FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Hardee's vs MCDONALD'S

Side-by-side figures from each brand's latest FDD Item 20 as we extracted them; verdicts are our opinion under the published methodology, and the source filing and year are on each brand's profile. Green marks the more favorable metric (lower for distress), not a recommendation to buy.

Hardee's
Proven & steady
MCDONALD'S
Proven & steady
Verdict
Units · latest run
-15.3% (2022–2026)
Net unit change
+0.2% (2021–2023)
Fair
Exit quality
Strong
Strong
Transfer / churn
Weak
1.5× expected (19 of 83)
SBA losses vs same-year loans
Too few seasoned loans
—
Distress
—
$25,000
Franchise fee
$45,000
$1.4M–$2.6M
Investment range
$1.5M–$2.6M
4%
Royalty
5%
Disclosed
Earnings (Item 19)
Disclosed

Hardee's

MCDONALD'S

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