MCD

McDonald's Corporation

NYQ · Consumer Cyclical

$237.02

-$1.30 (-0.55%)down -0.55%

24 September 2026 · delayed 15+ min

F

Quality score55.6 / 100

Cut-offs are the grader's own: 97+ for an A+, below 60 is an F.

McDonald's Corporation earns a F on excellent profit margins (>20%) and positive free cash flow but price well below 200-day SMA (downtrend) and MACD bearish (negative histogram). Consider alternatives with better risk/reward profiles.

Model stance WEAK HOLD Suggested position 4.0% · $400.00 IQInvest estimate
Adjusted for Moderate investors, Medium-term investors 4.0% suggested allocation Change these

These change the suggested position size and the stance, not the category scores. Amount is in dollars.

IQ-MCD-20260924engine v1 · 7-category weighted scorecard

What it is worth, depending who you ask.

Today’s price against the year it has had and the targets analysts publish. Every marker is a reported figure, not a projection of ours.

52-week low

$234.03

Today's price

$237.02

Lowest analyst target

$250.00

Mean analyst target

$299.80

52-week high

$341.75

Highest analyst target

$390.00

MCD trades 3% of the way up its 52-week range, between $234.03 and $341.75. The mean analyst target of $299.80 is 26.5% above today's price.

Today’s price 52-week range Analyst price targets

Scored categories

Financial healthExcellent profit margins (>20%); Positive free cash flow 90.023%

Profit margin

31.72%

Net profit per unit of revenue

exceptionalWhat this means

Of every 100 units of revenue, this much survives as profit.

Margins this wide usually mean real pricing power or a moat.

Operating margin

46.48%

Before interest and tax

very highWhat this means

Profit from operations, before interest and tax, per 100 of revenue.

Typical of software and other businesses with little cost per extra sale.

Gross margin

57.38%

After the cost of goods only

highWhat this means

What is left of revenue after only the direct cost of the product.

Little marginal cost per sale, which is what lets software and pharma fund heavy R&D.

Return on assets

13.25%

Profit per unit of assets

strongWhat this means

Profit generated per unit of everything the company owns.

The assets are working hard.

Current ratio

1.08

Short-term assets over short-term debts

adequateWhat this means

Short-term assets against short-term obligations.

Enough to cover near-term bills.

Quick ratio

0.82

As above, excluding inventory

adequateWhat this means

Short-term assets excluding inventory, against short-term debts.

Near-term obligations are roughly covered without selling inventory.

Revenue growth

3.70%

Year on year

flatWhat this means

Change in revenue against the same period last year.

Growing slower than a typical economy — the business is mature or under pressure.

Earnings growth

5.70%

Year on year

modestWhat this means

Change in earnings against the same period last year.

Slow profit growth.

Revenue

$13.62B

Trailing twelve months

Free cash flow

$6.26B

Cash left after capital spending

Operating cash flow

$11.35B

Cash from the business itself

Payout ratio

59.71%

Dividends as a share of earnings

highWhat this means

The share of earnings paid out as dividends.

Most of the profit goes out of the door, leaving less to reinvest.

Growth & momentumLow volatility; Poor 1-year return (-20.1%); Low Sharpe ratio (0.06) 15.022%

Return, 1 month

-10.57%

Return, 3 months

-11.51%

Return, 6 months

-22.21%

Return, year to date

-20.31%

Return, 1 year

-20.11%

Return, 3 years

-8.08%

Sharpe ratio

0.06

Return earned per unit of risk

modestWhat this means

Return earned per unit of risk taken.

Below 1 is the common case; return did not strongly outpace the volatility.

Win rate

50.44%

Share of days that closed up

about evenWhat this means

The share of trading days that closed higher.

Close to a coin flip, which is the norm — returns come from the size of moves, not their count.

Average daily return

0.01%

Best day

4.80%

Worst day

-5.71%

ValuationHigh PEG ratio (2.06) 40.018%

P/E ratio

19.24

Price against trailing earnings

moderateWhat this means

You pay 19.24 for every 1 unit of annual earnings.

Roughly the long-run market average band.

Forward P/E

17.09

Price against forecast earnings

moderateWhat this means

Price against next year's *forecast* earnings.

A conventional range.

PEG ratio

2.06

P/E adjusted for growth

expensive for the growthWhat this means

P/E divided by the growth rate — it asks whether the price is justified by the growth.

Above 2 you pay more per unit of growth than the convention treats as reasonable.

Price to book

-163.91

Price against balance-sheet equity

below bookWhat this means

Price against the accounting value of the company's net assets.

