McDonald’s at $232 attracts with its dividend and $120B real estate estimate

$MCD 🍔👑 MCDONALD’S AT ~$232: DIVIDEND KING + $120 BILLION REAL-ESTATE GIANT?

McDonald’s is trading around $232, more than 32% below its 52-week high of $341.75. Its market cap is now roughly $163.5 billion and its P/E is only about 18.8×.

For one of the highest-quality consumer companies in the world, I think this valuation is starting to get damn interesting.

And even better:

👑 MCDONALD’S IS NOW OFFICIALLY A DIVIDEND KING

In September, McDonald’s raised its dividend by another 4% to $1.93 quarterly, or $7.72 annually.

That marked:

50 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF DIVIDEND GROWTH.

McDonald’s has officially joined the Dividend Kings. At a price around $232, that’s roughly a 3.3% dividend yield.

But here comes my favorite part.

🏠 McDonald’s is not just a burger company.

In 2025, the company collected from franchisees:

$10.44 billion in rent and $6.02 billion in royalties

and about 95% of McDonald’s restaurants are franchised.

Then I came across an analysis by Macquarie Asset Management.

At a 6% cap rate, Macquarie estimated the potential value of McDonald’s real estate arm at roughly:

🏠 $120 BILLION

According to Macquarie, a potential real estate spin-off would even create the largest REIT in the world. Real estate, according to their analysis, accounts for about 60% of McDonald’s operating income.

Now for a bit of fun. 😄

McDonald’s entire market cap: ~$163.5 billion, Macquarie real-estate estimate: ~$120 billion

So the estimated value of the real estate is equivalent to about 73% of the company’s current market cap.

And we’re still left with:

🍔 Golden Arches, 💰 royalties, 🌍 45,000+ restaurants, 📱 digital & loyalty, 🏪 franchising machine, 👑 Dividend King, 🌐 one of the strongest brands on the planet

Of course — 163 − 120 doesn’t automatically equal 43 billion for the rest of McDonald’s. The company has debt, lease liabilities, and Macquarie is valuing assets, while market cap is equity value.

But as a thought experiment?

I find this extremely interesting.

I no longer see MCD at ~$232 as just “cheaper McDonald’s.” I see a quality franchise + real-estate compounder, a Dividend King, and a valuation we haven’t seen at this quality in a long time.

🔥 In Premium, I broke down the whole thesis: where the $120 billion comes from, how McDonald’s makes money on real estate, what a REIT spin-off would mean, the dividend, valuation, cash flow, and especially the risks of this investment.

MCD at $232 – screaming buy or not yet? 🍟👇