McDonald's Corporation (MCD) Stock Price & How to Invest

McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant company by system-wide sales, operating and franchising roughly 43,000 quick-service restaurants across more than 100 countries. The menu centers on burgers, fries, chicken, breakfast, and beverages. The business is fundamentally a franchising and real estate model: about 95% of McDonald's locations are owned and operated by independent franchisees, and the company collects rent and royalties on system sales rather than running most restaurants directly. This asset-light structure produces high margins and steady, recurring cash flow. McDonald's also owns much of the real estate beneath its restaurants, making property income a meaningful and durable revenue stream. Growth levers include digital ordering, delivery partnerships, the loyalty program, value menus, and the CosMc's beverage concept. Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Chicago, McDonald's is one of the most recognizable consumer brands in the world and a long-standing dividend grower.

For the twelve months through June 2026, McDonald's reported about $27.7 billion of company revenue and about $8.8 billion of net income, with an operating margin near 46%. The June quarter brought revenue of about $7.1 billion, up roughly 3.7% year over year, and EPS of $3.38 against a $3.32 consensus. The stock has gone the other way: it closed at about $243.36 on October 16, 2026, down roughly 20% year to date and over twelve months, against a 52-week range of $229.20 to $341.75, which has pulled the trailing P/E down to about 20 and lifted the yield to about 3.2%. Third-quarter results are due November 4, 2026, with consensus EPS of about $3.38 on $7.29 billion of revenue, and Morgan Stanley warned in mid-October of a challenging third-quarter backdrop for McDonald's and Yum! Brands.

McDonald's faces traffic pressure when value-seeking consumers cut discretionary spending or perceive fast food as no longer cheap after years of price increases. Heavy franchise reliance means franchisee health and labor costs matter to system performance. The company is exposed to commodity and wage inflation, foreign-currency swings given large international revenue, geopolitical boycotts in certain markets, and intense competition from Wendy's, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and beverage-led chains. As a mature large cap, growth is incremental: revenue rose about 3.7% in the June 2026 quarter. The balance sheet carries about $54.6 billion of debt against under $1 billion of cash, and the stock's roughly 20% decline in 2026 shows that even a defensive name can de-rate when growth expectations fade. Health and regulatory scrutiny of fast food is a persistent backdrop.

29 analysts publish price targets on MCD, averaging $292.03 against a $242.97 price as of October 2026, or +20.2%. The published targets run from $230.00 to $390.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 19 buy, 14 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 12 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full MCD forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on McDonald's Corporation. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Franchise and real estate model. With roughly 95% of restaurants franchised, McDonald's earns high-margin royalties and rent rather than carrying restaurant-level operating costs. The most optimistic published target, $390.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. McDonald's faces traffic pressure when value-seeking consumers cut discretionary spending or perceive fast food as no longer cheap after years of price increases. The most pessimistic target, $230.00, is roughly what MCD is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on MCD, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. McDonald's Corporation (MCD) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see McDonald's Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$27.7 billion (+3.7% YoY latest quarter; system-wide sales are far larger)
• Operating margin: ~46% (high, due to the franchise and royalty model)
• Net income (TTM): ~$8.8 billion
• EPS (trailing / forward): ~$12.31 / ~$13.76
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~19.8x / ~17.7x
• Dividend yield: ~3.2% (~$7.72/yr), ~60% payout
• Free cash flow (TTM): ~$6.3 billion
• Market cap: ~$172 billion

After a roughly 20% decline in 2026, McDonald's trades near 19.8 times trailing and 17.7 times forward earnings, well below the mid-20s multiple it carried early in the year, while the dividend yield has risen to about 3.2%. The valuation still embeds steady mid-single-digit growth and reliable cash generation, and analysts model about 5.7% EPS growth for 2026. Third-quarter results on November 4, 2026 (consensus EPS about $3.38) are the next read on traffic.

If you want MCD exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

These are the investment theses MCD naturally fits into. Each links to a full theme guide listing every other stock that belongs and the ETFs commonly used as a passive proxy.

Other names that sit close to MCD: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get MCD exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (XLY, VCR), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so MCD sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where MCD fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

McDonald's (MCD) is an asset-light franchise and real estate machine whose royalty-and-rent economics, value positioning, and global footprint generate steady cash flow funding a multi-decade dividend-growth streak. In a portfolio it behaves as a defensive, recession-resilient consumer holding and dividend-growth anchor, with traffic sensitivity after years of price increases as its main swing factor rather than the broad economic cycle. The 2026 sell-off has made the stock cheaper than it has been in years on earnings, and the November 4 third-quarter report is the next test of whether traffic is holding.

Whether MCD is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is MCD a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the MCD stock forecast.

For income investors, whether MCD pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does MCD pay a dividend? And to weigh MCD against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: MCD vs COST and MCD vs JNJ.