Under 1 the market values the company at less than its balance sheet — common in banks, and in businesses the market distrusts.

Price to sales

6.05

Price against revenue

highWhat this means

Price against revenue — usable when a company has no profit yet.

The price assumes today's revenue will convert into much more profit later.

EV / EBITDA

14.90

Whole-company value against cash earnings

moderateWhat this means

Whole-company value, debt included, against cash earnings.

A conventional range.

Enterprise value

$222.43B

Market value plus debt, minus cash — the price of the whole business

Shares outstanding

707,641,531

Shares the profit is split across

Dividend yield

3.24%

Annual dividend against price

meaningfulWhat this means

Annual dividend as a percentage of the share price.

A substantial part of the total return arrives as income.

TechnicalStrong trend (ADX > 25); RSI oversold (<30) - potential buying opportunity; Price well below 200-day SMA (downtrend); MACD bearish (negative histogram) 40.015%

RSI (14)

25.3

Above 70 overbought, below 30 oversold

oversoldWhat this means

A 0–100 momentum gauge over the last 14 sessions.

Below 30 conventionally reads as oversold, and traders watch for a bounce — a convention, not a law.

MACD

-6.10

Momentum against its own trend

MACD histogram

-1.32

Positive is bullish

ADX

35.0

Trend strength; above 25 is a real trend

trendingWhat this means

Trend strength, regardless of direction.

Above 25 is conventionally read as a genuine trend in force.

20-day average

$253.22

50-day average

$262.00

200-day average

$288.56

Price vs 50-day

-9.53%

Price vs 200-day

-17.86%

Bollinger upper

$267.22

Bollinger lower

$239.22

Average true range

5.12

Typical daily trading range

Stochastic %K

12.2

RiskLow volatility risk 70.012%

Volatility, annualised

17.90%

How far it swings in a year

calmWhat this means

How far the price typically swings over a year.

Steadier than the broad market's long-run average.

Beta

0.41

Moves against the wider market

steadier than the marketWhat this means

How much the price moves relative to the wider market.

Tends to move less than the index, in both directions.

Maximum drawdown

-29.14%

Worst peak-to-trough fall

significantWhat this means

The worst peak-to-trough fall in the period measured.

A serious decline, though not unusual over a multi-year window.

Risk category

Moderate

The engine's own banding

Analyst viewAnalyst consensus: Buy; Significant upside potential (26.5%) 100.010%

Consensus

Buy

What covering analysts rate it

Analysts covering

30

Mean price target

$299.80

Highest target

$390.00

Lowest target

$250.00

Implied upside

26.49%

Target against today's price

largeWhat this means

How far the mean analyst target sits above today's price.

A wide gap, which as often means the price has fallen as that the target is right.

Price against the S&P 500

180 trading days to 2026-09-24

MCD is 20.5% down over the window, against 11.3% up for the S&P 500 — behind by 31.9 points.
MCD -20.5%S&P 500 +11.3%
Show the numbers
Sampled across the window. Both columns are rebased to 100 on 2026-01-07, so they can be compared directly.
DateCloseMCD rebasedS&P 500 rebased
2026-01-07$298.31100.0100.0
2026-01-29$309.44103.7100.7
2026-02-20$322.90108.299.8
2026-03-13$321.97107.995.8
2026-04-06$305.50102.495.5
2026-04-27$286.2295.9103.7
2026-05-18$278.5993.4107.0
2026-06-09$280.2693.9106.7
2026-07-01$267.5389.7108.1
2026-07-23$260.9587.5107.0
2026-08-13$270.3390.6112.7
2026-09-03$259.6387.0111.9

How the score was built

Each category is scored 0–100, then multiplied by its weight. The seven contributions sum to the quality score.
CategoryScoreWeightContribution
Financial health90.023%20.7
Growth & momentum15.022%3.3
Valuation40.018%7.2
Technical40.015%6.0
Risk70.012%8.4
Analyst view100.010%10.0
ESG50.00%0.0
Quality score100%55.6

ESG is scored but carries no weight in this grade. Add ?esg=1 to the address to include it — the engine then redistributes weight across the other six, so the whole scorecard changes, not just one row.

Argue with the model

Every other grader hands you a number. This one hands you the model.

Move a slider, press Recalculate, and the grade is rebuilt from the same category scores. Nothing is hidden: the scores are the engine's, only the weighting is yours.

