NYSE · MCD
Consumer Cyclical · Restaurants
$252.78
Down-$4.71 (-1.83%)
Updated Sep 16, 2026, 11:01 AM
SID Score
5.8/10
Composite research score
Smart Money
63/100
Neutral
Price performance
1M range · 20 trading sessions · Daily adjusted prices
MCD closed at $252.78 after 20 trading sessions, down 5.32% for the selected period.
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $257.78 | $257.78 | $252.70 | $252.78 | 4.79M |
| Sep 14, 2026 | $254.28 | $258.45 | $254.28 | $257.49 | 4.17M |
| Sep 11, 2026 | $253.98 | $254.73 | $252.15 | $252.53 | 4.1M |
| Sep 10, 2026 | $255.04 | $255.56 | $252.54 | $253.05 | 4.35M |
| Sep 9, 2026 | $255.50 | $256.50 | $253.3458 | $253.48 | 4.44M |
| Sep 8, 2026 | $254.39 | $256.805 | $254.28 | $255.81 | 4.21M |
| Sep 4, 2026 | $258.01 | $258.50 | $255.49 | $255.69 | 4.23M |
| Sep 3, 2026 | $261.57 | $262.09 | $256.121 | $259.63 | 4.58M |
| Sep 2, 2026 | $261.96 | $262.7752 | $260.18 | $260.95 | 5.11M |
| Sep 1, 2026 | $262.75 | $264.50 | $260.74 | $261.11 | 3.7M |
| Aug 31, 2026 | $265.00 | $266.07 | $263.385 | $263.54 | 5.24M |
| Aug 28, 2026 | $261.33 | $265.10 | $260.32 | $265.00 | 3.89M |
| Aug 27, 2026 | $265.49 | $265.73 | $259.85 | $260.06 | 5.98M |
| Aug 26, 2026 | $268.50 | $269.0572 | $266.11 | $266.93 | 4.19M |
| Aug 25, 2026 | $272.46 | $272.60 | $267.98 | $268.10 | 3.2M |
| Aug 24, 2026 | $272.15 | $273.42 | $270.5912 | $272.54 | 4.12M |
| Aug 21, 2026 | $269.30 | $271.25 | $268.11 | $270.95 | 3.78M |
| Aug 20, 2026 | $267.57 | $271.88 | $266.91 | $269.13 | 3.53M |
| Aug 19, 2026 | $266.35 | $271.87 | $266.0898 | $267.45 | 5.35M |
| Aug 18, 2026 | $267.47 | $270.21 | $266.84 | $266.99 | 3.09M |
The latest Smart Investors Daily articles mentioning MCD.
MCD research
Company profile and research snapshot.
McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant brand, with nearly $131 billion in systemwide sales across more than 44,000 restaurants and over 100 markets. The quick-service chain built its early reputation on speed, consistency, and affordable hamburgers, and today its global menu spans burgers, chicken, breakfast, and beverages that have helped popularize American fast-food cuisine worldwide. The firm derives the bulk of its revenue from franchise royalties and rent (about 61%), with the remainder stemming from company-operated restaurants across three segments: the United States (41% of systemwide sales), international operated markets (34%), and international developmental/licensed markets (25%).
Visit company websiteConsensus and target data currently published for this company.
| Date | Firm | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2026 | BTIG | Buy | — |
| Sep 16, 2026 | Seaport Global | Neutral | — |
| Sep 15, 2026 | RBC Capital | Sector Perform | — |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Morgan Stanley | Equal-Weight | — |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Deutsche Bank | Buy | — |
Generated Sep 15, 2026, 9:19 PM
McDonald's (MCD) declined 1.83% today amid a broader wave of analyst price target reductions and sector headwinds affecting quick-service restaurants. While the company is executing on strategic initiatives like its $20 billion delivery platform, multiple Wall Street firms have trimmed their outlooks, signaling caution about near-term growth prospects and macro challenges.
Bottom line: McDonald's faces a near-term headwind from traffic weakness and analyst skepticism, as evidenced by multiple price target reductions despite broad strategic initiatives. The key inflection point for investors will be whether the $20 billion delivery platform can drive meaningful traffic improvement and offset macro softness—a outcome that analyst positioning suggests they're not yet convinced will materialize. Monitor Q3 comparable sales trends and delivery platform traction closely for evidence that the turnaround narrative is gaining momentum.
Yahoo · Sep 16, 2026
Seaport sees different trends across the restaurant stocks, with CAVA offering strong growth potential, while Wendy’s, Chipotle, Starbucks and McDonald’s face concerns around traffic, valuation and business performance.
