A voice against McDonald's $MCD (-0,15 %)
(+ my alternatives for you)

I wanted to give a brief assessment of the fast food giant and also present some alternatives. I'm surprised that many private investors have been investing so heavily in the golden M recently. In other words, I'm not really surprised. The share has fallen over the year and when a share falls, it becomes cheaper. Isn't that right?

Well, I don't actually think that McD is cheap enough to see a clear buying opportunity here. The price may be quite fair, but I wouldn't recognize an undervaluation. But first of all, one thing that I think is good: I actually think McD is very good if you want to invest in real estate. At this point I say "Ok, before you go into some weird REIT then take McD all right"

Otherwise, however, I'm too skeptical when it comes to restaurants to get in at a P/E ratio of over 20. I'm not alone in this at the moment and that's exactly why the share price has fallen. The point is simply that gastronomy is cyclical. And, as I never tire of emphasizing, consumers now have increasingly empty pockets, which is considerably dampening their mood and ability to spend. In this respect, many gastronomy stocks such as $MCD (-0,15 %) and especially $SBUX (-0,91 %) possibly go even further downhill. Those who are keen to get in could therefore wait.

So as not to make this too long, I won't explain again why I have a few doubts about the future growth of Mecces in particular, even without the current sector effect. If you are interested, I will be happy to come back to this elsewhere. Instead, here are 3 alternatives that I currently consider to be better (not investment advice):

1) Coca Cola $KO (-0,37 %) - I hope I don't have to explain where I get the connection from. But I actually think it's better at the moment. Of course there is a lot of gastro in the share, but it is not quite as vulnerable. You also get roughly the same amount of dividend for your money and essentially just an even more robust share. When I look at them side by side, they both look very similar, but I can't think of any reasons not to bet on CC, given McDonalds' current not-so-cheap price.

2) Rational AG $RAA (-1,01 %) - is actually the ETF for system catering because it manufactures the appliances for such kitchens. As a result, it is also well diversified and has stronger growth. But it is also valued a little higher. I was also invested there for a long time, but it has exactly the same problem as the restaurant industry itself - it is also quite cyclical.

3) Edwards Lifesciences $EW (-1,12 %) - Well, you didn't expect that, did you? But the Edwards share is now hardly valued higher than the McDonalds share and offers a great way to profit from the restaurant to the golden M if you think outside the box. I think the medical technology manufacturer specializing in cardiology is virtually predestined to supply MC customers as patients. So instead of investing in what makes people ill, you could also invest in what makes people well again. Unfortunately, there is no dividend for this.