Free cash flow
McDonald's Free cash flow increased by 5.6% to $1.73B in Q1 2026 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric declined by 7.8%, from $1.88B to $1.73B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows relatively stable performance with a 0.3% CAGR. This is a positive signal — higher values indicate stronger performance for this metric.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase suggests strong operational efficiency and the ability to self-fund future innovation or return capital to shareholders, while a decrease may indicate heavy capital expenditure cycles or declining operational profitability.
Detailed definition
Free cash flow represents the cash generated by a company after accounting for cash outflows to support operations and m...
Peer comparison
High-growth semiconductor and AI infrastructure peers typically prioritize reinvestment, so free cash flow margins are often compared against R&D intensity and capital expenditure requirements of industry rivals.
free_cash_flowHistorical Data
| Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q3 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | Q1 '26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $1.25B | $2.12B | $1.98B | $1.73B | $180.20M | $1.90B | $1.67B | $1.92B | $1.15B | $2.46B | $1.73B | $1.84B | $1.06B | $1.94B | $1.83B | $1.88B | $1.25B | $2.42B | $1.64B | $1.73B |
| QoQ Change | — | +69.2% | -6.5% | -12.5% | -89.6% | +955.9% | -12.1% | +14.6% | -40.2% | +114.4% | -29.6% | +6.5% | -42.4% | +83.0% | -6.0% | +2.8% | -33.2% | +92.7% | -32.2% | +5.6% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | -85.6% | -10.1% | -15.5% | +10.7% | +536.4% | +29.2% | +3.5% | -3.9% | -7.5% | -21.0% | +5.5% | +1.8% | +18.2% | +24.5% | -10.3% | -7.8% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is McDonald's's free cash flow?
- McDonald's (MCD) reported free cash flow of $1.73B in Q1 2026.
- How has McDonald's's free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- McDonald's's free cash flow decreased by 7.8% year-over-year, from $1.88B to $1.73B.
- What is the long-term trend for McDonald's's free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), McDonald's's free cash flow has grown at a 0.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $7.10B to $7.19B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.