McDonald's (MCD) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Q: What analysts cover McDonald's?

McDonald's has been rated by research analysts at Argus , BMO Capital Markets , BTIG Research , Citigroup , Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft , Evercore , Freedom Capital , Guggenheim , HC Wainwright , Jefferies Financial Group , JPMorgan Chase & Co. , KeyCorp , Mizuho , Morgan Stanley , Needham & Company LLC , Oppenheimer , Piper Sandler , Robert W. Baird , Royal Bank Of Canada , Sanford C. Bernstein , TD Cowen , Tigress Financial , UBS Group , Weiss Ratings , and Wells Fargo & Company in the past 90 days.

$236.57 -0.45 (-0.19%)

Closing price 09/25/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$236.59 +0.02 (+0.01%)

As of 09/25/2026 07:59 PM Eastern

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McDonald's - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 29 Analyst Ratings

Sell
0

Hold
11

Buy
18

Based on 29 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for McDonald's in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 29 analysts, 11 have given a hold rating, 17 have given a buy rating, and 1 has given a strong buy rating for MCD.

Consensus Price Target

$300.40
26.98% Upside

According to the 29 analysts' twelve-month price targets for McDonald's, the average price target is $300.40. The highest price target for MCD is $390.00, while the lowest price target for MCD is $250.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 26.98% from the current price of $236.57.

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

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MCD Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 9/26/25 to 9/26/26	1 Month Ago 8/27/25 to 8/27/26	3 Months Ago 6/28/25 to 6/28/26	1 Year Ago 9/26/24 to 9/26/25
Strong Buy	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	17 Buy rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)
Hold	11 Hold rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)
Sell	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$300.40	$322.96	$336.26	$325.86
Forecasted Upside	26.98% Upside	24.24% Upside	24.45% Upside	6.81% Upside
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Hold

MCD Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

MCD Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

McDonald's Stock vs. The Competition

Type	McDonald's	Consumer Discretionary Companies	Broader Market
Consensus Rating Score	2.66	2.19	2.53
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	26.98% Upside	199.07% Upside	19.20% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Neutral News See Recent MCD News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

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Date	Brokerage	Analyst	Action	Rating	Price Target	Report Date Upside/Downside
9/25/2026	Sanford C. Bernstein 3 of 5 stars	Danilo Gargiulo Not Rated	Reiterated Rating	Market Perform
9/25/2026	HC Wainwright 4 of 5 stars		Set Target		$250.00	+5.20%
9/24/2026	Jefferies Financial Group 3 of 5 stars	Andy Barish 2 of 5 stars	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$325.00	+36.49%
9/24/2026	UBS Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Dennis Geiger Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Set Target		$260.00	+9.19%
9/24/2026	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Andrew M. Charles Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Hold	$282.00 ➝ $270.00	+13.39%
9/24/2026	BMO Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Andrew Strelzik Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform	$335.00 ➝ $310.00	+30.19%
9/24/2026	Evercore Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Outperform	$320.00 ➝ $300.00	+25.99%
9/24/2026	Robert W. Baird Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Chris O'Cull Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$285.00 ➝ $250.00	+4.27%
9/24/2026	Oppenheimer Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Outperform	$325.00 ➝ $295.00	+22.49%
9/24/2026	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	John Ivankoe Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight	$280.00 ➝ $260.00	+8.22%
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9/24/2026	Royal Bank Of Canada Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Logan Reich Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Sector Perform	$290.00 ➝ $285.00	+18.49%
9/24/2026	BTIG Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Peter Saleh Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy	$350.00 ➝ $295.00	+23.89%
9/21/2026	KeyCorp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Christopher Carril Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Overweight
9/21/2026	Needham & Company LLC Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
9/18/2026	Weiss Ratings Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Hold (C)
9/17/2026	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jon Tower Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy	$345.00 ➝ $310.00	+24.16%
9/14/2026	Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Lauren Silberman Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy	$325.00 ➝ $300.00	+16.58%
9/14/2026	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Brian Harbour Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Equal Weight	$319.00 ➝ $308.00	+19.67%
8/26/2026	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	John Staszak Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy	$320.00 ➝ $310.00	+15.91%
8/5/2026	Guggenheim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Gregory Francfort Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$320.00 ➝ $290.00	+6.71%
8/5/2026	Freedom Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Hold ➝ Strong-Buy
8/4/2026	Piper Sandler Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$286.00	+7.09%
7/31/2026	Mizuho Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Nick Setyan Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$300.00 ➝ $290.00	+7.33%
7/17/2026	Tigress Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ivan Feinseth Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$385.00 ➝ $390.00	+45.67%
7/16/2026	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Zachary Fadem Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight	$320.00 ➝ $300.00	+13.26%
5/8/2026	Cfra Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Buy
5/8/2026	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jeffrey Bernstein Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight	$380.00 ➝ $350.00	+24.82%
4/27/2026	Erste Group Bank Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Buy ➝ Hold
4/23/2026	Rothschild & Co Redburn Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Chris Luyckx Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Sell ➝ Neutral	$260.00 ➝ $306.00	+1.94%
2/12/2026	Truist Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jake Bartlett Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$356.00 ➝ $370.00	+14.81%
8/22/2025	Stifel Nicolaus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Chris O'Cull Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Hold	$300.00 ➝ $315.00	+0.59%
7/18/2025	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Sara Senatore Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$327.00 ➝ $322.00	+7.46%
7/14/2025	Melius Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Sell	$250.00	-16.61%
7/10/2025	The Goldman Sachs Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Christine Cho Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Neutral ➝ Buy	$345.00	+17.61%
6/6/2025	Loop Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Alton Stump Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Buy ➝ Hold	$346.00 ➝ $315.00	+2.02%
6/5/2025	TD Securities Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Agnes Lim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Hold	$305.00	-2.15%
5/6/2025	Northcoast Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jim Sanderson Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Buy ➝ Neutral
2/11/2025	Wedbush Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Nick Setyan Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$320.00 ➝ $330.00	+7.07%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Saturday at 05:52 PM ET.

