Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Aug 7, 2026

McDonalds Corp (MCD)

A forensic read on McDonalds Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable

Forensic grade

Safe

Financial health

8.6

Distress distance

Clean

Earnings quality

Forensic signals

22.3

P / E (ttm)

$196.3B

Market cap

2.69%

Dividend yield

3.7%

Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

McDonalds Corp earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 8.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).

What the filings flag

+12.8%

FY2024→FY2025

Accruals ratio (% of NOA). Net operating assets grew +12.8% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by PP&E up +12% against revenue +4% and inventory up +9% against +4% in revenue. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 6% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.

100% of FCF

FY2025

Shareholder returns. Returned $7.2B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 100% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has actually been EASING, not tightening further — down from ~147% of free cash flow a few years back. Counting the $165M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 102%.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$26.89B

Revenue Growth YoY+3.7%

Revenue CAGR (3yr)+5.1%

Net Margin31.9%

Free Cash Flow$7.19B

The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from McDonalds Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?

Generate the AI investment read →

No credit card · informational only, not investment advice · see the track record

← Browse all forensic stock analyses

Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 7, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.