MCD vs MELI: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of McDonald's Corporation and MercadoLibre, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-07-20.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$267.71
+20.6% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C+
High Quality
VS
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,635.15
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MELI has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
MELI |
| Current Price |
$267.71 |
$1,635.15 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$322.85 |
$2,370.97 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+20.6%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$190.2B |
$82.9B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
43.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
16.4x
|
27.0x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.9x
|
2.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.0x
|
7.7x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.4%
|
+49.0%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
43.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.0%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
-433.9%
|
29.6%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.75% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.7%
|
12.92%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
McDonald's is a global quick-service restaurant franchisor and real-estate platform whose approximately 95% franchised restaurant base generates unusually high-margin, recurring royalty and rent income, supporting a 46.0% operating margin and 31.6% net margin. Business quality is high because its brand, global purchasing scale, nearly 29,000 drive-thrus, digital ecosystem and 210 million 90-day a…
MercadoLibre is a leading Latin American e-commerce and fintech platform with a durable competitive moat driven by its integrated logistics and financial services stack. The company commands approximately 30 to 35 percent market share in e-commerce and over 30 percent in online payments in key markets like Brazil. It is founder-influenced with a long-tenured management team and reinvests heavily …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
MELI |
| Zone Low |
$242.14 |
$1,778.23 |
| Zone High |
$274.42 |
$2,015.32 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|