MCD vs MRK: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of McDonald's Corporation and Merck & Co., 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
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$113.87
-12.1% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
MCD has more upside to fair value
(+20.6%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$267.71 |
$113.87 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$322.85 |
$100.14 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+20.6%
|
-12.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$190.2B |
$281.2B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
32.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
16.4x
|
17.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.9x
|
4.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.0x
|
19.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.4%
|
+4.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
75.9%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.0%
|
27.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
-433.9%
|
17.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.75% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.7%
|
5.02%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
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…
Merck & Co., Inc. is a leading global healthcare company specializing in pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and animal health products. Its business quality is high, supported by a durable competitive moat anchored in the dominant global position of Keytruda in PD-1/PD-L1 oncology, a strong vaccines portfolio including Gardasil, and scale in R&D and manufacturing. The company benefits from a seasoned lea…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$242.14 |
$75.11 |
| Zone High |
$274.42 |
$85.12 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|