Stocks · Consumer Cyclical · Restaurants
McDonald's Corporation MCD
$231.89 +0.03% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $164.76B
High qualityLow risk
Next earnings report: Nov 4, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- At 18.8× trailing earnings, the shares trade at the lowest P/E of the company's past five years.
- Net debt is 3.6× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Cyclical sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth56Neutral
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 39%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 47%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 49%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 35%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 39%
Quality82Strong
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 14%
- Gross marginTop 13%
- Operating marginTop 1%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 26%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 38%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 38%
- Interest coverTop 35%
Value47Neutral
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 41%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 45%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 40%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 4%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 8%
Momentum26Very weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 37%
- 6-month returnBottom 16%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 32%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 40%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 18%
Revisions48Neutral
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 31%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 38%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 38%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 42%
Stability93Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 3%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 11%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 4%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 38%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.8% | 6.3% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 7.1% | 5.5% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 57.0% | 57.4% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 45.8% | 45.8% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 26.5% | 28.0% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 6.3% | 6.8% | ↓ | Top 39% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.5% | 7.1% | ↓ | Top 47% |
| Gross margin | 57.4% | 57.0% | ↑ | Top 13% |
| Operating margin | 45.8% | 45.8% | ↑ | Top 1% |
| Net margin | 31.7% | 32.2% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 28.0% | 26.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 17.6% | — | Top 14% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 5.1% | — | Top 35% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.29×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -4.3%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -8.9 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 3.58×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 7.8×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 3.17%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 1.27%
- Shareholder yield
- 4.44%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.6%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -1.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 3
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +1.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +1.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $292.20
- Target vs current price
- +26.0%
- Analysts with a rating
- 63
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 59%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | +1.8% | +1.2% | +3.2% | -0.6% | — |
| May 7, 2026 | +3.3% | -0.1% | -3.0% | -4.0% | -6.6% |
| Feb 11, 2026 | +2.3% | -0.8% | +0.6% | -0.2% | -13.0% |
| Nov 5, 2025 | -3.3% | +2.2% | +2.5% | +2.8% | +6.5% |
| Aug 6, 2025 | +1.6% | +3.0% | +1.0% | +5.9% | +1.2% |
| May 1, 2025 | +0.4% | -1.9% | -0.5% | -2.4% | -6.4% |
| Feb 10, 2025 | -0.7% | +4.8% | +4.8% | +7.8% | +7.6% |
| Oct 29, 2024 | +0.9% | -0.6% | -1.3% | -0.2% | -1.2% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | $3.38 | $3.32 | +1.8% | $7.10B |
| May 7, 2026 | $2.83 | $2.74 | +3.3% | $6.52B |
| Feb 11, 2026 | $3.12 | $3.05 | +2.3% | $7.01B |
| Nov 5, 2025 | $3.22 | $3.33 | -3.3% | $7.08B |
| Aug 6, 2025 | $3.19 | $3.14 | +1.6% | $6.84B |
| May 1, 2025 | $2.67 | $2.66 | +0.4% | $5.96B |
| Feb 10, 2025 | $2.83 | $2.85 | -0.7% | $6.39B |
| Oct 29, 2024 | $3.23 | $3.20 | +0.9% | $6.87B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 18.8× | 26.0× | 0th | Top 41% |
| P/E (forward) | 18.0× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 14.5× | — | — | Bottom 40% |
| EV / Sales | 7.89× | — | — | Bottom 4% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.71% | — | — | Bottom 45% |
| Earnings yield | 5.31% | — | — | Top 41% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 22.3× – 34.8× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -22.8%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +5.5%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -15.4%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -3.9%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -2.2%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -10.6%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -20.0%
- RSI (14)
- 23.8
- Relative volume
- 1.07×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 21.0%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 82th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.31
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.28
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -32.0%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -32.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | -32.3% | 148 days | Not yet recovered |
| Jan 19, 2024 | Jul 9, 2024 | -18.2% | 117 days | 56 days (Sep 26, 2024) |
| Jan 6, 2022 | Mar 10, 2022 | -17.7% | 43 days | 161 days (Oct 28, 2022) |
| Jun 30, 2023 | Oct 12, 2023 | -17.5% | 72 days | 67 days (Jan 19, 2024) |
| Oct 18, 2024 | Jan 16, 2025 | -11.6% | 60 days | 34 days (Mar 7, 2025) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $164.76B
- P/E (TTM)
- 18.8
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $12.31
- Revenue (TTM)
- $27.70B
- Dividend yield
- 4.04%
- 52-week range
- $229.61 – $341.75
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $23.22B | $23.18B | $25.50B | $25.92B | $26.89B |
| Gross profit | $12.58B | $13.21B | $14.56B | $14.71B | $15.44B |
| Operating income | $10.36B | $9.37B | $11.65B | $11.71B | $12.39B |
| Net income | $7.55B | $6.18B | $8.47B | $8.22B | $8.56B |
| EPS (diluted) | $10.04 | $8.33 | $11.56 | $11.39 | $11.95 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $6.87B | $6.39B | $5.96B | $6.84B | $7.08B | $7.01B | $6.52B | $7.10B |
| Net income | $2.25B | $2.02B | $1.87B | $2.25B | $2.28B | $2.16B | $1.98B | $2.36B |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.13 | $2.80 | $2.60 | $3.14 | $3.18 | $3.03 | $2.78 | $3.32 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $9.14B | $7.39B | $9.61B | $9.45B | $10.55B |
| Capital expenditure | -$2.04B | -$1.90B | -$2.36B | -$2.77B | -$3.37B |
| Free cash flow | $7.10B | $5.49B | $7.25B | $6.67B | $7.19B |
| Dividends paid | -$3.92B | -$4.17B | -$4.53B | -$4.87B | -$5.12B |
| Net share buybacks | -$845.5M | -$3.90B | -$3.05B | -$2.82B | -$1.77B |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $822.0M
- Total assets
- $59.92B
- Total liabilities
- $60.94B
- Total debt
- $54.59B
- Net debt
- $53.77B
- Shareholders’ equity
- -$1.02B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2026 | $1.93 | Dec 15, 2026 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | $1.86 | Sep 16, 2026 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | $1.86 | Jun 16, 2026 |
| Mar 3, 2026 | $1.86 | Mar 17, 2026 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | $1.86 | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Sep 2, 2025 | $1.77 | Sep 16, 2025 |
| Jun 2, 2025 | $1.77 | Jun 16, 2025 |
| Mar 3, 2025 | $1.77 | Mar 17, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 12,196,481
- Days to cover
- 2.79
- Change vs previous report
- -0.7%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Mar 8, 1999
- 2-for-1
- Jun 27, 1994
- 2-for-1
- Jun 19, 1989
- 2-for-1
- Jun 23, 1987
- 3-for-2
- Jun 26, 1986
- 3-for-2