QSR vs MCD vs CAVA Stock Comparison

Restaurant Brands International, Mcdonalds and Cava Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MCD Mcdonalds Corp
$249.47 +5.5% 1M -19.5% 1Y
Market cap
$177.61B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.70B
Div. yield
0.03%
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
CAVA Cava Group, Inc.
$51.86 +0.5% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$6.28B
P/E
102.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Quick-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
2 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.

QuestionQSRMCDCAVALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $25.91B $177.61B $6.28B MCD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.4x 20.2x 102.9x MCD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.7x 18.8x 101.7x QSR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +6.3% +12.2% CAVA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.1% 31.7% 5.0% 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% 0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.8% -19.5% -17.6% QSR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.4%/yr +0.3%/yr — QSR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 24.9% 19.9% 59.3% MCD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 50/100 58/100 CAVA

Percentile Scorecard

QSRMCDCAVA

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

AxisQSRMCDCAVA
Valuation 45 #28 of 50 18 #41 of 50 2 #49 of 50
Growth 63 #18 of 47 39 #29 of 47 91 #5 of 47
Profitability 67 #16 of 46 100 #1 of 46 42 #27 of 46
Financial Health 30 #36 of 51 44 #29 of 51 96 #3 of 51
Shareholder Returns 56 #15 of 33 47 #18 of 33 –
Overall 52 50 58
  • QSR ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • MCD ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • CAVA ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodQSRMCDCAVASPY
1 month +3.3%+5.5%+0.5% -0.2%
3 months -1.1%-8.6%-20.2% +3.9%
6 months -5.4%-14.7%-43.0% +8.2%
Year to date +8.5%-18.4%-11.6% +12.9%
1 year +9.8%-19.5%-17.6% +12.3%
3 years +12.3%-2.5%+64.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +4.0%-0.8%+17.9% +23.3%
5 years +30.2%+1.6%— +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.4%+0.3%— +10.9%
10 years +70.6%+122.6%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +5.5%+8.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureQSRMCDCAVASPY
Volatility, 1Y 24.9%19.9%59.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 25.7%20.4%54.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.04-0.011.30 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.39-0.98-0.30 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.5%-32.3%-71.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-26.9%-46.8% -1.2%
52-week high $81.67$341.06$97.39 $779.14
52-week low $65.69$230.86$43.59 $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.

MultipleQSRMCDCAVA
P/E now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 20.6x 20.1xmedian 20.6x 99.0xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.2x 6.4xmedian 1.2x 5.0xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 13.3x 14.3xmedian 13.3x 40.1xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 17.3x 23.9xmedian 17.3x —median 17.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 3.1x -172.6xmedian 3.1x 7.2xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.68median 1.07 4.68median 1.07 2.63median 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 monthsQSRMCDCAVA
Revenue $9.70B $27.70B $1.22B
Gross profit $5.24B $24.86B $301.99M
Operating income $2.61B $12.80B $66.42M
Net income $1.70B $8.79B $61.05M
Free cash flow $1.63B $7.39B –
EPS (diluted) $2.77 $12.36 $0.52
Cash & equivalents $1.06B $822.00M $322.76M
Total debt $13.29B $162.65B –
Shares (diluted) 460.00M 711.10M 118.38M
Enterprise value $21.47B $172.43B $4.68B

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
MetricQSRMCDCAVA
P/E 20.2x 20.1x 99.0x
P/FCF 15.8x 23.9x –
P/Operating cash flow 13.6x 15.6x –
P/S 2.7x 6.4x 5.0x
P/B 4.8x -172.6x 7.2x
P/Tangible book -4.7x -172.6x 7.2x
EV/EBITDA 13.0x 14.3x 40.1x
EV/EBIT 14.6x 16.8x 84.6x
EV/Revenue 3.9x 7.8x 4.6x
EV/FCF 23.3x 29.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 20.0x 19.0x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.68 4.68 2.63

Growth

14 metrics
MetricQSRMCDCAVA
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 6.3% 12.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.7% 4.6% 23.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% 5.3% 10.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 4.8% 27.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.3% 7.3% 25.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 5.2% 63.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 41.5% 4.7% -56.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 3.2% 62.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 47.2% 5.7% -56.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 4.3% 37.7%
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
MetricQSRMCDCAVA
Gross margin 54.0% 89.7% 24.8%
EBITDA margin 30.3% 54.4% 11.5%
Operating margin 26.9% 46.2% 5.5%
Pretax margin 21.7% 40.4% 6.7%
Net margin 13.1% 31.7% 5.0%
FCF margin 16.8% 26.7% –
Operating cash flow margin 19.6% 40.9% –
Return on equity 31.8% – 7.5%
Return on assets 6.8% 14.6% 4.3%
Return on invested capital 12.1% 25.9% –
Return on capital employed 11.5% 22.9% 5.4%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricQSRMCDCAVA
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 78.4% 101.7% 43.9%
Equity / assets 21.6% -1.7% 56.1%
Interest coverage – 7.9x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.1x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.8x 2.4x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.2x 2.3x
Altman Z-score 1.64 4.59 6.51

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricQSRMCDCAVA
Dividend yield 3.5% 3.0% –
Net buyback yield 0.5% 1.2% –
Shareholder yield 3.9% 4.2% –
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.

ConsensusQSRMCDCAVA
Forward P/E 18.7xFY2026 18.8xFY2026 101.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.96FY2026 $13.24FY2026 $0.51FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026 -5.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.1% +6.8% +49.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.27BFY2026 $29.23BFY2026 $1.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.9%FY2026 +8.7%FY2026 +20.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -10.0% -4.0% +31.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersQSRMCDCAVA
Held by institutions 92.2% 74.2% 89.4%
Institutions holding 575 3,475 541
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.5% +0.4% -6.7%
Institutions buying 319 1,535 245
Institutions selling 165 1,486 209
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.03 1.17

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.

QSRMCDCAVA
QSR 1.00 0.38 0.26
MCD 0.38 1.00 0.18
CAVA 0.26 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, QSR, MCD and CAVA?

Mcdonalds (MCD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Restaurant Brands International (QSR) $25.91B, Mcdonalds (MCD) $177.61B, Cava (CAVA) $6.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, QSR, MCD and CAVA?

Mcdonalds (MCD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 20.4x, Mcdonalds (MCD) 20.2x, Cava (CAVA) 102.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) is cheapest (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 18.7x, Mcdonalds (MCD) 18.8x, Cava (CAVA) 101.7x). 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: Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +6.5%, Mcdonalds (MCD) +6.3%, Cava (CAVA) +12.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mcdonalds (MCD) has the highest net margin (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 13.1%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 31.7%, Cava (CAVA) 5.0%). 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: Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +9.8%, Mcdonalds (MCD) -19.5%, Cava (CAVA) -17.6%. Over five years, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) compounded fastest (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) +5.4%/yr, Mcdonalds (MCD) +0.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mcdonalds (MCD) has been the steadiest (Restaurant Brands International (QSR) 24.9%, Mcdonalds (MCD) 19.9%, Cava (CAVA) 59.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.