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 2026-04-11.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$305.68
+4.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
VS
Merck & Co., Inc. · Healthcare
$121.42
-2.9% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
MCD has more upside to fair value
(+4.7%).
MRK trades at a lower forward P/E
(14.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
MRK |
| Current Price |
$305.68 |
$121.42 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$320.00 |
$118.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+4.7%
|
-2.9%
|
| Market Cap |
$218.1B |
$300.2B |
| Forward P/E |
24.5x
|
14.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
18.6x
|
11.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
8.1x
|
4.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.3x
|
21.4x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.7%
|
+1.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
81.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.1%
|
41.2%
|
| Return on Equity |
—
|
34.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.4% |
3.1% |
| FCF Yield |
3.3%
|
4.7%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
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…
Merck is a top-5 global pharmaceutical company generating $65B in annual revenue with 81.5% gross margins and 28% net margins. Keytruda, the world's best-selling drug at $31.7B (49% of pharma revenue), faces patent expiry in 2028. Merck is aggressively building replacements through M&A and pipeline launches: Winrevair ($1.4B year one), Capvaxive ($759M), and the $6.7B Terns acquisition for TERN-7…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
MRK |
| Zone Low |
$240.00 |
$88.00 |
| Zone High |
$272.00 |
$100.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|