How do Darden Restaurants and McDonald's compare by revenue?

Darden Restaurants reported revenue of $3.1B in Q2 2026, while McDonald's reported $7.0B in Q4 2025. McDonald's is 2.3× larger by last-quarter revenue.

Which is growing revenue faster, Darden Restaurants or McDonald's?

Darden Restaurants's latest revenue grew 7.3% year-over-year, versus 9.7% for McDonald's. McDonald's is growing faster on a YoY basis.

Which has a higher net margin, Darden Restaurants or McDonald's?

Darden Restaurants's net margin is 7.6% vs McDonald's's 30.9%. McDonald's has the higher bottom-line margin.

Which generates more free cash flow, Darden Restaurants or McDonald's?

Darden Restaurants generated $119.8M of free cash flow last quarter, versus $1.6B for McDonald's. Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditure — what's actually left for dividends, buybacks and debt repayment.

What is the 2-year revenue CAGR for Darden Restaurants vs McDonald's?

Over the trailing 8 quarters, Darden Restaurants compounded revenue at roughly 2.1% per year, versus 6.6% for McDonald's. McDonald's has the faster medium-term growth trajectory.

Where does this DRI vs MCD data come from?

All figures are parsed directly from SEC EDGAR 10-Q / 10-K / 20-F / 6-K filings (for US-listed issuers) or EDINET filings (for Japanese issuers), then normalised into a common schema. Numbers update automatically as new filings are released.

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Side-by-side financial comparison of Darden Restaurants (DRI) and McDonald's (MCD), based on the latest 10-Q / 10-K filings. Click either name above to swap in a different company.

McDonald's is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($7.0B vs $3.1B, roughly 2.3× Darden Restaurants). McDonald's runs the higher net margin — 7.6% vs 30.9%, a 23.2% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, McDonald's posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (9.7% vs 7.3%). McDonald's produced more free cash flow last quarter ($1.6B vs $119.8M). Over the past eight quarters, McDonald's's revenue compounded faster (6.6% CAGR vs 2.1%).

Darden RestaurantsDRIEarnings & Financial Report

NYSE · Consumer Discretionary · Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Darden has more than 1,800 restaurant locations and more than 175,000 employees, making it the world's largest full-service restaurant company. The company began as an extension of Red Lobster, founded by William Darden and initially backed by General Mills. Red Lobster was later sold in July 2014.

McDonald'sMCDEarnings & Financial Report

NYSE · Consumer Discretionary · Restaurants

McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain. As of 2024, it is the second-largest by number of locations in the world, behind the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

DRI vs MCD — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue

MCD

2.3× larger

$7.0B

$3.1B

Growing faster (revenue YoY)

MCD

+2.4% gap

9.7%

7.3%

Higher net margin

MCD

23.2% more per $

30.9%

7.6%

More free cash flow

MCD

$1.5B more FCF

$1.6B

$119.8M

Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR

MCD

Annualised

6.6%

2.1%

Income Statement — Q2 2026 vs Q4 2025

Metric	DRI	MCD
Revenue	$3.1B	$7.0B
Net Profit	$237.2M	$2.2B
Gross Margin	18.7%	—
Operating Margin	10.3%	45.0%
Net Margin	7.6%	30.9%
Revenue YoY	7.3%	9.7%
Net Profit YoY	10.3%	7.3%
EPS (diluted)	$2.03	$3.03

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align — see 8-quarter trend below.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history — bar widths are scaled to the larger of the two companies so you can eyeball the size gap and growth trajectory without doing math. Quarters aligned by calendar period (report date) so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$3.1B	$7.0B
Q3 25	$3.0B	$7.1B
Q2 25	$3.3B	$6.8B
Q1 25	$3.2B	$6.0B
Q4 24	$2.9B	$6.4B
Q3 24	$2.8B	$6.9B
Q2 24	$3.0B	$6.5B
Q1 24	$3.0B	$6.2B

Net Profit

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$237.2M	$2.2B
Q3 25	$257.8M	$2.3B
Q2 25	$303.9M	$2.3B
Q1 25	$323.4M	$1.9B
Q4 24	$215.1M	$2.0B
Q3 24	$207.2M	$2.3B
Q2 24	$308.1M	$2.0B
Q1 24	$312.9M	$1.9B

Gross Margin

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	18.7%	—
Q3 25	18.9%	90.6%
Q2 25	22.1%	90.4%
Q1 25	21.1%	89.6%
Q4 24	19.5%	—
Q3 24	18.8%	90.6%
Q2 24	20.9%	90.3%
Q1 24	20.6%	89.8%

Operating Margin

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	10.3%	45.0%
Q3 25	11.1%	47.4%
Q2 25	11.7%	47.2%
Q1 25	13.2%	44.5%
Q4 24	10.1%	44.9%
Q3 24	9.8%	46.4%
Q2 24	13.4%	45.0%
Q1 24	13.0%	44.4%

Net Margin

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	7.6%	30.9%
Q3 25	8.5%	32.2%
Q2 25	9.3%	32.9%
Q1 25	10.2%	31.4%
Q4 24	7.4%	31.6%
Q3 24	7.5%	32.8%
Q2 24	10.4%	31.2%
Q1 24	10.5%	31.3%

EPS (diluted)

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$2.03	$3.03
Q3 25	$2.19	$3.18
Q2 25	$2.56	$3.14
Q1 25	$2.74	$2.60
Q4 24	$1.82	$2.80
Q3 24	$1.74	$3.13
Q2 24	$2.56	$2.80
Q1 24	$2.60	$2.66

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest filing — the kind of financial-strength check premium terminals charge for.

