McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions. The company owns and operates under various structures comprising conventional franchise, developmental license, or affiliate. McDonald's Corporation was founded in 1940 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

McDonald's Corporation

Key Points
P&G, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s can overcome this period of sluggish consumer spending.
Chevron continues to raise its dividend even in low-oil-price environments.
Visa doesn't need a booming economy to return gobs of cash to shareholders.
The S&P 500 is up 14.5% year to date and over 35% from its April lows. With valuations of many top companies extended, some investors may be wondering how long the market rally can last.
Investors looking for quality dividend stocks they can count on, even if there's a stock market sell-off, may want to take a closer look at stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. With just 30 components, each Dow company is an industry leader that represents its stock market sector.
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Here's why Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and Visa (NYSE: V) are five Dow stocks that stand out as particularly good buys for passive income in 2026 and beyond.
Two of the highest-quality dividend stocks the market has to offer
Despite their different industries, Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are two very similar investment opportunities.
P&G has brands spanning multiple household and personal care categories for everyday use, including Tide laundry detergent, Gillette razors, Crest toothpaste, Pampers diapers, and more. Beyond its flagship soda, Coca-Cola owns Minute Maid, Topo Chico, Fairlife, Costa Coffee, BodyArmor, Sprite, Fanta, and more.
Both companies have seen sales and earnings growth dip in recent years as consumers pull back on spending. But because of their elite supply chains, marketing, and high margins, they have still been able to generate solid earnings and free cash flow to support their growing payouts.
Procter & Gamble has paid and raised its dividend for 69 consecutive years, while Coke has a 63-year streak -- making them Dividend Kings, which are companies that have at least 50 straight years of dividend raises.
Because of their consistent dividend increases, P&G and Coke have historically fetched premium valuations relative to the S&P 500. But both stocks are a great value right now, with P&G sporting a mere 21.8 forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio compared to a 10-year median of 25.7. Meanwhile, Coke has a 23.9 forward P/E compared to a 10-year median of 27.7.
P&G yields 2.8% and Coke yields 3%, making both stocks excellent choices for value investors looking to boost their passive income.
McDonald's is as recession-resistant as it gets in the restaurant industry
Many restaurant companies are struggling as consumers are looking to stretch their dollars. McDonald's has a history of providing tasty food, drinks, and snacks at affordable prices. But even its costs have gone up due to inflationary pressures.
Still, McDonald's has done a great job getting customers in the door with its mobile ordering, in-app rewards and deals, new menu items, and the return of its iconic Monopoly game, which lets customers experience the thrill of peeling pieces off select items and earning digital rewards.
Roughly 95% of McDonald's stores are owned by franchises -- which leads to consistent cash flow and high margins for McDonald's corporate. The business model makes McDonald's highly resistant to recessions.
With 49 consecutive years of increasing its payout and a 2.3% yield, McDonald's is a "safe" bet for generating dividend income.
Chevron's dividend is reliable despite swings in oil and gas prices
Oil prices are hovering around five-year lows due to lower demand and higher supply. In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast a 2 million barrel per day increase in 2025 liquid fuels, largely due to higher production from non-OPEC+ countries like the U.S.
Low oil prices have led to sell-offs across the energy sector, especially for exploration and production companies. So, investors may be wondering why Chevron is up by more than 6% year to date.
Chevron is one of the highest-quality energy stocks due to its multiple production regions, massive downstream segment, and growing low-carbon business. The integrated major has a low cost of production, which allows it to generate positive cash flow even when prices are lower.
With 38 years of dividend raises and a 4.5% yield, Chevron stands out as a top high-yield dividend stock to buy now.
Visa has a near-perfect business model for returning cash to shareholders
Visa is by far the lowest-yielding stock on this list, with just a 0.7% yield. For context, the S&P 500 yields 1.2%. With a yield that low, you may be wondering if Visa even deserves to be considered a quality dividend stock. Visa is a great example of why it's more important to look at a company's entire capital return program rather than just its dividend.
For the nine months ended June 30, 2025, Visa paid $3.49 billion in dividends but $13.39 billion in stock buybacks. In other words, if it had used all of that money on dividends and didn't buy back stock, Visa would have a dividend yield around 2.7%.
The buybacks have been a better use of capital than dividends for shareholders, as Visa stock has crushed the S&P 500 over the long term. And by consistently buying back stock, Visa reduced its share count by 19.4% over the past decade, making the stock a better value because a lower share count boosts earnings per share.
As a payment processor, Visa collects transaction fees based on the volume and frequency of customer and business usage on its debit and credit cards. The banks and financial institutions that issue those cards bear the credit risk, not Visa.
Add it all up, and Visa's high margins and high cash flow business model make it an excellent stock for risk-averse investors to buy in 2026.
Should you invest $1,000 in Procter & Gamble right now?
Before you buy stock in Procter & Gamble, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Procter & Gamble wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,287!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,173,807!*
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Daniel Foelber has positions in Procter & Gamble. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Worried About a Stock Market Sell-Off? Consider These 5 Dow Jones Dividend Stocks For 2026.