What each model believes. Pick one above, or set your own sliders below.
ModelThe emphasis
IQInvest defaultThe engine's own weighting: financial health 23% and performance 22% lead, valuation 18%, then technicals, risk and analysts.
Value investorPrice against worth dominates: valuation 40%, financial health 25%. Chart signals count for almost nothing.
Growth investorMomentum first: performance 40% and technicals 20%. Whether the price is fair today gets just 5%.
Sleep at nightStability over everything: risk 35% and financial health 30% together outweigh all other categories combined.
ChartistThe tape over the fundamentals: technicals 45% and performance 25%. Valuation is nearly ignored.
18%
23%
22%
12%
15%
10%
0%

These are IQInvest's own weights, totalling 100%.

Your grade

F

55.6 / 100

Identical to the IQInvest grade.

All 64 metricsOne flat sortable table, for when you want everything at once.
Metric Category Value Source
20-day averageTechnical$253.22Yahoo Finance
200-day averageTechnical$288.56Yahoo Finance
50-day averageTechnical$262.00Yahoo Finance
52-week highMarket data$341.75Yahoo Finance
52-week lowMarket data$234.03Yahoo Finance
ADXTechnical35.0Yahoo Finance
Analysts coveringAnalyst view30Yahoo Finance
Average daily returnGrowth & momentum0.01%Yahoo Finance
Average true rangeTechnical5.12Yahoo Finance
Average volumeMarket data4,914,385Yahoo Finance
Best dayGrowth & momentum4.80%Yahoo Finance
BetaRisk0.41Yahoo Finance
Bollinger lowerTechnical$239.22Yahoo Finance
Bollinger upperTechnical$267.22Yahoo Finance
ConsensusAnalyst viewBuyYahoo Finance
Current ratioFinancial health1.08Yahoo Finance
Day highMarket data$242.55Yahoo Finance
Day lowMarket data$237.02Yahoo Finance
Dividend yieldValuation3.24%Yahoo Finance
Earnings growthFinancial health5.70%Yahoo Finance
EmployeesMarket data150,000Yahoo Finance
Enterprise valueValuation$222.43BYahoo Finance
EV / EBITDAValuation14.90Yahoo Finance
Forward P/EValuation17.09Yahoo Finance
Free cash flowFinancial health$6.26BYahoo Finance
Gross marginFinancial health57.38%Yahoo Finance
Highest targetAnalyst view$390.00Yahoo Finance
Implied upsideAnalyst view26.49%Yahoo Finance
Lowest targetAnalyst view$250.00Yahoo Finance
MACDTechnical-6.10Yahoo Finance
MACD histogramTechnical-1.32Yahoo Finance
Maximum drawdownRisk-29.14%Yahoo Finance
Mean price targetAnalyst view$299.80Yahoo Finance
OpenMarket data$239.70Yahoo Finance
Operating cash flowFinancial health$11.35BYahoo Finance
Operating marginFinancial health46.48%Yahoo Finance
P/E ratioValuation19.24Yahoo Finance
Payout ratioFinancial health59.71%Yahoo Finance
PEG ratioValuation2.06Yahoo Finance
Previous closeMarket data$238.32Yahoo Finance
Price to bookValuation-163.91Yahoo Finance
Price to salesValuation6.05Yahoo Finance
Price vs 200-dayTechnical-17.86%Yahoo Finance
Price vs 50-dayTechnical-9.53%Yahoo Finance
Profit marginFinancial health31.72%Yahoo Finance
Quick ratioFinancial health0.82Yahoo Finance
Return on assetsFinancial health13.25%Yahoo Finance
Return, 1 monthGrowth & momentum-10.57%Yahoo Finance
Return, 1 yearGrowth & momentum-20.11%Yahoo Finance
Return, 3 monthsGrowth & momentum-11.51%Yahoo Finance
Return, 3 yearsGrowth & momentum-8.08%Yahoo Finance
Return, 6 monthsGrowth & momentum-22.21%Yahoo Finance
Return, year to dateGrowth & momentum-20.31%Yahoo Finance
RevenueFinancial health$13.62BYahoo Finance
Revenue growthFinancial health3.70%Yahoo Finance
Risk categoryRiskModerateYahoo Finance
RSI (14)Technical25.3Yahoo Finance
Shares outstandingValuation707,641,531Yahoo Finance
Sharpe ratioGrowth & momentum0.06Yahoo Finance
Stochastic %KTechnical12.2Yahoo Finance
Volatility, annualisedRisk17.90%Yahoo Finance
VolumeMarket data7,226,648Yahoo Finance
Win rateGrowth & momentum50.44%Yahoo Finance
Worst dayGrowth & momentum-5.71%Yahoo Finance
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