What is McDonald's's operating cash flow?

McDonald's (MCD) reported operating cash flow of $2.41B in Q1 2026.

How has McDonald's's operating cash flow changed year-over-year?

McDonald's's operating cash flow decreased by 0.7% year-over-year, from $2.43B to $2.41B.

What is the long-term trend for McDonald's's operating cash flow?

Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), McDonald's's operating cash flow has grown at a 3.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $9.14B to $10.55B.

What does operating cash flow mean?

Total cash generated by or used in core business operations — the single most important cash flow metric for assessing business health.

McDonald's MCD Operating Cash Flow

Operating Cash Flow at other companies

Wendy'sWEN

$59.39M-30.5%

Nathan's FamousNATH

$2.54M-62.6%

EAT

Brinker InternationalEAT

$232.1M+9.5%

StarbucksSBUX

$364.5M+24.8%

Yum! BrandsYUM

$416M+3.0%

Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG

$651.35M+16.9%

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$6.5B+9.4%

Gross profit$5.8B+9.5%

Operating income$3.0B+11.5%

Net income$2.0B+6.2%

EPS (diluted)$2.78+6.9%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.2B-5.5%

Total debt$54.9B+4.0%

Total equity-$1.3B+62.8%

Total assets$60.0B+6.6%

Cash flow

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CapEx$682.0M+23.8%

Free cash flow$1.7B-7.8%

Valuation

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Market cap$187.96B-8.0%

Enterprise value$241.67B-6.5%

P/E21.7×-2.7×

P/S6.9×-1.0×

Profitability

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Gross margin86.6%—

Operating margin46.3%+1.0pp

Net margin31.6%-0.1pp

FCF margin25.6%-0.4pp

Returns & leverage

See full

Return on equity45.4%—

Debt / equity6.5×—

Current ratio1.1×0.0×

Where this comes from

Reported directly by McDonald's in its filing.

Tagged under the XBRL concept us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.

The official record: McDonald's’s 10-Q, filed May 7, 2026, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

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Questions, answered.

What is McDonald's's operating cash flow?: McDonald's (MCD) reported operating cash flow of $2.41B in Q1 2026.
How has McDonald's's operating cash flow changed year-over-year?: McDonald's's operating cash flow decreased by 0.7% year-over-year, from $2.43B to $2.41B.
What is the long-term trend for McDonald's's operating cash flow?: Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), McDonald's's operating cash flow has grown at a 3.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $9.14B to $10.55B.
What does operating cash flow mean?: Total cash generated by or used in core business operations — the single most important cash flow metric for assessing business health.