Sentiment

McDonald's has a news sentiment score of 0.81. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Retail/Wholesale companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 71 news articles for McDonald's this week, compared to 43 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 45 people have searched for MCD on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -18% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

26 people have added McDonald's to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 37% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, McDonald's insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $2,544,327.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.25% of the stock of McDonald's is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

70.29% of the stock of McDonald's is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

MCD Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have MCD shares performed this year?

McDonald's' stock was trading at $289.89 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, MCD stock has increased by 7.8% and is now trading at $312.63.

How were McDonald's' earnings last quarter?

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August, 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does McDonald's have any subsidiaries?

McDonald's subsidiaries include Caspers Company, Apprente, Dynamic Yield, Boston Market, Donatos Pizza, 3267114 Nova Scotia Company, Asia Pacific McD Franchising, and others.

Who are McDonald's' major shareholders?

McDonald's' top institutional shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc. (10.00%), State Street Corp (4.88%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.35%) and Norges Bank (1.33%). Insiders that own company stock include Christopher J Kempczinski, Ian Frederick Borden, Heidi B Capozzi, Joseph M Erlinger, Edith Morgan Flatley, Tiffanie L Boyd, Manuel Jm Steijaert, Catherine M Engelbert, Marion K Gross, Catherine A Hoovel, Jo Sempels, Anthony Capuano, Jonathan Banner and Kareem Daniel.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of McDonald's?

Shares of MCD stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of McDonald's own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that McDonald's investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Chevron (CVX), Home Depot (HD), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Walmart (WMT) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 6/16 Dividend: 6/02/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/16 Dividend: 6/02/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/16/2025
• Last Earnings: 8/06/2025
• Record date for 9/16 Dividend: 9/02/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 9/16 Dividend: 9/02/2025
• Today: 9/09/2025
• Dividend Payable: 9/16/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/04/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Retail/Wholesale
• Industry: RETAIL - RESTRNTS
• Sub-Industry: Restaurants
• Current Symbol: NYSE:MCD
• Previous Symbol: NYSE:MCD
• CIK: 63908
• Web: corporate.mcdonalds.com
• Phone: (630) 623-3000
• Fax: 630-623-5004
• Employees: 150,000
• Year Founded: 1955

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for McDonald's: $325.14
• High Price Target: $365.00
• Low Price Target: $250.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +4.0%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 27 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $11.67
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 26.79
• Forward P/E Ratio: 25.52
• P/E Growth: 3.19
• Net Income: $8.22 billion
• Net Margins: 32.21%
• Pretax Margin: 40.57%
• Return on Equity: -225.52%
• Return on Assets: 15.07%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 1.30
• Quick Ratio: 1.29

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $25.92 billion
• Price / Sales: 8.61
• Cash Flow: $14.72 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 21.24
• Book Value: ($5.30) per share
• Price / Book: -58.99

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 713,600,000
• Free Float: 711,820,000
• Market Cap: $223.09 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.50