McDonald's (MCD) ended the recent trading session at $268.94, demonstrating a -1.35% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.38% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.9%.
Coming into today, shares of the world's biggest hamburger chain had lost 4.72% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 0.77%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.27%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of McDonald's in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on August 4, 2026. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.33, up 4.39% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $7.15 billion, indicating a 4.45% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $12.9 per share and a revenue of $28.38 billion, representing changes of +5.74% and +5.57%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for McDonald's should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.26% downward. Currently, McDonald's is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that McDonald's has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.14 right now. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 20.71 of its industry.
Investors should also note that MCD has a PEG ratio of 2.83 right now. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Restaurants industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.97.
The Retail - Restaurants industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 190, placing it within the bottom 23% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding 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).