Wedbush Has Negative Forecast for McDonald’s Q2 Earnings

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) – Stock analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for McDonald’s in a research note issued on Friday, February 7th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the fast-food giant will post earnings per share of $3.12 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.15. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price 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’ Q3 2025 earnings at $3.39 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.37 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on MCD. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $310.16 on Monday. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $222.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $291.02 and its 200-day moving average is $291.56.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.