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 2026-04-22.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$305.68
+4.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
VS
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. · Technology
$174.96
+15.2% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
QuantHub Verdict
PANW has more upside to fair value
(+15.2%).
MCD trades at a lower forward P/E
(24.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
PANW |
| Current Price |
$305.68 |
$174.96 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$320.00 |
$201.61 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+4.7%
|
+15.2%
|
| Market Cap |
$218.1B |
$119.2B |
| Forward P/E |
24.5x
|
94.9x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
18.6x
|
52.4x
|
| Price / Sales |
8.1x
|
12.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
30.3x
|
29.3x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.7%
|
+14.9%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
73.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.1%
|
14.4%
|
| Return on Equity |
—
|
15.5%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.4% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.3%
|
3.41%
|
| 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…
Palo Alto Networks is a leading cybersecurity company specializing in AI-driven cloud security platforms, subscription services, and hardware products. The company benefits from a durable competitive moat driven by its platform transformation under CEO Nikesh Arora, with over 50% of revenue from high-margin subscription services growing at 25.6% year-over-year in fiscal 2024. Despite a premium va…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
PANW |
| Zone Low |
$240.00 |
$151.21 |
| Zone High |
$272.00 |
$171.37 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
No
|