McDonald's
MCDMarket price data through August 21, 2026.
Performance
Aug 2021 – Aug 2026
Track record
How this pick has done since Benson first called it.
- Benson Return
- -11%
- How much this stock is up since Benson first picked it — measured from the price at the time of that first pick, not from today.
- First pick price
- ~$303
- Roughly what one share cost when Benson first picked this stock. This is the starting line for the Benson Return.
- Tracking since
- August 2025
- The month this stock first became a Benson pick.
- Tracking duration
- 12 months
- How long Benson has been tracking this pick.
About McDonald's
McDonald's is the world's biggest restaurant company, with more than 45,000 locations in over 100 countries. But here's the secret: it's really a real estate empire that happens to sell burgers. About 95% of its restaurants are run by independent owners who pay McDonald's rent plus a cut of every sale, so the company collects steady cash no matter what the economy is doing.
The case for and against
Both sides of the story, in plain English.
- Real Estate Cash Machine
McDonald's gets paid rent plus a royalty on franchisee sales before those owners cover a single cost. In the second quarter of 2026 that model turned 7.1 billion dollars of revenue into 2.4 billion dollars of profit, net margins near 32%, the kind of profitability most tech companies would envy.
- Loyalty Flywheel
Sales to loyalty members jumped over 20% to 40 billion dollars over the past year, and active app users climbed 13% to nearly 220 million. That is a huge, growing pool of customers McDonald's can reach directly with an offer, and it helped push total systemwide sales up 5% to 37 billion dollars in the quarter.
- Fewer Feet
U.S. sales at existing restaurants grew just 0.8%, and that came from people spending more per visit while actual customer counts fell. McDonald's just named a new president of its U.S. business to fix this, which tells you management knows the home market is stumbling.
- Slow Lane
Global sales at existing restaurants grew only 1.3%, way down from 3.8% a year earlier, and China went negative. Revenue rose 4% but just 2% once currency moves are stripped out, so this is a steady compounder, not a fast grower.
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How to read this page
This automated research summary uses Financial Modeling Prep market data through 2026-08-21. Model signals, scores, and risk labels can change and may be incomplete or wrong.
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