What if you invested in McDonald's in 2020?
MCD · Consumer · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in McDonald's in 2020
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $2,574(+157.4%)
The S&P 500 returned $2,574 on the same $1,000. S&P 500 outperformed by $1,092.
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Compare McDonald's to another stock
See how McDonald's stacks up since 2020, head to head.
What if McDonald's keeps this up?
Project forward at McDonald's's 6.2% historical growth rate. See 5-30 year scenarios.
Growth of $1,000
McDonald's vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 2020 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in McDonald's starting January 2020
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $185.20 | $1,000 | - |
| 2021 | $184.38 | $996 | -0.4% |
| 2022 | $235.44 | $1,271 | +27.7% |
| 2023 | $248.09 | $1,340 | +5.4% |
| 2024 | $277.73 | $1,500 | +11.9% |
| 2025 | $280.55 | $1,515 | +1% |
| 2026 | $313.25 | $1,691 | +11.7% |
What this return means
A $1,000 stake in McDonald's (MCD) from 2020 sits at $1,482 today. The total return is +48.2% over 6.5 years, as of 2026-06-01.
That is only about 6.2% a year once you compound it across 6.5 years. The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund would be about $2,574 over the identical span, so the index came out ahead by roughly $1,092. The index compounded at about 15.7% a year, a reminder that a single stock can lag a basket of them.
Getting here meant sitting through real volatility. The best single year was 2022 at +27.7%, and the worst was 2021 at -0.4%. These figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, trading fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
None of this is a recommendation. It is a record of what already happened, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
McDonald's at different times
See how the start year changes the outcome
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Occasional data drops when something interesting surfaces. No schedule, just signal.
For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.