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 2026-04-22.
Arista Networks, Inc. · Technology
$172.86
+82.8% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$305.68
+4.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
ANET has more upside to fair value
(+82.8%).
MCD trades at a lower forward P/E
(24.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
ANET |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$172.86 |
$305.68 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$316.03 |
$320.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+82.8%
|
+4.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$217.7B |
$218.1B |
| Forward P/E |
61.9x
|
24.5x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
54.9x
|
18.6x
|
| Price / Sales |
24.2x
|
8.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
51.2x
|
30.3x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+28.9%
|
+3.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
64.1%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
42.8%
|
46.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
31.0%
|
—
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.4% |
| FCF Yield |
1.95%
|
3.3%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Arista Networks is a leading provider of high-speed data center networking hardware and software, specializing in Ethernet switches and cloud networking solutions. The company benefits from strong revenue growth driven by AI and hyperscale cloud demand, with 28.9% revenue growth and 19.3% earnings growth in the most recent quarter. High margins, including a 64.1% gross margin and 42.8% operating …
McDonald's operates the world's largest quick-service restaurant franchise with over 40,000 locations across 100+ countries, generating $26.9B in FY2025 revenue with roughly 60% from franchised operations. The asset-light franchise model produces 46% operating margins and $7.2B in annual free cash flow. Revenue growth reaccelerated modestly to 3.7% in FY2025 from 1.7% in FY2024, driven by the Int…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
ANET |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$237.02 |
$240.00 |
| Zone High |
$268.63 |
$272.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|