Shares in burger chain McDonald’s (MCD) were less tasty today after it was served a series of price target cuts despite reporting Q1 forecast-busting figures.
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MCD Outlook is ‘Cloudy’
Chris O’Cull, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, cut his price target on the stock to $290 from $315 and kept a Hold rating. Despite describing the Q1 results, where demand for value meals helped revenues and EPS beat expectations, as ‘resilient’. he said the outlook remained ‘cloudy.’
He said ‘sequential deceleration across all segments’ heading into Q2 was a concern. Indeed, he highlighted that the company’s K-Pop Demon Hunters digital-native promotion had failed to lap the massive success of last year’s Minecraft campaign.
However, following the recent pullback, he said the stock appears oversold, potentially offering a short-term trade for tactical investors ahead of easier U.S. comparisons in May/June. “Despite this potential for a near-term bounce, we remain Hold-rated as we wait for clearer signs of outperformance,” he said.
Softer Industry Backdrop
Andrew Charles, analyst at TD Cowen, cut his price target on MCD to $300 from $330 and kept a Hold rating. He said that while McDonald’s efforts to intensify the value focus in late 2025 succeeded in improving value perceptions, it was not successful in driving enduring same-store sales growth. He also noted that management warned of a softening industry backdrop in April. As such, he lowered 2026-27 EPS forecasts by about 3%.
KeyBanc analyst Eric Gonzalez lowered his price target to $330 from $345 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares. He said that April softness is likely transitory – due in large part to tough year-over-year comparison – but macro uncertainty will very much remain a key focus.
Is MCD a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, MCD has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 14 Buy and 13 Hold ratings. Its highest target price is $385. MCD stock’s consensus price target is $339.33, implying a 19.61% upside.
