Restaurants · 19/36 against 15/36 checks · to 2026-09-08
MCD vs SBUX.
McDonald'sFranchises most of its restaurants and earns rent and royalties from them.
StarbucksRuns and licenses coffee shops worldwide, and sells packaged coffee.→McDonald's (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) are within reach of each other at $181.0B and $116.3B, and on the filings McDonald's passes more, 19 checks of 36 against 15.
Which passes more checks?
widest gap first→No axis separates them by more than 2 of six checks, and the widest is Growth.
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | 3/6 | 1/6 |
| Shareholder returns | 6/6 | 4/6 |
| Trend analysis | 0/6 | 2/6 |
| Value | 2/6 | 1/6 |
| Quality | 5/6 | 4/6 |
| Health | 3/6 | 3/6 |
| All checks | 19/36 | 15/36 |
→Starbucks turns over $38.3B to McDonald's's $27.7B, 1.4 times as much. McDonald's keeps 31.7% of revenue as profit against 5.2% at Starbucks.
Which is growing faster, MCD or SBUX?
→McDonald's and Starbucks grew revenue at much the same rate last year, +6.3% against +4.5%.
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (TTM) | $27.7B | $38.3B |
| Revenue growth, 1 year | +6.3% | +4.5% |
| Revenue CAGR, 3 years | +5.1% | - |
| Net income (TTM) | $8.8B | $2.0B |
| Free cash flow (TTM) | $7.8B | $3.6B |
Which hands more back to owners?
→Both pay: McDonald's yields the more at 2.8% against 2.4%. A yield rises when a price falls, so read it beside the payout checks in each report.
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 2.8% | 2.4% |
| Payout ratio | 58.2% | 139.8% |
| Years of unbroken dividend | - | - |
Which is cheaper?
→McDonald's is the cheaper of the two on earnings, 20.9x against 58.6x. Against their own histories, McDonald's is below its 21.2x median and Starbucks is above its 25.3x.
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Share price | $255.81 | $102.01 |
| Market cap | $181.0B | $116.3B |
| P/E | 20.9x | 58.6x |
| P/E, own median own 11-year median / own 5-year median | 21.2x | 25.3x |
| P/S | 6.5x | 3.0x |
| Free cash flow yield | 4.3% | 3.1% |
Which keeps more of each sale?
→McDonald's keeps more of each sale: operating margin of 46.2% against 7.8%, a gap of 38 points that flows into everything below it.
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | - | 77.6% |
| Operating margin | 46.2% | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | - | - |
Which balance sheet is stronger?
| MCD | SBUX | |
|---|---|---|
| Debt / equity | - | - |
| Interest coverage | 7.9x | 5.4x |
| Cash and short-term investments | $1.2B | $3.6B |
Where they differ most
the checks behind the gapGrowth: McDonald's 2 ahead
- Profits grew last year 4.7% vs 0.0%
- Growth is speeding up, not slowing 1y 6.3% vs 3y 5.1%
- Grew per share, not just in total 20.0% vs 0.0%
- Outgrew its sector last year 4.5% vs 15.1% (sector 70th pct, n=43)
- Profits grew last year -24.7% vs 0.0%
Shareholder returns: McDonald's 2 ahead
- Share count isn't climbing shares down 3.4% over 3 years
- Buybacks outpace the stock issued to staff $2.3B bought back vs $175M of stock compensation
- What it hands back fits inside its cash flow 97.3% vs 100.0%
- Buybacks outpace the stock issued to staff no buybacks against $364M of stock compensation