INTC vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?

Side-by-side comparison of Intel Corp. and McDonald's Corporation โ€” fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals. Updated 2026-09-25.
Intel Corp. ยท Technology
$127.39
-8.4% upside to fair value
Low Conviction Grade D
VS
McDonald's Corporation ยท Consumer Cyclical
$252.78
+40.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction Grade A High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MCD has more upside to fair value (+40.7%). These are model outputs โ€” not personalized investment advice. See all research โ†’
Valuation & Fundamentals
Metric INTC MCD
Current Price $127.39 $252.78
Fair Value Estimate $116.75 $355.71
Upside to Fair Value -8.4% +40.7%
Market Cap $642.6B $179.6B
Forward P/E โ€” โ€”
EV / EBITDA 185.2x 15.5x
Price / Sales 11.3x 6.5x
Price / FCF 229.7x 23.1x
Revenue Growth YoY +25.4% +3.8%
Gross Margin 38.9% 57.4%
Operating Margin 0.1% 45.8%
Return on Equity -10.8% -561.2%
Dividend Yield 0% 2.94%
FCF Yield 0.44% 4.32%
Analyst Consensus Hold Buy
Investment Thesis
INTC โ€” Intel Corp.
Intel designs and manufactures CPUs, GPUs, networking silicon, and edge and data-center products across its Client Computing, Data Center and AI, and Intel Foundry segments, employing roughly 85,100 people under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The business quality is currently low: TTM gross margin is 38.9%, TTM operating margin is 0.1%, TTM net margin is -19.8%, and ROE is -10.8%, so the company is not earning โ€ฆ
MCD โ€” McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's operates a globally scaled, approximately 95% franchised restaurant system with 46,028 restaurants in more than 100 countries, combining a powerful consumer brand, real-estate-backed franchise economics, supplier scale and digital loyalty reach. Business quality is high despite meaningful leverage: TTM gross, operating and net margins are 57.4%, 45.8% and 31.7%, respectively, while loyโ€ฆ
Accumulation Zones
Metric INTC MCD
Zone Low $87.56 $266.78
Zone High $99.24 $302.35
In Buy Zone? No Yes
โ† INTC Research    MCD Research โ†’    All Research