LULU vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Lululemon Athletica Inc. and McDonald's Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-21.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$98.06
+1.5% upside to fair value
Low Conviction
Grade C
VS
McDonald's Corporation · 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 — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
LULU |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$98.06 |
$252.78 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$99.50 |
$355.71 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+1.5%
|
+40.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$11.1B |
$179.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
4.6x
|
15.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
1.0x
|
6.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
8.2x
|
23.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
-4.3%
|
+3.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
56.1%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
17.8%
|
45.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
29.7%
|
-561.2%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.94% |
| FCF Yield |
12.24%
|
4.32%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Sell
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Lululemon Athletica designs and retails premium athletic apparel and accessories through company-owned stores and direct-to-consumer channels, with roughly 39,000 employees and a brand built on technical fabrics and community-led fitness positioning. The business still earns high returns on equity of 29.7% and generates $12.00 of free cash flow per share on $97.70 of revenue per share, with TTM g…
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 loy…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
LULU |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$74.62 |
$266.78 |
| Zone High |
$84.58 |
$302.35 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|