Key Points
One of Berkshire Hathaway's longest-held positions is a familiar, easy-to-own pick that works well in most portfolios.
Berkshire doesn't own a piece of fast-food chain McDonald's, but it certainly has many of the qualities Warren Buffett likes in an investment prospect.
Even though Buffett is well known for his stock-picking prowess, he encourages most ordinary investors not to try it.
If 2025 is the year you're first getting into the market, you've picked a wild one to get started. A small number of massive technology companies have soared thanks to their involvement with artificial intelligence (AI), dragging the overall market higher with them.
This kind of mania isn't the norm though. And it will unwind sooner or later, deflating most portfolio values when it does.
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Not every stock is going to take you on a roller-coaster ride, however, just as not every stock is overvalued. Indeed, with the exception of the small number of AI-related stocks that have been catapulted higher of late, most stocks remain reasonably valued.
If I were just getting started today with $1,000, here's a closer look at the three stocks I'd start with, and why I think Warren Buffett -- who generally avoids or ignores short-term volatility -- would approve of each one.
1. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is of course one of the world's most recognized brand names, and the most recognized brand name in the non-alcoholic beverage business. It's not just its namesake cola, though. The Coca-Cola Company also owns Gold Peak tea, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drink, Dasani water, and plenty more. It's got something for every consumer's ever-changing preferences.
Now, if you've been keeping tabs on the organization lately then you likely know Coca-Cola's performance during the past couple of quarters has been less than thrilling despite its diverse product lineup. Its recently reported Q3 results indicated a reversal from Q2's dip in the amount of total product sold, but only a slight one. Sales and earnings also topped expectations thanks to top-line growth of 5%, yet Coca-Cola's management also made a point of saying that overall demand for its packaged drinks remains relatively soft; smaller, more affordable package sizes are in the works.
Just don't read too much into this warning, or for that matter, the overarching consumerism headwind. This is all cyclical stuff that the company's been through and survived before. This time around isn't apt to be any different. Coca-Cola will be able to regroup just fine and thrive again once the economic backdrop improves.
Warren Buffett encourages investors to only buy into quality businesses they truly understand. Coca-Cola ticks off both boxes. It's a simple business to assess, and as a long-lived market leader, there's no denying it's a quality company.
There's far more evidence than this that Buffett would approve of a newcomer owning a stake in The Coca-Cola Company, though. That is, the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) company he's led for decades actually owns a sizable stake in the beverage giant. It's Berkshire's fourth-biggest individual stock holding, in fact, currently worth around $28 billion.
McDonald's
Berkshire Hathaway doesn't hold a stake in fast-food powerhouse McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), but it's not as if Buffett wouldn't, or couldn't. Like Coca-Cola, it offers much of what he likes in a prospective investment.
One of those attributes is a reliable, growing dividend. Although its forward-looking dividend yield of 2.4% is just average, it's based on a dividend that's now been raised every year for the past 49 years, which has allowed McDonald's stock to perform like a growth stock when reinvesting these dividend payments. There's no end to the streak in sight either.