Should I Buy McDonald's Stock? MCD Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Friday, September 25, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these McDonald's pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

McDonald's
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in McDonald's Co.:

McDonald's Co. recently raised its dividend by nearly 4%, which supports the stock's income appeal and provides a current dividend yield of 2.97% for investors seeking steady cash flow.
The company unveiled its "NEXT" strategy, which includes restaurant remodels, employee training, and AI-enabled operations, with management targeting stronger operating margins and free-cash-flow conversion by 2030.
With the current stock price at $236.57, the stock is trading near its 52-week low of $234.03, creating a potentially attractive entry point for value-oriented investors.
McDonald's Co. is planning to spend $8.5 billion on franchisee support through 2036, including approximately $5 billion through 2030, to fund restaurant modernization, technology deployment, and operational improvements.
The company is expanding its menu offerings with chicken, beverage, and protein-focused items, and is exploring bowls and grilled chicken options to attract customers using weight loss drugs.

McDonald's
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in McDonald's Co. for these reasons:

CEO Chris Kempczinski warned that elevated inflation will stick around, suggesting that the consumer environment that has pressured the company all year is now the new normal rather than a temporary issue.
McDonald's Co. has shed a fifth of its value in 2026, with the stock hitting a fresh 52-week low of $234.03, reflecting significant downward pressure on the share price.
Analysts remain divided on the stock's outlook, with some firms like Oppenheimer, JPMorgan, BTIG, and RBC lowering their price targets, signaling reduced confidence in near-term execution.
The planned $8.5 billion in franchisee support through 2036, including rent relief and remodels, may pressure the company's financials and free cash flow in the near term.
McDonald's Co. is one of the worst-performing Dow stocks this year, facing challenges with consumer discretionary spending that have impacted its revenue growth and market perception.

MCD Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 29 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for McDonald's is $300.40, with a high forecast of $390.00 and a low forecast of $250.00.

29 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for McDonald's in the last twelve months. There are currently 11 hold ratings, 17 buy ratings and 1 strong buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" MCD shares.

According to analysts, McDonald's's stock has a predicted upside of 26.98% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, McDonald's's stock had 2 upgrades by analysts.

McDonald's has been rated by research analysts at Argus, BMO Capital Markets, BTIG Research, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Evercore, Freedom Capital, Guggenheim, HC Wainwright, Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyCorp, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham & Company LLC, Oppenheimer, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird, Royal Bank Of Canada, Sanford C. Bernstein, TD Cowen, Tigress Financial, UBS Group, Weiss Ratings, and Wells Fargo & Company in the past 90 days.

Analysts like McDonald's more than other "consumer discretionary" companies. The consensus rating for McDonald's is Moderate Buy while the average consensus rating for "consumer discretionary" companies is Hold. Learn more on how MCD compares to other companies.

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Brokerages With McDonald's Recommendations

MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for McDonald's analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 9/25/2026.

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McDonald's (MCD) Stock Forecast & Price Target