Sifting through countless of stocks in the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc.

McDonald's Corporation owns, operates, and franchises restaurants under the McDonald’s brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions. The company owns and operates franchised restaurants under various structures, including conventional franchise, developmental license, or affiliate. McDonald's Corporation was founded in 1940 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Wingstop Inc., together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches, fries, and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Latest Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure and McDonald's Corporation, Wingstop Inc. Stock News

As of November 24, 2025, McDonald's Corporation had a $217.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure median of $1.9 million. McDonald's Corporation’s stock is NA in 2025, NA in the previous five trading days and up 4.81% in the past year.

Currently, McDonald's Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 26.0. McDonald's Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $26.3 billion with a 32.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 3.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $12.135 per share for the current fiscal year. McDonald's Corporation currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

Currently, Wingstop Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 39.6. Wingstop Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $683.0 million with a 25.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 8.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.925 per share for the current fiscal year. Wingstop Inc. currently has a 0.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
McDonald's Corporation	MCD	F
Wingstop Inc.	WING	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

McDonald's Corporation has a Value Score of 18, which is Ultra Expensive. Wingstop Inc. has a Value Score of 13, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
McDonald's Corporation	MCD	A
Wingstop Inc.	WING	B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

McDonald's Corporation has a Quality Score of 90, which is Very Strong. Wingstop Inc. has a Quality Score of 71, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: McDonald's Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, McDonald's Corporation has a better overall quality grade than Wingstop Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, McDonald's Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
McDonald's Corporation	MCD	C
Wingstop Inc.	WING	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

McDonald's Corporation has a Momentum Score of 52, which is Average. Wingstop Inc. has a Momentum Score of 24, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, McDonald's Corporation or Wingstop Inc. Stock?

Overall, McDonald's Corporation stock has a Value Score of 18, Momentum Score of 52 and Quality Score of 90.

Wingstop Inc. stock has a Value Score of 13, Momentum Score of 24 and Quality Score of 71.

Comparing McDonald's Corporation and Wingstop Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.