** Shares of McDonald's MCD.N up about 2% at $299.08

** Brokerage Goldman Sachs upgrades stock rating to "buy" from "neutral"

** Sees MCD benefiting from consumer focus on limited-service restaurants driven by product innovation and value offerings, especially as the company can take advantage of its marketing power to elevate consumer awareness around new menu offerings and generate traffic

** Brand has maintained traffic growth above peer levels and is taking market share from the other large burger brands, while consumer sentiment about the brand is strengthening - Goldman Sachs

** Thirty-eight brokerages rate the stock "buy"; with a median PT of $340, according to data compiled by LSEG

** Brokerage also downgrades Cheesecake Factory CAKE.O to "neutral" from "buy", sees only modest upside to stock following its recent strength

** Near-term catalysts for Cheesecake Factory might not be as pronounced, even with strong operational improvements and solid unit growth - brokerage

** Including session moves, MCD and CAKE have risen 3% and 36%, respectively, YTD

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)

((Neil.JKanatt@thomsonreuters.com;))