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Investing.com - TD Cowen has raised its price target on McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) to $330.00 from $315.00 while maintaining a Hold rating on the fast-food giant’s shares. The stock, currently trading near its 52-week high of $326.32, commands a market capitalization of $224.7 billion and trades at a P/E ratio of 26.69x. According to InvestingPro data, 15 analysts have recently revised their earnings estimates upward for the upcoming period.
The research firm cited growing confidence in McDonald’s European operations to drive market share gains across developed markets, leading to upward revisions in same-store sales estimates for international operated markets (IOM) from the third quarter of 2025 through the first quarter of 2026.
TD Cowen now projects McDonald’s 2025-2026 earnings per share to approach consensus estimates, an improvement from its previously more conservative outlook. The firm also maintains above-consensus U.S. same-store sales forecasts for the same period, which do not factor in potential combo pricing reductions reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The new $330 price target reflects a price-to-earnings multiple of 24 times fiscal year 2 earnings, in line with McDonald’s five-year average. This valuation considers the increased likelihood of both international and U.S. operations returning to normalized same-store sales growth of 3%-4% in the second half of 2025, and 3% in 2026.
Despite the price target increase, TD Cowen maintained its Hold rating, noting that even when including McDonald’s 2.3% dividend yield, the expected return does not meet the firm’s 15% total shareholder return threshold required for a Buy rating.
In other recent news, McDonald’s Corporation announced the issuance of $1.3 billion in medium-term notes. This includes $550 million of 4.400% notes due in 2031 and $750 million of 5.000% notes due in 2036. Meanwhile, Stifel has raised its price target on McDonald’s to $315, maintaining a Hold rating, following the company’s agreement with franchisees to lower prices on several combo meals, including the Quarter Pounder and Big Mac. TD Cowen also reiterated its Hold rating and $315 price target, citing McDonald’s plan to price eight popular combo meals at 15% less than the cost of purchasing items separately. This new value pricing strategy is expected to start in early September. Additionally, McDonald’s plans to offer new limited-time $5 breakfast combos and $8 combos featuring a choice of Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets. According to a Wall Street Journal report, McDonald’s and its franchisees have agreed to maintain combo meal prices at a 15% discount, deeper than the current 10-11% average. These developments highlight McDonald’s ongoing efforts to enhance its value perception among consumers.
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