McDonald's vs Yum China
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The short version
- McDonald's is the larger business, with $26.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $11.8B for Yum China, about 2.3 times as much.
- Yum China grew revenue faster (4.4%, against 3.7%).
- McDonald's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (46.1% operating margin, against 10.9%).
- McDonald's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (26.7% FCF margin, against 7.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of McDonald's’s earnings: a P/E of 20.2x against 16.3x for Yum China.
| Latest fiscal year | MCD · FY25 | YUMC · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $176.7B | $15.5B |
| Revenue | $26.9B | $11.8B |
| Free cash flow | $7.2B | $840M |
| Net income | $8.6B | $929M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.7% | 4.4% |
| 5-year growth | 7.0% | 7.4% |
| Share count change | −0.8% | −4.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 46.1% | 10.9% |
| Net margin | 31.9% | 7.9% |
| FCF margin | 26.7% | 7.1% |
| Return on capital | 25.4% | — |
| Return on equity | — | 16.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $42.3B | — |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.3x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $7.2B | $1.5B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.2x | 16.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | — |
Revenue
FY16
MCD $24.6B
YUMC $7.1B
FY17
MCD $22.8B
YUMC $7.8B
FY18
MCD $21.3B
YUMC $8.4B
FY19
MCD $21.4B
YUMC $8.8B
FY20
MCD $19.2B
YUMC $8.3B
FY21
MCD $23.2B
YUMC $9.9B
FY22
MCD $23.2B
YUMC $9.6B
FY23
MCD $25.5B
YUMC $11.0B
FY24
MCD $25.9B
YUMC $11.3B
FY25
MCD $26.9B
YUMC $11.8B
MCD
YUMC
Operating margin
FY16
MCD 31.5%
YUMC 9.0%
FY17
MCD 41.9%
YUMC 10.0%
FY18
MCD 41.5%
YUMC 11.2%
FY19
MCD 42.5%
YUMC 10.3%
FY20
MCD 38.1%
YUMC 11.6%
FY21
MCD 44.6%
YUMC 14.1%
FY22
MCD 40.4%
YUMC 6.6%
FY23
MCD 45.7%
YUMC 10.1%
FY24
MCD 45.2%
YUMC 10.3%
FY25
MCD 46.1%
YUMC 10.9%
MCD
YUMC
Free cash flow
FY16
MCD $4.2B
YUMC $430M
FY17
MCD $3.7B
YUMC $469M
FY18
MCD $4.2B
YUMC $863M
FY19
MCD $5.7B
YUMC $750M
FY20
MCD $4.6B
YUMC $695M
FY21
MCD $7.1B
YUMC $442M
FY22
MCD $5.5B
YUMC $734M
FY23
MCD $7.3B
YUMC $763M
FY24
MCD $6.7B
YUMC $714M
FY25
MCD $7.2B
YUMC $840M
MCD
YUMC
Return on capital
FY16
MCD 23.0%
YUMC —
FY17
MCD 25.0%
YUMC —
FY18
MCD 28.0%
YUMC —
FY19
MCD 27.8%
YUMC —
FY20
MCD 22.0%
YUMC —
FY21
MCD 32.6%
YUMC —
FY22
MCD 27.6%
YUMC —
FY23
MCD 31.6%
YUMC —
FY24
MCD 27.4%
YUMC —
FY25
MCD 25.4%
YUMC —
MCD
YUMC
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.