25 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar: Arm, Arista, and CoreWeave

18. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was among the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar on Mad Money as he discussed the upcoming earnings. Cramer noted that the “competition has become less effective,” as he remarked:

Now, Thursday’s McDonald’s report, and you know this is a, here’s a surprise in itself. It always surprises to the upside. The competition has become less effective. I mean, McDonald’s has a value package that seems so popular. The stock’s been drifting lower. I think it’s definitely worth buying.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) operates and franchises restaurants that provide burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, beverages, and desserts. During the February 26 episode, Cramer said that he would be a buyer of the stock, as he stated:

Earlier this month, McDonald’s reported a terrific quarter. And at this point, with the stock at an all-time high, I think it’s pretty clear that the Golden Arches really got its groove back for a couple of years… Management says they could put up these strong numbers thanks to the focus on value, breakthrough marketing, and menu innovation…

At a time when Wall Street’s turning against complicated enterprise software plays, this one, McDonald’s, has a simple story that the money managers are eager to lap up. We know how McDonald’s operates, and we know Claude can’t spin up a network of 50,000 burger joints to compete… Now, after its recent gains, the stock, it’s not cheap, okay, at least it’s not as cheap as it used to be. McDonald’s sells for roughly 25 times this year’s earnings estimates, basically right in the middle of its historic valuation range over the past decade. Plus, the stock gives you a solid 2.2% dividend yield.

That’s not nothing… Of course, when the stock was lower, the yield was better. I like a stock that’s up. Here’s the bottom line: When it comes to McDonald’s, I’m still loving it. It’s the perfect type of stock for the market where investors want real companies that make things and do stuff that can’t be hurt by AI, and we can easily get our heads around and our mouths around. Now that Mickey D’s is going back to its roots as the best source of value around, the customers are coming back, and so is the same store sales growth. Even after rallying more than 9% year to date, I’d be a buyer.