Of course, the fast-food restaurant chain's raw dominance of the industry's landscape speaks for itself. There's a reason the company's been able to establish an industry-leading 44,113 stores all over the world. That is, like Coca-Cola, it's gotten very, very good at lifestyle branding. And like Coca-Cola, this company's struggled to keep cash-crimped consumers stopping by for its burgers. Also like Coca-Cola, however, this headwind will pass for McDonald's.
But that's not the chief reason you or Buffett might want to consider following the stock's lethargic performance since late last year, and really, since the middle of 2023. The overarching reason this company translates into such a fantastic investment is the business model itself.
See, contrary to a common assumption, McDonald's isn't actually in the fast-food business. It's mostly a real estate company that just happens to lease 95% of its stores to fast-food franchisees, collecting ever-rising market-rate rent from them -- reliable cash flow that Buffett loves, particularly from Berkshire's non-publicly traded holdings like Fruit of the Loom, Pilot Travel Centers, Duracell, and Geico insurance, just to name a few. The bulk of the risk of being in the business is ultimately shouldered by the franchisees themselves.
Again, Buffett's a big fan of businesses that are easy to understand, as well as businesses that lead their respective markets for obvious reasons. As was the case with Coca-Cola, McDonald's does both.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Finally, if you're an investor who's just getting started and only have $1,000 to start with, consider allocating at least a good-sized chunk of this sum to an investment in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: SPY).
It's not a stock. Rather, it's a basket of stocks that are bought and sold as a whole. In this case the basket holds the same 500 tickers that make up the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index, in the same proportions. This is about as close to investing in the overall market as you're going to be able to get.
The thing is, for most people -- newbies and veterans alike -- it's a smart choice for at least a sizable portion of your portfolio.
Most individual investors don't beat the market. Don't be too discouraged, though. Most professional stock pickers don't beat the market either. Data regularly updated by Standard & Poor's indicates that most mutual funds available to investors in the United States consistently underperform their benchmark indexes like the aforementioned S&P 500. And hedge funds fare no better, despite being managed by what are supposed to be the best and brightest stars. It's just hard to beat the market's performance, and even harder to do so consistently.
If you want to play the odds, so to speak, your best bet isn't trying to beat the market, but rather merely matching its long-term average annual gain of around 10%.
Buffett's suggested the same, and more than once. The most recent instance came in 2020, when at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting of shareholders he explained: "In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index fund. People will try and sell you other things because there's more money in it for them if they do."
Enough said. Even if it's not the most exciting of holdings, it's a great foundational position to build on with individual stocks as new money is added to your account.
Should you invest $1,000 in Coca-Cola right now?
Before you buy stock in Coca-Cola, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Coca-Cola wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 27, 2025
James Brumley has positions in Coca-Cola. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

