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McDonald's (MCD) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, McDonald's (MCD - Free Report) closed at $264.94, marking a +0.21% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.74%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's biggest hamburger chain had gained 3.42% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 6.04% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.91% in that time.

McDonald's will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.32, up 36.47% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.03 billion, up 13.47% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.42 per share and revenue of $23.22 billion. These totals would mark changes of +55.7% and +20.9%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for McDonald's. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.35% higher. McDonald's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note McDonald's's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 28.07. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.4.

It is also worth noting that MCD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.45. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Retail - Restaurants stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.05 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Restaurants industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 214, putting it in the bottom 16% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MCD in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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