MAR vs MCD: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Marriott International, Inc. and McDonald's Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-17.
Marriott International, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$334.97
+20.6% upside to fair value
Med 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 |
MAR |
MCD |
| Current Price |
$334.97 |
$252.78 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$403.81 |
$355.71 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+20.6%
|
+40.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$87.3B |
$179.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
22.2x
|
15.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
3.2x
|
6.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
28.7x
|
23.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+4.8%
|
+3.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
20.2%
|
57.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
15.8%
|
45.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
-66.7%
|
-561.2%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.84% |
2.94% |
| FCF Yield |
3.48%
|
4.32%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Hold
|
Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Marriott International is a global asset-light hotel franchisor and manager whose 10,082-property, 1.814 million-room system, 629,000-room development pipeline, broad brands, and more than 295 million Bonvoy members support durable fee-led economics. Business quality is tempered by cyclicality, competitive owner incentives, and $16.915 billion of debt, while reported ROE is negative 66.7%. In the…
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 |
MAR |
MCD |
| Zone Low |
$302.86 |
$266.78 |
| Zone High |
$343.24 |
$302.35 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|