Mcdonalds vs Starbucks (MCD vs SBUX)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Starbucks is the larger company by revenue ($37.2B vs $26.9B). Mcdonalds carries the larger market value ($184.8B vs $121.0B). Starbucks has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+28.0% cumulative vs +15.8%). Mcdonalds runs the higher operating margin (46.1% vs 7.9%). Mcdonalds trades at the lower trailing P/E (21.4x vs 61.4x).
About Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is a global company that roasts, markets, and sells specialty coffee and related beverages. It operates company-owned coffeehouses and licensed stores in 89 markets, offering handcrafted coffee, tea, food items, and branded products such as Teavana and Starbucks Reserve. Starbucks serves consumers worldwide through its retail stores, grocery channels, and partnerships like the Global Coffee Alliance with Nestlé.
Head to head (MCD FY2025 vs SBUX FY2025)
| Metric | MCDFY2025 | SBUXFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $26.89B | $37.18B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 3.7% | 2.8% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 46.1% | 7.9% |
| Net margin | 31.9% | 5.0% |
| Net income | $8.56B | $1.86B |
| Diluted EPS | $11.95 | $1.63 |
| FCF margin | 26.7% | 6.6% |
| ROE | — | — |
| Long-term debt / equity | — | — |
| Market cap | $184.77B | $121.01B |
| P/E | 21.4× | 61.4× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (MCD FY2025, SBUX FY2025). ROE is net income over fiscal-year-end equity; long-term debt / equity counts non-current term debt only. P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| Revenue | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCD | $23.22B | $23.18B | $25.49B | $25.92B | $26.89B |
| SBUX | $29.06B | $32.25B | $35.98B | $36.18B | $37.18B |
Peer standing
These companies are ranked against different peer groups (Mcdonalds vs 42 restaurant companies; Starbucks vs 403 Consumer Discretionary companies), so each is shown against its own peers rather than on one scale.
Mcdonalds
Mcdonalds’s operating margin of 46.1% is the highest of the 40 restaurant companies reporting it. Mcdonalds’s net margin of 31.9% is the highest of the 42 restaurant companies reporting it. Mcdonalds’s FCF margin of 26.7% is the highest of the 42 restaurant companies reporting it.
Starbucks
Starbucks’s P/E of 61.4 ranks in the 93rd percentile of the 249 peers with a meaningful P/E.
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | MCD | SBUX |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 11.1M | 37.3M |
| Change vs prior settlement | -9.8% | -5.0% |
| Days to cover | 2.32 | 6.16 |
| As of settlement | 2026-08-14 | 2026-08-14 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 activity (codes P/S) | MCD | SBUX |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | 0 |
| Sells | 1 ($1.5M) | 4 ($681,664) |
Non-derivative purchases (code P) and sales (code S) reported on SEC Form 4, which may be open-market or private (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 15% of covered companies saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
6 tracked 13F managers hold both Mcdonalds and Starbucks as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Bridgewater Associates, Citadel Advisors, D. E. Shaw, Gotham Asset Management, Millennium Management. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.