McDonald's Real Estate: How They Really Make Their Money (2015)
One of the core arguments of article is misleading, since it claims McDonald's is a real estate company based on the share of Net Income coming from owned versus franchised restaurants.  The share of Net Income is a misleading comparison, because 
(1)it fails to account for the cost of capital associated in owning real estate
(2) over 85% of McDonalds are franchised, the remaining 15% produce all of that income, so even on this misleading basis of just considering net income, the profits are more balanced than the article makes it appear.<p>- percent franchised vs owned <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/03/what-percentage-of-mcdonalds-restaurants-are-owned.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/03/what-perce...</a><p>- quote from article that is misleading"Of that $18.2 billion generated by company-operated stores in 2014, the corporation keeps just $2.9 billion. Of the $9.2 billion coming from franchisees, the corporation keeps $7.6 billion."