MW McDonald's outlook improves, but these analysts have mixed views

By Steve Gelsi

Truist sticks to a buy rating but shaves $2 off its price target for McDonald's stock, while Wedbush boosts its price target

Wall Street analysts tweaked their McDonald's Corp. share-price targets and generally agreed that a rebound in the fast-food giant's core U.S. business is coming following last year's E. coli outbreak, as they sifted through the company's latest earnings results.

Truist analyst Jake Bartlett reiterated a buy rating on McDonald's but cut his price target on the stock to $340 from $342 a share, a day after McDonald's posted quarterly results that boosted its stock price.

"Despite our expectation that weather is pressuring results (surprisingly not mentioned by management), [McDonald's] expects any lingering effects on sales from the E. coli outbreak ... to dissipate by [the second quarter of 2025]," Bartlett said in a research note.

Looking ahead, McDonald's $(MCD)$ will gain traction on its McValue menu, which it launched on Jan. 7, as well new products such as McWraps and chicken strips, to improve its same-store sales growth in 2025, Bartlett said.

Raymond James analyst Brian Vaccaro, who reiterated a market-perform rating on McDonald's, was less bullish. He said U.S. comparable visibility remains cloudy in the near term given continued softness among low-end consumers, mix headwinds and moderating menu pricing.

On the plus side, Vaccaro said the launch of McCrispy chicken strips and the return of Snack Wraps could drive foot traffic.

J.P. Morgan analysts raised their price target to $300 from $280 and reiterated an overweight rating on the stock, saying McDonald's handled the E. coli outbreak with "transparency" after the source of the deadly outbreak was traced to onions and not to the meat in the quarter-pounder burger.

"The E. coli impact is now limited to the affected areas in the Rocky Mountain region but ... trends are encouraging," J.P. Morgan analyst John Ivankoe wrote.

Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan reiterated an outperform rating and bumped up his price target for McDonald's to $330 a share from $320 a share.

"We believe a slight premium is warranted given the high probability of [McDonald's] resuming its growth in line with or above historical growth rates in [the second half of 2025]," Setyan said.

BTIG analyst Peter Saleh reiterated a neutral rating on McDonald's and agreed that the impact from the E. coli outbreak continues to fade.

"Looking ahead, the challenge for McDonald's will be converting lower-income guests from the steep discounts on offer today to full price items like the chicken tenders and snack wraps in the coming quarters," he said.

McDonald's Corp.'s stock edged up 0.2% on Tuesday. The stock has risen 6.8% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 SPX has risen 3%.

-Steve Gelsi

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February 11, 2025 10:27 ET (15:27 GMT)

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