CAVA vs QSR vs MCD Stock Comparison

Cava, Restaurant Brands International and Mcdonalds Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAVA Cava Group, Inc.
$51.50 -0.2% 1M -19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$6.02B
P/E
98.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
MCD Mcdonalds Corp
$250.84 +6.1% 1M -18.0% 1Y
Market cap
$177.06B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.70B
Div. yield
0.03%
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mcdonalds leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mcdonalds 6, Restaurant Brands International 3, Cava 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCAVAQSRMCDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.02B $25.82B $177.06B MCD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 98.6x 20.3x 20.2x MCD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 101.0x 18.8x 18.9x QSR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.2% +6.5% +6.3% CAVA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.0% 13.1% 31.7% MCD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.1% 25.9% MCD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.2x 2.6x MCD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -19.0% +10.4% -18.0% QSR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +5.7%/yr +0.7%/yr QSR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.5% 25.0% 19.9% MCD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 52/100 50/100 CAVA

Percentile Scorecard

CAVAQSRMCD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCAVAQSRMCD
Valuation 2 #49 of 50 43 #29 of 50 18 #41 of 50
Growth 91 #5 of 47 63 #18 of 47 39 #29 of 47
Profitability 42 #27 of 46 67 #16 of 46 100 #1 of 46
Financial Health 96 #3 of 51 30 #36 of 51 44 #29 of 51
Shareholder Returns – 56 #15 of 33 47 #18 of 33
Overall 58 52 50
  • CAVA ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • QSR ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • MCD ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCAVAQSRMCDSPY
1 month -0.2%+3.9%+6.1% -0.8%
3 months -20.2%+0.0%-7.3% +3.5%
6 months -45.3%-5.6%-13.6% +7.0%
Year to date -12.3%+9.1%-17.9% +12.2%
1 year -19.0%+10.4%-18.0% +13.0%
3 years +62.8%+13.0%-1.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +17.7%+4.2%-0.6% +23.1%
5 years —+31.7%+3.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+5.7%+0.7% +11.0%
10 years —+72.8%+123.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+5.6%+8.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCAVAQSRMCDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.5%25.0%19.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.1%25.8%20.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.05-0.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.320.42-0.90 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -71.1%-27.5%-32.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -47.1%-8.8%-26.5% -1.8%
52-week high $97.39$81.67$341.06 $779.14
52-week low $43.59$65.69$230.86 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCAVAQSRMCD
P/E now vs peer median 98.4xmedian 20.5x 20.4xmedian 20.5x 20.2xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 1.1x 2.7xmedian 1.1x 6.4xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 39.8xmedian 13.3x 13.0xmedian 13.3x 14.4xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 17.5x 15.9xmedian 17.5x 24.0xmedian 17.5x
P/B now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 3.1x 4.8xmedian 3.1x -173.5xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.61median 1.07 2.70median 1.07 4.71median 1.07

