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McDonald's vs United Therapeutics: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

McDonald's holds the cleaner structural position, with growth as the main driver and stability adding further support. United Therapeutics still has the edge on profitability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, United Therapeutics carries the stronger setup — intact trend against McDonald's's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with McDonald's, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The comparison is mainly decided in growth, with the rest of the profile carrying less weight. McDonald's Corporation leads by 8 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.64
Moderately similar
Peer-set rank: #17
within McDonald's Corporation's functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

A moderate similarity means the pair is structurally comparable, but not a near-twin trajectory match.

The clearest structural overlap shows up in margin consistency and revenue stability.

Similarity drivers
margin consistencyrevenue stability
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
MCD
McDonald's Corporation
61
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
UTHR
United Therapeutics Corporation
53
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The clearest separation appears in growth.

Dimension spread: MCD vs UTHR Profitability 36 51 Stability 80 63 Valuation 73 81 Growth 63 6 MCD UTHR
Gap Ranking
#1 Growth +57
#2 Stability +17
#3 Profitability +15
#4 Valuation +8
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for MCD and UTHR Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer MCDUTHR Relative valuation Structural strength

The setup is mixed: neither company clearly combines the stronger profile with the more supportive price setup.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where MCD and UTHR each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY MCD Neutral · below norm 0th 50th 100th 38 pct gap UTHR Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 61st 99th
Today MCD sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (61st percentile), while UTHR sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, MCD is at a historically more favourable entry position than UTHR. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Growth
On growth, McDonald's Corporation is positioned higher in the group, while United Therapeutics Corporation is closer to the middle.
Stability
Both rank well on stability, but McDonald's Corporation still holds a clear edge.
Growth — Dominant Gap
MCD
63
UTHR
6
Gap+57in favour of MCD

One company is still expanding while the other is contracting, which creates a very wide growth split.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Capital efficiency also runs the other way, with a 16.9-point ROIC edge acting as a real counterforce.

What this means for the comparison

Growth is the clearest driver of the lead, with stability adding further support — though profitability still provides a real counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the MCD vs UTHR comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Similar growth-driven comparisons

Explore how MCD and UTHR each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.