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In the latest trading session, McDonald’s (MCD) closed at $242.93, marking a +0.75% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500’s daily gain of 1.15%.

Coming into today, shares of the world’s biggest hamburger chain had gained 0.52% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 4.95%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.67%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MCD as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect MCD to post earnings of $2.14 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.6%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.02 billion, up 11.18% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.03 per share and revenue of $22.96 billion. These totals would mark changes of +49.26% and +19.51%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MCD. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.47% higher. MCD is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

In terms of valuation, MCD is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.71. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 23.22.

Investors should also note that MCD has a PEG ratio of 2.28 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. The Retail – Restaurants was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.39 at yesterday’s closing price.

The Retail – Restaurants industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 161, which puts it in the bottom 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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McDonalds Corporation (MCD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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