MCD vs PYPL: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of McDonald's Corporation and PayPal Holdings, 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
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$42.51
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
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Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$267.71 |
$42.51 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$322.85 |
$61.64 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+20.6%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$190.2B |
$37.5B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
7.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
16.4x
|
5.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.9x
|
1.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.0x
|
6.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.4%
|
+7.2%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
46.1%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.0%
|
17.9%
|
| Return on Equity |
-433.9%
|
25.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.75% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.7%
|
14.71%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Sell
|
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…
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading global digital payments platform with a competitive moat driven by its extensive network effects, brand recognition, and scale. Despite a durable business model with 2025 revenue of $33.17 billion growing at 4.3% year-over-year and a strong return on equity of 25.1%, the company faces slowing growth and margin pressures, reflected in a 13.5% decline in …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$242.14 |
$46.23 |
| Zone High |
$274.42 |
$52.39 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|