McDonald's (MCD) ended the recent trading session at $306.26, demonstrating a +1% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.8% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.6%.
Shares of the world's biggest hamburger chain witnessed a loss of 7.07% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 7.22%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.15%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of McDonald's in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on May 7, 2026. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.76, signifying a 3.37% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.49 billion, up 8.97% from the year-ago period.
MCD's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $13.23 per share and revenue of $28.71 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.44% and +6.8%, respectively.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for McDonald's. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% lower within the past month. Right now, McDonald's possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, McDonald's is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 22.93. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 19.11 for its industry.
We can also see that MCD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.7. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Restaurants industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.89 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Retail - Restaurants industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 185, putting it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
McDonald's Corporation (MCD): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).