McDonald’s Corporation MCD is leaning on the return of MONOPOLY as a key tactical lever in the fiscal fourth quarter, positioning the promotion not just as a traffic driver but also as a catalyst for deeper digital engagement. The company reintroduced MONOPOLY in the United States in October for the first time in nearly a decade, this time with a distinctly digital-first structure aimed at accelerating app downloads, registrations and repeat engagement.
Early indications suggest the strategy is working as intended. MONOPOLY has become one of the largest digital customer acquisition events in McDonald’s history, materially boosting app activity and reinforcing the role of digital within the broader “Accelerating the Arches” framework. With roughly 45 million 90-day active app users in the United States, management emphasized that promotions like MONOPOLY meaningfully expand the funnel by pulling in incremental users who may not otherwise engage with the ecosystem.
The timing of MONOPOLY also aligns closely with McDonald’s broader U.S. value reset. The promotion ran alongside the relaunch of Extra Value Meals, giving newly acquired or reactivated app users immediate exposure to everyday value and loyalty-based offers. While MONOPOLY did not meaningfully impact third-quarter results due to timing, it supported a solid start to the fourth quarter and is expected to contribute to an acceleration in U.S. comparable sales growth.
Strategically, MONOPOLY serves a defensive purpose as well. In a bifurcated consumer environment — where lower-income QSR traffic remains under pressure while higher-income traffic continues to grow — digital engagement enables McDonald’s to personalize value, improve visit frequency and protect share without relying solely on broad-based price discounting. The success of the promotion underscores the company’s view that digital scale is becoming a structural advantage rather than a short-term traffic lever.
MCD’s Stock Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of McDonald's have gained 9.6% in the past year against the industry’s fall of 6.3%. In the same time frame, other industry players like Starbucks Corporation SBUX, Sweetgreen, Inc. SG and Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG have declined 5.2%, 79.8% and 39.6%, respectively.
MCD One-Year Price Performance
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From a valuation standpoint, MCD trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 8.06, above the industry’s average of 3.29. Conversely, industry players, such as Starbucks, Sweetgreen and Chipotle, have P/S multiples of 2.48, 1.04 and 3.75, respectively.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MCD’s 2026 earnings per share has declined 0.7% in the past 60 days to $13.27.
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The company is likely to report strong earnings, with projections indicating a 9.6% rise in 2026. Conversely, industry players like Sweetgreen and Chipotle are likely to witness an increase of 15.5% and 4.7%, respectively, year over year, in 2026 earnings. Meanwhile, Starbucks' 2026 earnings are likely to witness a rise of 12.7%, year over year.
MCD stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
