KO vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-04.
The Coca-Cola Company · Consumer Defensive
$78.19
-7.8% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$305.68
+4.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
MCD has more upside to fair value
(+4.7%).
MCD trades at a lower forward P/E
(24.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
KO |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$78.19 |
$305.68 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$72.12 |
$320.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-7.8%
|
+4.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$336.5B |
$218.1B |
| Forward P/E |
24.6x
|
24.5x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
19.9x
|
18.6x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.8x
|
8.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
26.8x
|
30.3x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+12.1%
|
+3.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
61.7%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
29.3%
|
46.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
43.6%
|
—
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.4% |
| FCF Yield |
3.73%
|
3.3%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
The Coca-Cola Company is a leading global beverage company specializing in non-alcoholic drinks with a diversified portfolio including sparkling soft drinks, juices, water, coffee, and energy beverages. The business quality is high due to its durable brand moat, consistent earnings growth, and strong operational efficiency, reflected in a 43.6% return on equity and 12.1% revenue growth in the mos…
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 |
KO |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$54.09 |
$240.00 |
| Zone High |
$61.30 |
$272.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|