How I'd Invest My First $1,000 in Stocks (and Why Buffett Would Approve)

Long-term investors who employ a buy-and-hold strategy will find three excellent stocks presented in this video.
*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of Oct. 22, 2025. The video was published on Oct. 24, 2025.
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Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now?
Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,380!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has positions in Visa. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

3 Spectacular Stocks You Can Buy and Hold Forever

Key Points
McDonald's has grown its dividend so prodigiously since 1976 that anyone investing $1,000 then would now be collecting nearly $500,000 in dividends per year.
It just announced another 5% dividend increase, which marks 49 years of annual dividend increases.
By this time next year, McDonald's will likely hit "Dividend King" status with 50 years of dividend hikes.
In 1976, fast-food giant McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) issued a dividend of $0.025 per share, after its chairman, Ray Kroc, announced a 27% jump in profits for the first quarter.
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Because of the seven stock splits and 49 annual dividend hikes since, McDonald's dividend has grown from a split-adjusted payout of $0.0006 per share to $1.86 per share today. That's a 310,000% increase, and it means that anyone who invested $1,000 in McDonald's in 1976 would be receiving almost $500,000 a year in dividends today.
These gains are, alas, in the past. But McDonald's has raised its dividends at a respectable rate in recent years, too. As you can see below, its dividend growth has generally outpaced the inflation rate this decade, sometimes handily so.
McDonald's Dividend Hikes
Year
Inflation Rate
Dividend Growth
McDonald's 5% dividend increase for 2025, announced on Wednesday, is its 49th dividend increase since 1976. That means that this time next year, it may have raised dividends 50 times in 50 years, giving it "Dividend King" status.
Dividend Kings are extremely rare. Of the 53,800 publicly traded companies worldwide last year, only 56 had earned that distinction, so barely one in 1,000 stocks made the cut. Examples include global retailer Target, tobacco giant Altria, and soft drink icon Coca-Cola.
How big might McDonald's historic dividend hike for 2026 be? Recent history and some fundamentals offer clues.
Three clues on McDonald's 50th dividend hike
One of the best indicators of a company's ability to increase dividends is the payout ratio, or the percentage of net income it delivers to shareholders as dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more easily a company can raise payouts.
As you can see below, McDonald's payout ratio has trended lower over the last five years, albeit not in a steady decrease. This is good news for investors and makes sense when you consider that net income has nearly doubled from $4.7 billion in 2020 to $8.2 billion in 2024, outpacing McDonald's dividend growth of 37% in that timeframe.
Another indicator that bodes well for a healthy dividend hike is robust earnings growth. McDonald's grew quarterly earnings by 11.4% year over year last quarter, which makes a similarly healthy dividend increase easy to envision.
Third, if a company is growing its operating margins, it's a strong sign that it's efficient and profitable enough to continue rewarding shareholders. Operating margin is the percentage of revenue that's available to cover non-operational expenses, such as interest on debt, share buybacks, or dividends, so it provides insight into how sustainable a company's payouts are.
In McDonald's case, operating margin is a healthy 47.7%. For context, Coca-Cola, an official Dividend King, has an operating margin of 34.7%. The historical average operating margin for S&P 500 companies is 10.8%, so the number for McDonald's indicates a truly special company.
There's also a bonus reason to feel confident that McDonald's can keep up its dividend hot streak.
Share buybacks provide breathing room
The company spent $2.8 billion on share buybacks in 2024, after spending $5.3 billion on buybacks in 2023. McDonald's habit of buying back shares, which is shareholder-friendly because it increases earnings per share, also makes its dividend more sustainable, as it means the company owes payouts on a smaller number of shares. It also means that, should the company come under pressure in the years ahead, it can dip into the billions of dollars earmarked for share buybacks rather than sacrifice its hard-won status as a dividend powerhouse.
No one can know what the next half-century will bring to McDonald's. But for the near term, the company is well-positioned to join the Dividend King club in 2026 and continue growing payouts for years after that. Because its current 2.3% dividend yield is nearly double the S&P 500 average, this could mean a very powerful income stream down the road for investors who act now.
Should you invest $1,000 in McDonald's right now?
Before you buy stock in McDonald's, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and McDonald's wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $602,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,105,092!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,028% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 190% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
William Dahl has no position in McDonald's, Target, or Altria. William Dahl owns shares of Coca-Cola. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Target. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

McDonald's Could Reach a Milestone Next Year That Barely 1 in 1,000 Companies Achieve: Are Shares a Buy?

