Should I Buy QSR? QSR 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

70.900

1 Day change

0.80%

52 Week Range

73.700

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/30

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QSR is not a good buy right now for an impatient investor. The stock is trading below the key pivot (68.135) with bearish momentum (MACD histogram negative and expanding), suggesting downside pressure hasn’t clearly exhausted despite an oversold-looking RSI. While options positioning and sell-side targets skew bullish and fundamentals are improving, the strong hedge-fund selling trend and weakening technicals make the current tape unfavorable. A better buy setup would require evidence of stabilization/reclaiming ~68+; at 66.49, I’d rate it a HOLD (avoid chasing a falling move).

Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals

AI Stock Picker: No signal on given stock today.
SwingMax: No signal on given stock today.

Technical Analysis

Price (66.49) is below the pivot (68.135) and sitting between S1=66.909 and S2=66.151, meaning it’s hovering near support but not showing confirmed reversal.

MACD: Histogram -0.131 and negatively expanding → bearish momentum is strengthening.
RSI(6): 27.44 → momentum is stretched/oversold, which can support a bounce, but oversold alone is not a buy trigger when MACD is still deteriorating.
Moving averages: Converging → potential basing, but not yet an uptrend signal.
Near-term levels: A clean reclaim of 68.135 would improve the setup; failure to hold 66.15 increases risk of further weakness.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Options lean bullish on positioning: open-interest put/call at 0.49 implies more call interest than puts. Volume put/call 0.72 also indicates call-leaning activity. Volatility: IV30 ~22.6% vs HV ~20.2% (moderately higher), with IV percentile ~48 (mid-range) → options are not extremely expensive. Caveat: today’s option volume is light vs 30-day average (~29.8%), so sentiment read is supportive but not strongly conviction-driven.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

Upcoming earnings: Q4/FY2025 results on 2026-02-12 (pre-market)—potential catalyst if Burger King/Tim Hortons trends confirm improving comps.
Strategic/expansion narrative: Mentioned partnership to operate Burger King in China supports growth optionality.
Strong sell-side optimism (majority): RBC calls it a top idea; Barclays and Argus are constructive with higher targets.
Pattern-based forward odds (provided): favors positive performance over the next week/month (+3.79% next week; +12.18% next month), which supports a rebound thesis if support holds.

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Bearish price momentum: MACD is negative and worsening; price is below pivot and recently weak.
Hedge fund flow: Hedge funds are selling, with selling amount up ~791.71% QoQ—a meaningful sentiment/positioning headwind.
Margin pressure: Gross margin down ~1.63% YoY in the latest quarter.
Dissenting bearish analyst view: BofA is Underperform with a $64 target (below current price), reinforcing near-term downside risk.
Event risk into earnings: With earnings close, any miss or cautious outlook could extend the downtrend.

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q3.

Revenue: $2.449B, +6.90% YoY (steady top-line growth).
Net income: $315M, +25.00% YoY (profit growth accelerating).
EPS: $0.95, +21.79% YoY (solid earnings momentum).
Gross margin: 48.39%, down 1.63% YoY (some profitability pressure despite higher earnings). Overall: growth is constructive, but margin slippage + weak tape suggests fundamentals alone aren’t currently driving the stock higher.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent rating/target trend is net positive but mixed:

Bullish/upward: Barclays raised PT to $86 (Overweight); RBC raised PT to $82 (Outperform, “top idea”); Argus upgraded to Buy with $85 PT.
Bearish/downward: BofA cut PT to $64 and kept Underperform. Wall Street pros: improving Burger King US trends, development acceleration, and growth/capital allocation tailwinds (RBC/Barclays/Argus). Wall Street cons: near-term sector sales challenges and valuation/estimate fine-tuning concerns (BofA), plus the stock’s currently weak technical posture.

20 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast QSR stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for QSR is 77.47 USD with a low forecast of 65 USD and a high forecast of 86 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

11 Buy

8 Hold

1 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 70.340

Low

Averages

77.47

High

Current: 70.340

Low

Averages

77.47

High

Citi

Neutral

downgrade

$74 -> $72

AI Analysis

2026-02-03

New

Reason

Citi

Price Target

$74 -> $72

AI Analysis

2026-02-03

New

downgrade

Neutral

Reason

Citi lowered the firm's price target on Restaurant Brands to $72 from $74 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm updated the company's model ahead of the Q4 report.

BofA

Underperform

downgrade

$65 -> $64

2026-01-26

Reason

BofA

Price Target

$65 -> $64

2026-01-26

downgrade

Underperform

Reason

BofA lowered the firm's price target on Restaurant Brands to $64 from $65 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares. The firm is fine-tuning estimates for 22 restaurant companies across its coverage and adjusting select price targets to reflect estimate and valuation multiple changes.

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QSR Should I Buy

QSR Should I Buy

Should You Buy Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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