As previously reported, MKM Partners analyst Brett Levy initiated McDonald's with a Buy rating and a price target of $250, saying its "premium valuation" is justified by its leading Quick Service Restaurant market share. The analyst believes that the company's "strong" domestic and international market sales growth drivers are "sustainable" given its unit expansion plans and comps, coupled with its cash flow generation and "consistent" shareholder returns.

Citi lowered the firm's price target on McDonald's to $297 from $312 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst looked at the recent pullback in the shares as a potential opportunity to get more positive on McDonald's. However, while Citi thinks some of the recent pressure on shares came from faltering high-frequency data, it finds it hard to make a valuation-based or high-frequency data-driven case to own McDonald's shares ahead of a "rock and a hard case" Q1 earnings setup. If the company walks away from guidance for 3%-4% U.S. same-store-sales in 2024, it further biases estimate revisions down, and if it maintains it, optimistic guidance remains a bear case, the analyst tells investors in a research note.