Chipotle Mexican Grill vs McDonald's
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The short version
- McDonald's is the larger business, with $26.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $11.9B for Chipotle Mexican Grill, about 2.3 times as much.
- Chipotle Mexican Grill grew revenue faster (5.4%, against 3.7%).
- McDonald's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (46.1% operating margin, against 16.2%).
- McDonald's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (26.7% FCF margin, against 12.1%).
- Chipotle Mexican Grill earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (73.7%, against 25.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Chipotle Mexican Grill’s earnings: a P/E of 25.2x against 20.2x for McDonald's.
| Latest fiscal year | CMG · FY25 | MCD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $35.2B | $176.7B |
| Revenue | $11.9B | $26.9B |
| Free cash flow | $1.4B | $7.2B |
| Net income | $1.5B | $8.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.4% | 3.7% |
| 5-year growth | 14.8% | 7.0% |
| Share count change | −2.5% | −0.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 16.2% | 46.1% |
| Net margin | 12.9% | 31.9% |
| FCF margin | 12.1% | 26.7% |
| Return on capital | 73.7% | 25.4% |
| Return on equity | 47.4% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.0B | $42.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.5x | 3.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.4B | $7.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.2x | 20.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CMG $3.9B
MCD $24.6B
FY17
CMG $4.5B
MCD $22.8B
FY18
CMG $4.9B
MCD $21.3B
FY19
CMG $5.6B
MCD $21.4B
FY20
CMG $6.0B
MCD $19.2B
FY21
CMG $7.5B
MCD $23.2B
FY22
CMG $8.6B
MCD $23.2B
FY23
CMG $9.9B
MCD $25.5B
FY24
CMG $11.3B
MCD $25.9B
FY25
CMG $11.9B
MCD $26.9B
CMG
MCD
Operating margin
FY16
CMG 0.9%
MCD 31.5%
FY17
CMG 6.1%
MCD 41.9%
FY18
CMG 5.3%
MCD 41.5%
FY19
CMG 8.0%
MCD 42.5%
FY20
CMG 4.9%
MCD 38.1%
FY21
CMG 10.7%
MCD 44.6%
FY22
CMG 13.4%
MCD 40.4%
FY23
CMG 15.8%
MCD 45.7%
FY24
CMG 16.9%
MCD 45.2%
FY25
CMG 16.2%
MCD 46.1%
CMG
MCD
Free cash flow
FY16
CMG $96.3M
MCD $4.2B
FY17
CMG $251M
MCD $3.7B
FY18
CMG $334M
MCD $4.2B
FY19
CMG $388M
MCD $5.7B
FY20
CMG $291M
MCD $4.6B
FY21
CMG $840M
MCD $7.1B
FY22
CMG $844M
MCD $5.5B
FY23
CMG $1.2B
MCD $7.3B
FY24
CMG $1.5B
MCD $6.7B
FY25
CMG $1.4B
MCD $7.2B
CMG
MCD
Return on capital
FY16
CMG —
MCD 23.0%
FY17
CMG —
MCD 25.0%
FY18
CMG —
MCD 28.0%
FY19
CMG —
MCD 27.8%
FY20
CMG 31.0%
MCD 22.0%
FY21
CMG 56.4%
MCD 32.6%
FY22
CMG 65.6%
MCD 27.6%
FY23
CMG 73.0%
MCD 31.6%
FY24
CMG 73.1%
MCD 27.4%
FY25
CMG 73.7%
MCD 25.4%
CMG
MCD
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.