McDonald's vs Starbucks
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The short version
- Starbucks is the larger business, with $37.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $26.9B for McDonald's.
- McDonald's grew revenue faster (3.7%, against 2.8%).
- McDonald's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (46.1% operating margin, against 7.9%).
- McDonald's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (26.7% FCF margin, against 6.6%).
- Starbucks earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (47.8%, against 25.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Starbucks’s earnings: a P/E of 57.9x against 20.2x for McDonald's.
| Latest fiscal year | MCD · FY25 | SBUX · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $176.7B | $115.3B |
| Revenue | $26.9B | $37.2B |
| Free cash flow | $7.2B | $2.4B |
| Net income | $8.6B | $1.9B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.7% | 2.8% |
| 5-year growth | 7.0% | 9.6% |
| Share count change | −0.8% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 46.1% | 7.9% |
| Net margin | 31.9% | 5.0% |
| FCF margin | 26.7% | 6.6% |
| Return on capital | 25.4% | 47.8% |
| Return on equity | — | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $42.3B | $12.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.3x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $7.2B | $2.8B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.2x | 57.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
MCD $24.6B
SBUX $21.3B
FY17
MCD $22.8B
SBUX $22.4B
FY18
MCD $21.3B
SBUX $24.7B
FY19
MCD $21.4B
SBUX $26.5B
FY20
MCD $19.2B
SBUX $23.5B
FY21
MCD $23.2B
SBUX $29.1B
FY22
MCD $23.2B
SBUX $32.3B
FY23
MCD $25.5B
SBUX $36.0B
FY24
MCD $25.9B
SBUX $36.2B
FY25
MCD $26.9B
SBUX $37.2B
MCD
SBUX
Operating margin
FY16
MCD 31.5%
SBUX 19.6%
FY17
MCD 41.9%
SBUX 18.5%
FY18
MCD 41.5%
SBUX 15.7%
FY19
MCD 42.5%
SBUX 15.4%
FY20
MCD 38.1%
SBUX 6.6%
FY21
MCD 44.6%
SBUX 16.8%
FY22
MCD 40.4%
SBUX 14.3%
FY23
MCD 45.7%
SBUX 16.3%
FY24
MCD 45.2%
SBUX 15.0%
FY25
MCD 46.1%
SBUX 7.9%
MCD
SBUX
Free cash flow
FY16
MCD $4.2B
SBUX $3.3B
FY17
MCD $3.7B
SBUX $2.7B
FY18
MCD $4.2B
SBUX $10.0B
FY19
MCD $5.7B
SBUX $3.2B
FY20
MCD $4.6B
SBUX $114M
FY21
MCD $7.1B
SBUX $4.5B
FY22
MCD $5.5B
SBUX $2.6B
FY23
MCD $7.3B
SBUX $3.7B
FY24
MCD $6.7B
SBUX $3.3B
FY25
MCD $7.2B
SBUX $2.4B
MCD
SBUX
Return on capital
FY16
MCD 23.0%
SBUX 40.7%
FY17
MCD 25.0%
SBUX 39.7%
FY18
MCD 28.0%
SBUX 72.5%
FY19
MCD 27.8%
SBUX —
FY20
MCD 22.0%
SBUX 40.7%
FY21
MCD 32.6%
SBUX 115.8%
FY22
MCD 27.6%
SBUX —
FY23
MCD 31.6%
SBUX 135.4%
FY24
MCD 27.4%
SBUX 101.8%
FY25
MCD 25.4%
SBUX 47.8%
MCD
SBUX
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.