Should You Buy McDonald's Corp (MCD) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Buy
Latest Price
312.800
1 Day change
-0.42%
52 Week Range
326.320
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/26
McDonald's Corp (MCD) is a good buy for a beginner investor with a long-term strategy and $50,000-$100,000 available for investment. The stock has strong financials, positive analyst sentiment, and favorable hedge fund activity, making it a solid choice for long-term growth.
Technical Analysis
The MACD histogram is positive and expanding (0.0899), indicating bullish momentum. RSI is neutral at 60.176, suggesting no overbought or oversold conditions. Moving averages are converging, and the stock is trading near a key resistance level (R1: 310.262). Overall, the technical indicators suggest a stable upward trend.
Options Data
Neutral
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Neutral
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Technical Summary
Sell
3
Buy
9
Positive Catalysts
Hedge funds are significantly increasing their buying activity (+594.79% last quarter).
Analysts have raised price targets consistently, with the highest target at $
Strong Q3 financials with YoY revenue growth of 2.98% and EPS growth of 1.60%.
SwingMax issued a buy signal on 2026-01-08, indicating potential for short-term gains.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
Congress members have sold the stock in the last 90 days, indicating cautious sentiment.
Stock trend analysis suggests a potential -10.07% decline in the next month, though this is speculative.
Financial Performance
In Q3 2025, McDonald's reported revenue growth of 2.98% YoY to $7.078 billion, net income growth of 1.02% YoY to $2.278 billion, and EPS growth of 1.60% YoY to $3.18. Gross margin improved by 2.87% YoY to 58%, showcasing strong operational efficiency.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Analysts are overwhelmingly positive on MCD, with multiple upgrades and raised price targets. KeyBanc, Truist, Barclays, and Oppenheimer have all issued bullish ratings, with price targets ranging from $340 to $372. Analysts highlight McDonald's strong value strategy, marketing capabilities, and potential for revitalized earnings growth in 2026.
Wall Street analysts forecast MCD stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MCD is 337.63 USD with a low forecast of 300 USD and a high forecast of 375 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
23 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast MCD stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MCD is 337.63 USD with a low forecast of 300 USD and a high forecast of 375 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
12 Buy
11 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 314.130
Low
300
Averages
337.63
High
375
Current: 314.130
Low
300
Averages
337.63
High
375
BofA
Neutral
downgrade
$348 -> $344
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
Reason
BofA
Price Target
$348 -> $344
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
downgrade
Neutral
Reason
BofA lowered the firm's price target on McDonald's to $344 from $348 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm is fine-tuning estimates for 22 restaurant companies across its coverage and adjusting select price targets to reflect estimate and valuation multiple changes.
KeyBanc
Eric Gonzalez
Overweight
maintain
$335 -> $340
2026-01-09
Reason
KeyBanc
Eric Gonzalez
Price Target
$335 -> $340
2026-01-09
maintain
Overweight
Reason
KeyBanc analyst Eric Gonzalez raised the firm's price target on McDonald's to $340 from $335 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm believes Q4 2025 was a strong period for McDonald's U.S. as it executed its value strategy and leaned on its marketing capabilities to drive outperformance during an otherwise choppy period for the industry. Based on its proprietary data/recent industry conversations, KeyBanc believes McDonald's U.S. likely generated above consensus same-store sales growth. In addition, the firm thinks Extra Value Meal subsidies are proving to be lower than expected, which may represent EPS upside.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis， Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for MCD