Yahoo · Sep 15, 2026
On September 11, an Investing Club member asked whether McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was a buy, sell, or hold after the stock fell nearly 20% over the previous 12 months, noting that higher beef prices were a factor. Mad Money host Jim Cramer stated: Okay, I want you to buy it here. Let me tell you […]
Yahoo · Sep 15, 2026
McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD, XETRA:MDO) retained Jefferies' backing despite a price target cut to $325 from $350, with management still needing to convince investors that a sales recovery is achievable. Shares traded down 1% to $253.67 on September 15, as the broker maintained its...
Yahoo · Sep 15, 2026
Chipotle stock just fell 5% on a day when the broader market barely budged and no confirmed company news hit the wire, leaving traders to choose between two very different explanations for the sudden drop.
Interpretive context generated from the platform’s current data sources.
McDonald's Corporation shares have experienced significant downward pressure across multiple timeframes, with the stock trading at $252.78, per SID market data. The stock has declined 7.35% over the past month and 11.65% over the trailing three months, while the one-year return stands at a negative 18.38%. MCD is currently trading well below both its 50-day moving average of $267.24 and its 200-day moving average of $297.21, according to Massive/Polygon data, indicating sustained bearish momentum. The 14-day relative strength index registers at 28.3, placing the stock in oversold territory below the conventional 30 threshold. McDonald's maintains a beta of 0.521, reflecting historically lower volatility relative to the broader market. Average daily trading volume stands at approximately 3.13 million shares. The company's market capitalization has contracted to approximately $221.3 billion amid the ongoing decline.
McDonald's Corporation currently trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, per SID market data, which remains elevated relative to the broader Consumer Cyclical sector despite the recent share price decline. The PEG ratio stands at 8.83, according to SEC filings, suggesting the current earnings multiple is high relative to the company's projected earnings growth rate. McDonald's carries a negative price-to-book ratio of approximately negative 80.18, a characteristic driven by the company's significant accumulated debt and share buyback programs that have resulted in negative shareholders' equity on its balance sheet. The company offers a dividend yield of 2.31%, providing income-oriented investors with a yield above the S&P 500 average. The negative book value is a structural feature of McDonald's capital-light, franchise-heavy business model rather than an indication of financial distress, as the company continues generating substantial free cash flow to service obligations and return capital to shareholders.
McDonald's Corporation registers a composite smart money score of 63 out of 100 with a neutral signal, per SID market data. Institutional positioning is the strongest component at a perfect 25 out of 25, indicating robust ownership and conviction among major fund managers as reflected in 13F institutional filings. Congressional trading activity scores 15.6 out of 25, suggesting moderate interest from lawmakers who hold or have recently transacted in the stock. The insider trading component scores 13.6 out of 25, with SEC Form 4 filings revealing 8 insider transactions over the past 90 days, comprising 5 purchases and 3 sales. The net buying activity among corporate insiders during a period of share price weakness is a notable data point. Dark pool activity registers at 8.5 out of 25, the lowest sub-score, indicating relatively subdued institutional block trading through alternative trading systems. The divergence between maximum institutional ownership scores and moderate insider activity warrants monitoring in coming quarters.
McDonald's Corporation reported its most recent quarterly earnings of $3.38 per share, surpassing the consensus analyst estimate of $3.34 by $0.04, according to company earnings reports. This modest positive surprise of approximately 1.2% demonstrates the company's ability to meet Wall Street expectations despite a challenging consumer spending environment. Looking ahead, analyst estimates project earnings of $3.34 per share for the next three upcoming quarterly reports, per consensus analyst estimates, reflecting expectations for stable but essentially flat sequential performance. The uniform $3.34 estimate across multiple forward quarters suggests analysts are modeling limited near-term earnings volatility for the fast-food giant. McDonald's next scheduled earnings release is set for August 4, 2026. Investors will closely monitor same-store sales trends and margin performance as key indicators of whether the company can sustain or exceed current projections amid ongoing macroeconomic pressures on consumer discretionary spending.
Wall Street analyst sentiment on McDonald's Corporation reflects a cautiously mixed outlook, according to SID consensus data. Among the most recent ratings, Deutsche Bank and Argus Research maintain Buy recommendations, while Morgan Stanley holds an Equal-Weight rating as of September 14, 2026. TD Cowen reiterated its Hold rating on September 11, 2026, and Guggenheim maintained a Neutral stance on August 26, 2026, per Wall Street analyst reports. Notably, none of the five most recent analyst actions involved upgrades or downgrades, as all firms reiterated their prior ratings, indicating a period of consensus stability despite the stock's 18.38% decline over the past year. The distribution shows 2 out of 5 recent ratings at Buy, while 3 out of 5 remain at Hold, Equal-Weight, or Neutral equivalents. This suggests that a majority of covering analysts are awaiting clearer catalysts before adopting a more constructive stance on shares trading in oversold territory with an RSI of 28.3.
The latest Smart Investors Daily articles mentioning MCD.
