ANET vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Arista Networks, Inc. and McDonald's Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-20.
Arista Networks, Inc. · Technology
$169.86
+22.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
VS
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$267.71
+20.6% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C+
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
ANET has more upside to fair value
(+22.0%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
ANET |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$169.86 |
$267.71 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$207.23 |
$322.85 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+22.0%
|
+20.6%
|
| Market Cap |
$213.9B |
$190.2B |
| Forward P/E |
56.5x
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
44.7x
|
16.4x
|
| Price / Sales |
21.7x
|
6.9x
|
| Price / FCF |
39.9x
|
27.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+35.1%
|
+9.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
63.5%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
42.8%
|
46.0%
|
| Return on Equity |
30.6%
|
-433.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.75% |
| FCF Yield |
2.51%
|
3.7%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Arista Networks is a leading provider of cloud and AI data-center switching solutions with a durable competitive moat driven by its strong presence among hyperscale cloud customers and AI networking providers. The company benefits from a seasoned management team led by founding CEO Jayshree V. Ullal, who has over 17 years at the helm and deep domain expertise. Arista's financials show robust grow…
McDonald's is a global quick-service restaurant franchisor and real-estate platform whose approximately 95% franchised restaurant base generates unusually high-margin, recurring royalty and rent income, supporting a 46.0% operating margin and 31.6% net margin. Business quality is high because its brand, global purchasing scale, nearly 29,000 drive-thrus, digital ecosystem and 210 million 90-day a…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
ANET |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$155.42 |
$242.14 |
| Zone High |
$176.15 |
$274.42 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|