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 2026-04-11.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$305.68
+4.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
VS
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,767.42
+41.4% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
QuantHub Verdict
MELI has more upside to fair value
(+41.4%).
MCD trades at a lower forward P/E
(24.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
MELI |
| Current Price |
$305.68 |
$1,767.42 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$320.00 |
$2,500.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+4.7%
|
+41.4%
|
| Market Cap |
$218.1B |
$89.6B |
| Forward P/E |
24.5x
|
35.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
18.6x
|
18.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
8.1x
|
3.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.3x
|
8.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.7%
|
+39.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
44.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.1%
|
11.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
—
|
33.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.4% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.3%
|
12.1%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
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…
MercadoLibre is the dominant e-commerce and fintech ecosystem across Latin America, operating the largest marketplace and digital payments platform in a region with 670M+ people where e-commerce penetration is still under 15%. Revenue grew 39% to $28.9B in FY2025 with $10.8B in free cash flow — a 12% FCF yield at current prices. The company is trading at its 5-year P/S minimum (3.1x) and P/FCF mi…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
MELI |
| Zone Low |
$240.00 |
$1,875.00 |
| Zone High |
$272.00 |
$2,125.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|