Metric	DRI	MCD
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand	$224.1M	$774.0M
Total DebtLower is stronger	$2.1B	$40.0B
Stockholders' EquityBook value	$2.1B	$-1.8B
Total Assets	$12.9B	$59.5B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage	1.03×	—

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years match up.

Cash + ST Investments

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$224.1M	$774.0M
Q3 25	$211.0M	$2.4B
Q2 25	$240.0M	$1.9B
Q1 25	$224.2M	$1.2B
Q4 24	$217.3M	$1.1B
Q3 24	$192.5M	$1.2B
Q2 24	$194.8M	$792.0M
Q1 24	$243.9M	$838.0M

Total Debt

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$2.1B	$40.0B
Q3 25	$2.1B	—
Q2 25	$2.1B	—
Q1 25	$2.1B	—
Q4 24	$2.1B	$38.4B
Q3 24	$1.4B	—
Q2 24	$1.4B	—
Q1 24	$1.4B	—

Stockholders' Equity

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$2.1B	$-1.8B
Q3 25	$2.2B	$-2.2B
Q2 25	$2.3B	$-2.8B
Q1 25	$2.2B	$-3.5B
Q4 24	$2.1B	$-3.8B
Q3 24	$2.1B	$-5.2B
Q2 24	$2.2B	$-4.8B
Q1 24	$2.2B	$-4.8B

Total Assets

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$12.9B	$59.5B
Q3 25	$12.8B	$60.6B
Q2 25	$12.6B	$59.6B
Q1 25	$12.6B	$56.3B
Q4 24	$12.5B	$55.2B
Q3 24	$11.4B	$56.2B
Q2 24	$11.3B	$53.8B
Q1 24	$11.4B	$53.5B

Debt / Equity

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	1.03×	—
Q3 25	0.96×	—
Q2 25	0.92×	—
Q1 25	0.96×	—
Q4 24	1.02×	—
Q3 24	0.65×	—
Q2 24	0.61×	—
Q1 24	0.63×	—

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Net income can be massaged; cash flow is harder to fake.

Metric	DRI	MCD
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter	$320.7M	$2.7B
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex	$119.8M	$1.6B
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue	3.9%	23.4%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue; lower = less reinvestment burden	6.5%	15.1%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit; >1× = earnings back up with cash	1.35×	1.25×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters	$1.0B	$7.2B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years match up.

Operating Cash Flow

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$320.7M	$2.7B
Q3 25	$342.5M	$3.4B
Q2 25	$457.0M	$2.0B
Q1 25	$588.2M	$2.4B
Q4 24	$388.6M	$2.6B
Q3 24	$273.2M	$2.7B
Q2 24	$426.0M	$1.7B
Q1 24	$585.8M	$2.4B

Free Cash Flow

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	$119.8M	$1.6B
Q3 25	$168.4M	$2.4B
Q2 25	$285.0M	$1.3B
Q1 25	$430.1M	$1.9B
Q4 24	$219.3M	$1.8B
Q3 24	$128.0M	$1.9B
Q2 24	$285.6M	$1.1B
Q1 24	$437.4M	$1.8B

FCF Margin

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	3.9%	23.4%
Q3 25	5.5%	34.1%
Q2 25	8.7%	18.3%
Q1 25	13.6%	31.5%
Q4 24	7.6%	28.6%
Q3 24	4.6%	28.3%
Q2 24	9.7%	16.3%
Q1 24	14.7%	29.9%

Capex Intensity

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	6.5%	15.1%
Q3 25	5.7%	14.3%
Q2 25	5.3%	10.9%
Q1 25	5.0%	9.3%
Q4 24	5.9%	12.6%
Q3 24	5.3%	11.6%
Q2 24	4.7%	9.7%
Q1 24	5.0%	8.9%

Cash Conversion

DRI

MCD

Q4 25	1.35×	1.25×
Q3 25	1.33×	1.50×
Q2 25	1.50×	0.89×
Q1 25	1.82×	1.30×
Q4 24	1.81×	1.30×
Q3 24	1.32×	1.21×
Q2 24	1.38×	0.84×
Q1 24	1.87×	1.24×

Financial Flow Comparison

Sankey diagram of revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company. Charts shown full-width and stacked so both segment hierarchies are readable side-by-side on desktop and mobile.