Who keeps the most
Of every dollar that comes in, McDonald's keeps 46 cents. Apple keeps 32. The burger chain is the more profitable business.
This is operating margin - what is left of each dollar of revenue after the costs of actually running the business. Full-year 2025:
McDonald's 46% - $12.4bn from $26.9bn Apple 32% - $133.1bn from $416.2bn Netflix 30% - $13.3bn from $45.2bn Amazon 11% - $80bn from $716.9bn
The McDonald's number surprises people because they picture the restaurants. McDonald's does not own most of them. About 95% of its 45,356 locations are run by franchisees, who pay rent and a royalty on their sales. Those payments arrive with almost no cost attached, which is why the margin looks like a property company's rather than a restaurant's - and it is roughly what McDonald's is.
That also explains the gap between the two numbers you see about McDonald's. Customers spent more than $139bn across the whole system in 2025. Only $26.9bn of that is McDonald's own revenue. The rest belongs to the franchisees.
Amazon is the mirror image. It sells more than 26 times what McDonald's books in revenue and keeps 11 cents on the dollar, because warehouses, delivery and retail inventory are expensive to run. Most of that profit is AWS, not the shop.
One note on method: this is operating profit, not net profit, on purpose. Net profit for Amazon and Apple swings on investment gains and one-off tax items that have nothing to do with selling anything. Apple's fiscal year ends in September; the other three are calendar years.
