MCD vs V: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of McDonald's Corporation and Visa Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-19.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$252.78
+40.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade A
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$368.29
+25.7% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B
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 |
V |
| Current Price |
$252.78 |
$368.29 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$355.71 |
$463.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+40.7%
|
+25.7%
|
| Market Cap |
$179.6B |
$687.6B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
15.5x
|
24.0x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.5x
|
15.5x
|
| Price / FCF |
23.1x
|
33.5x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+3.8%
|
+14.4%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
80.2%
|
| Operating Margin |
45.8%
|
60.7%
|
| Return on Equity |
-561.2%
|
61.3%
|
| Dividend Yield |
2.94% |
0.73% |
| FCF Yield |
4.32%
|
2.98%
|
| 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…
Visa operates the world's largest retail payments network, connecting consumers, merchants, issuers, and acquirers through VisaNet, which authorizes, clears, and settles transactions across more than 200 countries. The business quality is exceptional: TTM gross margin of 80.2%, operating margin of 60.7%, net margin of 50.8%, and ROE of 61.3% reflect a two-sided network with powerful scale economi…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
V |
| Zone Low |
$266.78 |
$347.25 |
| Zone High |
$302.35 |
$393.55 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|