Key Points
Domino's Pizza is a Michigan success story: the largest pizza company in the world.
The company has been growing revenue, earnings, and, crucially, same-store sales.
As an inexpensive chain, Domino's is likely to benefit from value-conscious consumers.
With a number of Michigan's top companies -- including Detroit automaker Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), chemical company Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW), and appliance maker Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) -- undergoing recent slumps, it's good to see a homegrown Michigan business thriving. That business is Domino's Pizza (NASDAQ: DPZ).
Headquartered outside Ann Arbor, where approximately 6,500 of its employees work, Domino's claims to be the largest pizza company in the world, with thousands of franchises across the U.S. and in more than 90 international markets.
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Here's why investments in this Michigan-based juggernaut could soon pay off for investors.
Serving up extra-large growth
Despite being a mature company, Domino's has been consistently growing. Over the past 10 years, it has increased its number of U.S. stores, its international footprint, its revenue, its profits, and its dividend. Some of its strongest growth occurred during the pandemic lockdown era as people ordered food in instead of going out to eat. However, unlike many other U.S. companies, Domino's managed to hang onto its pandemic-era revenue gains in the post-lockdown era.
Over the last 10 years, annual revenue has climbed 119% to $4.8 billion, while net income has grown 206% to $589.5 million. Free-cash-flow growth has been lumpier, but still is up 176% over the past decade to $631.5 million. That free cash flow helps fund the company's dividend, which has increased for each of the last 12 consecutive years, including a 25% increase in 2024. Management is expected to boost the payout again for 2026.
Domino's growth has even outperformed the overall U.S. pizza industry. Its same-store sales grew 5.2% in the U.S. in the most recent quarter. Rival Papa John's only saw its same-store sales grow 1.6% in its most recent quarter, and Pizza Hut's same-store sales actually declined by roughly 1% during the same period.
But Domino's isn't resting on its laurels. Earlier this month, the company unveiled a brand refresh -- its first in 13 years -- featuring a new logo, employee uniforms, pizza boxes, and signage. The chain even rolled out a short three-second jingle ("Dom-mmm!-mino's") by music artist Shaboozey, which is the first time the company has had a jingle in its 65-year history. Management has also indicated a willingness to offer deals to drive orders, like the "Best Deal Ever" that helped drive traffic in Q2.
Bang for the buck
Domino's is poised to succeed in a world where value-conscious consumers are looking to cut their budgets. A large Domino's pizza will feed a family of four, and currently costs $9.99 in many markets (including in Michigan). That's roughly the same cost as a McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) quarter-pounder extra value meal, which, of course, only feeds one person. It's hard to find any restaurant that can compete with Domino's on sheer volume of food for the money. And, of course, pizza is usually appealing to even the most finicky of eaters, making it an easy and popular choice for families.
Recent earnings results from various restaurant chains seem to bolster the thesis that restaurant customers are prioritizing value at present. Sit-down restaurant Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (NASDAQ: RRGB) reported lower guest traffic in Q2, and predicted comparable sales would decline 3% to 4% in the second half of the year. Same-store sales at Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) also slipped in Q2, by 4%. Meanwhile, comparable sales at McDonald's were up 2.5% in the U.S. If this trend continues in the near term, Domino's is likely to continue to benefit.
Even legendary investor Warren Buffett has apparently taken notice of Domino's strength in an uncertain economy. He's been loading up on shares of the pizza chain since Q3 2024 through his company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) (NYSE: BRK.A), amassing more than 2.6 million shares. In Q2 2025, Buffett increased Berkshire's stake even further, buying 13,255 additional shares, bringing Berkshire's total stake in the company to a value of nearly $1.2 billion.
With excellent growth prospects and a solid dividend currently yielding 1.6%, Domino's looks like a Michigan company that's worth an investment.
Should you invest $1,000 in Domino's Pizza right now?
Before you buy stock in Domino's Pizza, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Domino's Pizza wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $602,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,105,092!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,028% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 190% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
John Bromels has positions in Berkshire Hathaway, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Dow, and Ford Motor Company. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Domino's Pizza. The Motley Fool recommends Whirlpool and recommends the following options: short December 2025 $45 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why This Michigan-Based Company Could Be a Top Pick for Retail Investors

On October 22, 2025, the IBM board of directors approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.68 per common share, to stockholders of record on November 10, 2025. With payment of the December 10, 2025 dividend, IBM will have paid consecutive quarterly dividends every year since 1916.
Alcoa today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share of the Company's common stock and Series A convertible preferred stock, to be paid on November 21, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 4, 2025.
Kinder Morgan's board of directors today approved a cash dividend of $0.2925 per share for the third quarter, $1.17 annualized, payable on November 17, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 3, 2025. This dividend is a 2% increase over the third quarter of 2024.
McDonald's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.86 per share of common stock payable on December 15, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1, 2025. The 5% increase over the Company's previous quarterly dividend reflects continued confidence in the Accelerating the Arches growth strategy and our ability to drive long-term profitable growth for all stakeholders. McDonald's has a strong history of returning capital to its shareholders and has raised its dividend for 49 consecutive years since paying its first dividend in 1976.
Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.80 per share of common stock to shareholders of record as of November 7, 2025. The dividend is payable December 5, 2025. This is the company's 302nd consecutive quarterly dividend. Parker has increased its annual dividends per share paid to shareholders for 69 consecutive fiscal years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 Index.
VIDEO: Daily Dividend Report: IBM,AA,KMI,MCD,PH
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Daily Dividend Report: IBM,AA,KMI,MCD,PH

Rule Breaker Investing Stock Stories, Vol. 11: Silicon, Supply Chains, and Spicy Wings

