Yum Brands is at ~20% profit margins, Shake Shack is at 3% or less profit margins, and QSR is at 10% to 15% profit margins.

There must be a reason McDonalds earns so much more. As far as I understand, McDonald’s has a significant real estate component to its business (which is technically selling its brand/real estate to franchisors, not selling food), bolstered by its very strong brand with loyal customers (that the others don’t).

https://www.mashed.com/178309/how-much-mcdonalds-franchise-o...

> The cost of running a business, especially a restaurant, can really eat into its profits. At the end of the day, McDonald's only keeps around 16 percent of the revenue its company-owned stores make, but it keeps 82 percent of the revenue franchisees pay out to it.