What is Starbucks's free cash flow margin?

Starbucks (SBUX) reported free cash flow margin of 7.1% in Q1 2026.

What does free cash flow margin mean?

How much real, spendable cash each sales dollar generates after reinvestment.

How do you interpret free cash flow margin?

A high and rising FCF margin is the hallmark of a cash-generative business. Persistent gaps between net margin and FCF margin warrant a look at working capital or capital intensity.

How does free cash flow margin compare across companies?

Strong cross-company quality signal; capital-light compounders post structurally higher FCF margins than asset-heavy peers.

Starbucks SBUX Free cash flow margin

Free cash flow margin at other companies

McDonald'sMCD

25.6%-0.4pp

Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG

12.4%-0.5pp

Keurig Dr PepperKDP

9.3%-2.4pp

Restaurant Brands InternationalQSR

16.3%+2.2pp

Casey's General StoresCASY

3.9%+0.6pp

PepsiCoPEP

9.3%+1.3pp

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$9.5B+8.8%

Operating income$828.1M+37.8%

Net income$510.9M+33.0%

EPS (diluted)$0.45+32.4%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$1.5B-42.7%

Total debt$24.4B-6.2%

Total equity-$8.5B-11.1%

Total assets$30.6B-3.4%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$364.5M+24.8%

CapEx$272.7M-53.7%

Free cash flow$91.8M—

Valuation

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Market cap$114.71B-8.4%

Enterprise value$137.57B-7.3%

P/E76.7×+36.7×

P/S3×-0.5×

Profitability

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Gross margin72.3%—

Operating margin7.6%-4.9pp

Net margin3.9%-4.7pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity136.5%—

Debt / equity7.8×—

Current ratio0.9×+0.3×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Starbucks’s reported figures.

free cash flow/total revenue=7.1%

Based on trailing twelve months.

The official record: Starbucks’s 10-Q, filed April 28, 2026, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

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Questions, answered.

What is Starbucks's free cash flow margin?: Starbucks (SBUX) reported free cash flow margin of 7.1% in Q1 2026.
What does free cash flow margin mean?: How much real, spendable cash each sales dollar generates after reinvestment.
How do you interpret free cash flow margin?: A high and rising FCF margin is the hallmark of a cash-generative business. Persistent gaps between net margin and FCF margin warrant a look at working capital or capital intensity.
How does free cash flow margin compare across companies?: Strong cross-company quality signal; capital-light compounders post structurally higher FCF margins than asset-heavy peers.