MCD vs PANW: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of McDonald's Corporation and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-26.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$252.78
+40.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
VS
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$374.74
-5.2% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade C
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 |
MCD |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$252.78 |
$374.74 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$355.71 |
$355.11 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+40.7%
|
-5.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$179.6B |
$305.4B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
15.5x
|
569.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.5x
|
26.6x
|
| Price / FCF |
23.1x
|
64.0x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.8%
|
+34.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
70.4%
|
| Operating Margin |
45.8%
|
6.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
-561.2%
|
1.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.94% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
4.32%
|
1.56%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
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…
Palo Alto Networks is a global cybersecurity leader built around next-generation firewalls, the Panorama management platform, and a broad subscription portfolio spanning threat prevention, cloud security, secure access, and security analytics, sold to medium and large enterprises, service providers, and governments through direct and channel distribution. The business quality is genuinely high on…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$266.78 |
$266.33 |
| Zone High |
$302.35 |
$301.84 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|