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCAVAQSRMCD
Revenue $1.22B $9.70B $27.70B
Gross profit $301.99M $5.24B $24.86B
Operating income $66.42M $2.61B $12.80B
Net income $61.05M $1.70B $8.79B
Free cash flow – $1.63B $7.39B
EPS (diluted) $0.52 $2.77 $12.36
Cash & equivalents $322.76M $1.06B $822.00M
Total debt – $13.29B $162.65B
Shares (diluted) 118.38M 460.00M 711.10M
Enterprise value $4.42B $21.37B $171.88B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCAVAQSRMCD
P/E 98.4x 20.4x 20.2x
P/FCF – 15.9x 24.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 13.7x 15.6x
P/S 4.9x 2.7x 6.4x
P/B 7.2x 4.8x -173.5x
P/Tangible book 7.2x -4.7x -173.5x
EV/EBITDA 39.8x 13.0x 14.4x
EV/EBIT 84.0x 14.7x 16.9x
EV/Revenue 4.6x 3.9x 7.8x
EV/FCF – 23.4x 29.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 20.1x 19.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.61 2.70 4.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAVAQSRMCD
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.2% 6.5% 6.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 23.5% 12.7% 4.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.7% 5.1% 5.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.3% 6.1% 4.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 25.1% 22.3% 7.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 63.5% 11.0% 5.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -56.6% 41.5% 4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 62.8% 4.4% 3.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -56.6% 47.2% 5.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.7% 7.5% 4.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 19.9% 15.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 13.3% 9.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 20.5% 18.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 11.2% 8.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAVAQSRMCD
Gross margin 24.8% 54.0% 89.7%
EBITDA margin 11.5% 30.3% 54.4%
Operating margin 5.5% 26.9% 46.2%
Pretax margin 6.7% 21.7% 40.4%
Net margin 5.0% 13.1% 31.7%
FCF margin – 16.8% 26.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 19.6% 40.9%
Return on equity 7.5% 31.8% –
Return on assets 4.3% 6.8% 14.6%
Return on invested capital – 12.1% 25.9%
Return on capital employed 5.4% 11.5% 22.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.4x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.4% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAVAQSRMCD
Debt / assets – 53.1% 66.5%
Debt / equity – 2.5x -39.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.2x 2.6x
Debt / FCF – 8.1x 5.4x
Liabilities / assets 43.9% 78.4% 101.7%
Equity / assets 56.1% 21.6% -1.7%
Interest coverage – – 7.9x
Current ratio 2.5x 1.0x 1.1x
Quick ratio 2.4x 0.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 2.3x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.47 1.65 4.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAVAQSRMCD
Dividend yield – 3.5% 3.0%
Net buyback yield – 0.5% 1.2%
Shareholder yield – 3.9% 4.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 59.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 70.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 4.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.3%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCAVAQSRMCD
Forward P/E 101.0xFY2026 18.8xFY2026 18.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.51FY2026 $3.96FY2026 $13.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -5.6%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +49.0% +8.1% +6.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.43BFY2026 $10.27BFY2026 $29.23BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +20.9%FY2026 +8.9%FY2026 +8.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +31.4% -10.0% -4.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAVAQSRMCD
Held by institutions 89.4% 92.2% 74.2%
Institutions holding 541 575 3,473
Change in shares held, QoQ -6.7% +6.5% +0.4%
Institutions buying 245 319 1,534
Institutions selling 209 165 1,485
Buyers to sellers 1.17 1.93 1.03

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CAVAQSRMCD
CAVA 1.00 0.26 0.19
QSR 0.26 1.00 0.39
MCD 0.19 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAVA, QSR and MCD?

Mcdonalds (MCD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cava (CAVA) $6.02B, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) $25.82B, Mcdonalds (MCD) $177.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAVA, QSR and MCD?

Mcdonalds (MCD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cava (CAVA) 98.6x, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 20.3x, Mcdonalds (MCD) 20.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) is cheapest (Cava (CAVA) 101.0x, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 18.8x, Mcdonalds (MCD) 18.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cava (CAVA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cava (CAVA) +12.2%, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +6.5%, Mcdonalds (MCD) +6.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mcdonalds (MCD) has the highest net margin (Cava (CAVA) 5.0%, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 13.1%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 31.7%). On return on invested capital, Mcdonalds (MCD) leads (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 12.1%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 25.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Restaurant Brands International (QSR) returned the most: Cava (CAVA) -19.0%, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +10.4%, Mcdonalds (MCD) -18.0%. Over five years, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) compounded fastest (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +5.7%/yr, Mcdonalds (MCD) +0.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cava (CAVA) 0.00%, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 0.00%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 0.03%. Cava (CAVA) and Restaurant Brands International (QSR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mcdonalds (MCD) has been the steadiest (Cava (CAVA) 59.5%, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 25.0%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 19.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAVA, QSR and MCD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mcdonalds (MCD) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.