Investors in McDonald's Corp (Symbol: MCD) saw new options become available today, for the December 5th expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the MCD options chain for the new December 5th contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.
The put contract at the $305.00 strike price has a current bid of $5.45. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $305.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $299.55 (before broker commissions). To an investor already interested in purchasing shares of MCD, that could represent an attractive alternative to paying $308.09/share today.
Because the $305.00 strike represents an approximate 1% discount to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the put contract would expire worthless. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 59%. Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change, publishing a chart of those numbers on our website under the contract detail page for this contract. Should the contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 1.79% return on the cash commitment, or 15.15% annualized — at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost.
Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for McDonald's Corp, and highlighting in green where the $305.00 strike is located relative to that history:
Turning to the calls side of the option chain, the call contract at the $310.00 strike price has a current bid of $6.60. If an investor was to purchase shares of MCD stock at the current price level of $308.09/share, and then sell-to-open that call contract as a "covered call," they are committing to sell the stock at $310.00. Considering the call seller will also collect the premium, that would drive a total return (excluding dividends, if any) of 2.76% if the stock gets called away at the December 5th expiration (before broker commissions). Of course, a lot of upside could potentially be left on the table if MCD shares really soar, which is why looking at the trailing twelve month trading history for McDonald's Corp, as well as studying the business fundamentals becomes important. Below is a chart showing MCD's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $310.00 strike highlighted in red:
Considering the fact that the $310.00 strike represents an approximate 1% premium to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the covered call contract would expire worthless, in which case the investor would keep both their shares of stock and the premium collected. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 50%. On our website under the contract detail page for this contract, Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change and publish a chart of those numbers (the trading history of the option contract will also be charted). Should the covered call contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 2.14% boost of extra return to the investor, or 18.17% annualized, which we refer to as the YieldBoost.
The implied volatility in the put contract example, as well as the call contract example, are both approximately 21%.
Meanwhile, we calculate the actual trailing twelve month volatility (considering the last 250 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $308.09) to be 18%. For more put and call options contract ideas worth looking at, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
Also see:
ValueForum Discussion Community
ETFs Holding CAI
Institutional Holders of DOMA
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Interesting MCD Put And Call Options For December 5th

Looking at options trading activity among components of the S&P 500 index, there is noteworthy activity today in T-Mobile US Inc (Symbol: TMUS), where a total volume of 21,641 contracts has been traded thus far today, a contract volume which is representative of approximately 2.2 million underlying shares (given that every 1 contract represents 100 underlying shares). That number works out to 52.9% of TMUS's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 4.1 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $205 strike put option expiring October 24, 2025, with 2,562 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 256,200 underlying shares of TMUS. Below is a chart showing TMUS's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $205 strike highlighted in orange:
Molina Healthcare Inc (Symbol: MOH) options are showing a volume of 4,993 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 499,300 underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 49.8% of MOH's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 1.0 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $210 strike call option expiring November 21, 2025, with 1,591 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 159,100 underlying shares of MOH. Below is a chart showing MOH's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $210 strike highlighted in orange:
And McDonald's Corp (Symbol: MCD) saw options trading volume of 12,017 contracts, representing approximately 1.2 million underlying shares or approximately 43.8% of MCD's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 2.7 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $317.50 strike call option expiring October 24, 2025, with 2,191 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 219,100 underlying shares of MCD. Below is a chart showing MCD's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $317.50 strike highlighted in orange:
For the various different available expirations for TMUS options, MOH options, or MCD options, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
Also see:
HIE Insider Buying
Top Ten Hedge Funds Holding IRY
PROV shares outstanding history
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Notable Wednesday Option Activity: TMUS, MOH, MCD

Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (Symbol: XLY) where we have detected an approximate $299.0 million dollar inflow -- that's a 1.2% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 101,903,252 to 103,153,252). Among the largest underlying components of XLY, in trading today Home Depot Inc (Symbol: HD) is up about 0.4%, McDonald's Corp (Symbol: MCD) is up about 0.7%, and TJX Companies (Symbol: TJX) is up by about 0.2%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the XLY Holdings page » The chart below shows the one year price performance of XLY, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, XLY's low point in its 52 week range is $173.1001 per share, with $243.40 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $237.50. Comparing the most recent share price to the 200 day moving average can also be a useful technical analysis technique -- learn more about the 200 day moving average ».
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Exchange traded funds (ETFs) trade just like stocks, but instead of ''shares'' investors are actually buying and selling ''units''. These ''units'' can be traded back and forth just like stocks, but can also be created or destroyed to accommodate investor demand. Each week we monitor the week-over-week change in shares outstanding data, to keep a lookout for those ETFs experiencing notable inflows (many new units created) or outflows (many old units destroyed). Creation of new units will mean the underlying holdings of the ETF need to be purchased, while destruction of units involves selling underlying holdings, so large flows can also impact the individual components held within ETFs.
Also see:
HUM Stock Split History
RSH Insider Buying
IPG Dividend History
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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