McDonald's (MCD) closed at $288.83 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.32% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.39%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.2%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's biggest hamburger chain had gained 0.15% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 8.29% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.7% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of McDonald's in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on February 10, 2025. On that day, McDonald's is projected to report earnings of $2.81 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 4.75%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $6.48 billion, indicating a 1.11% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for McDonald's. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.96% decrease. McDonald's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that McDonald's has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.39 right now. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 23.59.

It's also important to note that MCD currently trades at a PEG ratio of 3.84. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Retail - Restaurants industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.18.

The Retail - Restaurants industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 50, this industry ranks in the top 20% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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