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 2026-05-09.
McDonald's Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$275.75
+18.8% upside to fair value
Grade C
High Quality
VS
Visa Inc. · Financial Services
$304.36
+45.0% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
QuantHub Verdict
V has more upside to fair value
(+45.0%).
MCD trades at a lower forward P/E
(22.6x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MCD |
V |
| Current Price |
$275.75 |
$304.36 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$327.62 |
$441.32 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+18.8%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$196.0B |
$586.8B |
| Forward P/E |
22.6x
|
23.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
16.7x
|
22.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
7.1x
|
14.2x
|
| Price / FCF |
27.9x
|
25.6x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+9.4%
|
+11.3%
|
| Gross Margin |
57.4%
|
81.08%
|
| Operating Margin |
46.0%
|
59.18%
|
| Return on Equity |
-434.0%
|
54.22%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0.83% |
| FCF Yield |
3.59%
|
3.91%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
McDonald's Corporation operates a global quick-service restaurant business with a strong competitive moat driven by brand recognition, extensive franchising, and digital innovation. The company reported $26.9 billion in revenue for fiscal 2025, growing 4% year-over-year, with significant contributions from its International Operated Markets segment growing nearly 8%. Despite a high valuation regi…
Visa is the world's dominant payment network with $40B in net revenue (FY2025), 50%+ net margins, and a capital-light toll-booth model processing $14.2T in annual payment volume across 257.5B transactions. The business compounds at 10-12% revenue CAGR with operating leverage pushing EPS growth to 12-15% over a cycle, funded by $21.6B in annual free cash flow against only $1.5B in capex. At 28.0x …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MCD |
V |
| Zone Low |
$245.72 |
$330.99 |
| Zone High |
$278.48 |
$375.12 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|