Keep in mind that McDonald’s is a franchise. McDonald’s Corporation doesn’t actually own many of the restaurants. (I think they may own much of the real estate to control location selection, but not the buildings and equipment.) They don’t have to have a lot of money tied up in assets. They make their money from fees collected from the franchise owners and from selling various things (food, branded supplies) to the franchises. And even that is going to be shipped directly from the producers of those goods directly to the franchise. So not much inventory. Not much fixed assets. But a brand name that is basically the entire value of the company.
This is one of the few places where my CPA self has to yield to the MBA self in recognizing the shortcomings of accounting based on historical costs.
–Peter