Deferred Revenue
McDonald's Deferred Revenue increased by 1.0% to $945.00M in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 21.5%, from $778.00M to $945.00M. Over 5 years (FY 2020 to FY 2025), Deferred Revenue shows an upward trend with a 6.1% CAGR. This is a positive signal — higher values indicate stronger performance for this metric.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase suggests strong sales of subscription-based services or bundled offerings, providing a predictable pipeline for future revenue recognition.
Detailed definition
Represents cash payments received from customers in advance of the company fulfilling its performance obligations, speci...
Peer comparison
High-growth software and services companies typically maintain larger deferred revenue balances relative to pure hardware manufacturers.
deferred_revenue_currentHistorical Data
| Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $714.90M | $720.10M | $738.30M | $743.00M | $733.00M | $727.80M | $757.80M | $760.50M | $769.10M | $790.10M | $784.00M | $791.00M | $800.00M | $778.00M | $914.00M | $933.00M | $936.00M | $945.00M |
| QoQ Change | — | +0.7% | +2.5% | +0.6% | -1.3% | -0.7% | +4.1% | +0.4% | +1.1% | +2.7% | -0.8% | +0.9% | +1.1% | -2.8% | +17.5% | +2.1% | +0.3% | +1.0% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | +2.5% | +1.1% | +2.6% | +2.4% | +4.9% | +4.3% | +3.1% | +2.8% | — | -1.5% | +16.6% | +18.0% | +17.0% | +21.5% |
Deferred Revenue at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is McDonald's's deferred revenue?
- McDonald's (MCD) reported deferred revenue of $945.00M in Q4 2025.
- How has McDonald's's deferred revenue changed year-over-year?
- McDonald's's deferred revenue increased by 21.5% year-over-year, from $778.00M to $945.00M.
- What is the long-term trend for McDonald's's deferred revenue?
- Over 5 years (2020 to 2025), McDonald's's deferred revenue has grown at a 6.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $702.00M to $945.00M.
- What does deferred revenue mean?
- Money collected from customers for products or services that haven't been delivered yet but will be within a year.