We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks to Watch Ahead of May. In this article, we are going to take a look at where McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) stands against other top stocks to watch ahead of May.
Aswath Damodaran from NYU Stern School of Business said in a latest interview with CNBC that while investors are “celebrating” positive results of a few major tech companies, the problems haunting these firms will take a while to show up in their results. However, Damodaran, also known as ‘Dean of Valuation,’ said it won’t be prudent to “give up” entirely on Mag. 7 companies.
“They can consolidate their advantage. In a weird way, again, all these troubles might play into the hands of the Mag 7, because the more troubles there are, the more flexibility gets rewarded. And as you pointed out, these companies are incredibly flexible, incredibly adaptable. We saw that with COVID, we saw that in 2022 with inflation, and I’m convinced you’re going to see it again. Doesn’t mean you load up on the Mag 7, but if you’ve never owned them, you had a chance to buy into at least one or two of them in the last month. You might have missed that chance, but the chance was there. So I wouldn’t give up that easily on the Mag 7.”
Damodaran said investors experienced a lot of “trauma” in April. He argued against reactionary investing and said that when investors respond to daily events and news cycles, they damage their portfolios.
“Maybe the best thing investors could have done is left at the start of the month, gone somewhere without internet service, and come back at the end of the month. Because everything we do is reactive, and often when you’re reacting to day-to-day events, you’re going to end up doing more damage to your portfolio than helping.”
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street analysts are talking about as the chaotic month of April nears its close. With each stock, we have mentioned its latest hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A cook in a busy kitchen assembling cheeseburgers for orders.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 60
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC mentioned a positive analyst report on McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and made some bullish comments about the stock:
“Very rarely do you get this, but BTIG has this note that I just absolutely loved. It said, “Our recent McDonald’s franchise checks conveyed a sharp inflection in April sales trends, more optimistic tone from operators, Minecraft promo helping to regain some big McDonald’s momentum.” This is it, David. This is what you’re looking for. You’re looking for a story—ironclad. No tariff. Numbers look up. Stock chart is good. There you go.”
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) performed well as it met the expectations of investors looking for improvements in relative market share trends. The company’s introductions of menu items at premium- and medium-price tiers are picking up pace, allowing it to capture value more effectively.”
Overall, MCD ranks 6th on our list of top stocks to watch ahead of May. While we acknowledge the potential of MCD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under-the-radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MCD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
