McDonald's vs NVIDIA: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
McDonald's reported $26.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $8.6B of net income. NVIDIA reported $215.9B of revenue in FY2026 and $120.1B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
McDonald's
- Latest revenue
- $26.9B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $8.6B
- Net margin
- 31.9%
- Revenue growth
- +1.0% a year, FY2016–FY2025
NVIDIA
- Latest revenue
- $215.9B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $120.1B
- Net margin
- 55.6%
- Revenue growth
- +46.6% a year, FY2017–FY2026
Financial summary
McDonald's
McDonald's corporate revenue ($26.885 billion in 2025, up 3.7%) is a fraction of the roughly $139 billion that customers spend across the system, because franchised restaurant sales are not booked as company revenue. What the company does book is mostly franchise rent and royalties, which explains net income of $8.563 billion in 2025 and operating margins well above typical restaurant operators. In Q2 2026, revenue rose 4% (2% in constant currency) to about $7.1 billion, diluted EPS was $3.32 ($3.38 adjusted), and systemwide sales grew 5% to $37 billion. The company returns most free cash flow through dividends, which it has raised every year since 1976, and share buybacks.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA's revenue rose from $27.0B in fiscal 2023 to $60.9B in FY2024, $130.5B in FY2025 and $215.9B in FY2026, which ended January 25, 2026. FY2026 net income was $120.1B. Growth sped up again in fiscal 2027: Q1 revenue was $81.6B and Q2 (ended July 26, 2026) was $96.2B, up 106% year over year, with a 75.0% gross margin and $59.7B GAAP net income. Guidance for Q3 FY2027 is $108.0B, plus or minus 2%, and assumes no Data Center compute revenue from China. NVIDIA returned about $26.0B to shareholders in Q2. In May 2026 it raised the quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.01, and on September 28, 2026 it added $150B to its buyback authorization.
Revenue and profit by year
McDonald's
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $26.9B | $8.6B | 31.9% | +3.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $25.9B | $8.2B | 31.7% | +1.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $25.5B | $8.5B | 33.2% | +10.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $23.2B | $6.2B | 26.6% | -0.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $23.2B | $7.5B | 32.5% | +20.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $19.2B | $4.7B | 24.6% | -10.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $21.4B | $6B | 28.2% | +0.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $21.3B | $5.9B | 27.9% | -6.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $22.8B | $5.2B | 22.8% | -7.3% | Source |
| FY2016 | $24.6B | $4.7B | 19.0% | — | Source |
NVIDIA
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $215.9B | $120.1B | 55.6% | +65.5% | Source |
| FY2025 | $130.5B | $72.9B | 55.8% | +114.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $60.9B | $29.8B | 48.8% | +125.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $27B | $4.4B | 16.2% | +0.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $26.9B | $9.8B | 36.2% | +61.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $16.7B | $4.3B | 26.0% | +52.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $10.9B | $2.8B | 25.6% | -6.8% | Source |
| FY2019 | $11.7B | $4.1B | 35.3% | +20.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $9.7B | $3B | 31.4% | +40.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $6.9B | $1.7B | 24.1% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
McDonald's
- Franchise rent and royalties~45%
Franchise rent and royalties
- Company-operated restaurants~25%
Company-operated restaurants
- Licensing and delivery economics~15%
Licensing and delivery economics
NVIDIA
- Data CenterDominant
GPU accelerators, AI systems, networking, and software for cloud, enterprise, and supercomputing customers.
- GamingMaterial
GeForce GPUs and gaming-platform products for PC gamers, creators, and consumer AI PCs.
- Professional Visualization
Complementary
Workstation GPUs, visualization, simulation, and Omniverse-related products.
- AutomotiveGrowth
Automotive compute, software, and autonomous-driving platforms.
- Software And ServicesGrowth
Enterprise AI software, cloud services, libraries, and platform subscriptions layered on hardware.
Business model and strategy
McDonald's
How it makes money
About 95% of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees or developmental licensees. The corporation makes money in three main ways: (1) rent, because it owns or leases the land and buildings at many franchised sites and charges franchisees rent, often tied to a percentage of sales; (2) royalties, a percentage of each restaurant's monthly sales;
Growth strategy
McDonald's growth plan, branded Accelerating the Arches, rests on marketing, core menu (burgers, chicken, coffee), and the 3 D's: digital, delivery, and drive-thru. The company targets roughly 50,000 restaurants worldwide by the end of 2027, with China, other developmental licensed markets, and the U.S. contributing the largest number of openings.
Competitive advantage
McDonald's advantage is scale that rivals cannot easily copy: more than 45,000 restaurants, control of prime real estate at many franchised sites, a long-tenured franchisee base that funds most store capital, and a supply chain that buys beef, potatoes, chicken, and packaging at volumes few chains match.
NVIDIA
How it makes money
NVIDIA is a fabless chip and systems company: it designs GPUs, CPUs, networking and software, and outsources manufacturing mainly to TSMC. Data Center is the core business, at $193.7B of FY2026 revenue (about 90%) and $89.0B of the $96.2B earned in Q2 FY2027.
Growth strategy
NVIDIA wants to sell the whole AI factory, not just accelerators. It ships a new architecture roughly every year: Blackwell, then Blackwell Ultra, then Vera Rubin, which reached full production in mid-2026. Each rack combines GPUs, Vera CPUs, NVLink, Spectrum-6 switches and BlueField DPUs.
Competitive advantage
NVIDIA's lead comes from three things working together. CUDA has been in use since 2006 and much of the AI software stack is tuned for it. NVIDIA sells full systems that tie compute, NVLink and networking into one rack. Its scale also gets it priority access to TSMC wafers and high-bandwidth memory.
Questions about McDonald's vs NVIDIA
Which company has higher revenue — McDonald's Corporation or NVIDIA Corporation?
McDonald's Corporation reported $26.9B (FY2025), while NVIDIA Corporation reported $215.9B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, NVIDIA Corporation is the larger business, with McDonald's Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of McDonald's Corporation vs NVIDIA Corporation?
McDonald's Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $175.7B, while NVIDIA Corporation's is $5.45T. NVIDIA Corporation carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to McDonald's Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — McDonald's Corporation or NVIDIA Corporation?
McDonald's Corporation generates $179k / employee in revenue per employee, while NVIDIA Corporation generates $5.14M / employee. NVIDIA Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do McDonald's Corporation and NVIDIA Corporation make money?
McDonald's Corporation and NVIDIA Corporation generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. McDonald's Corporation: About 95% of McDonald's restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees or developmental licensees. NVIDIA Corporation: NVIDIA is a fabless chip and systems company: it designs GPUs, CPUs, networking and software, and outsources manufacturing mainly to TSMC.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — McDonald's Corporation or NVIDIA Corporation?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, McDonald's Corporation trades at 6.5x P/S and NVIDIA Corporation at 25.2x P/S. NVIDIA Corporation commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to McDonald's Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is McDonald's Corporation bigger than NVIDIA Corporation?
By last reported revenue, NVIDIA Corporation ($215.9B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to McDonald's Corporation ($26.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the McDonald's vs NVIDIA overview