Wedbush Has Negative Outlook of McDonald’s Q1 Earnings

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) – Wedbush lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for McDonald’s in a research note issued on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the fast-food giant will post earnings per share of $2.59 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.79. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for McDonald’s’ current full-year earnings is $11.73 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for McDonald’s’ Q2 2025 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.24 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.05 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $11.88 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.82 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.23 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.48 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.28 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $12.80 EPS.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MCD. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $307.47 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $291.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $292.08. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $220.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $703,074,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,175,326,000 after acquiring an additional 794,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.