Darden Restaurants Q3 sales slightly beat expectations, helped by new restaurant openings
Overview
U.S. restaurant operator's fiscal Q3 sales rose 5.9%, slightly beating analyst expectations
Adjusted EPS from continuing operations for fiscal Q3 rose 5.4%, beating analyst expectations
Company repurchased $127 mln of its shares during the quarter
Outlook
Darden sees fiscal 2026 total sales growth of about 9.5%, including 2% from 53rd week
Company expects fiscal 2026 same-restaurant sales growth of about 4.5%
Darden forecasts fiscal 2026 adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of $10.57 to $10.67
Result Drivers
SAME-RESTAURANT SALES GROWTH - Co said blended same-restaurant sales rose 4.2%, with LongHorn Steakhouse up 7.2% and Olive Garden up 3.2%
NEW RESTAURANT OPENINGS - Sales growth also driven by 31 net new restaurants added over the past year
Company press release: ID:nPnbtN06Xa
Key Details
Metric | Beat/Miss | Actual | Consensus Estimate |
Q3 Sales | Slight Beat* | $3.35 bln | $3.33 bln (26 Analysts) |
Q3 Net Income |
| $306.80 mln |
|
Q3 Adjusted EPS continuing operations | Beat | $2.95 | $2.94 (28 Analysts) |
Q3 EPS continuing operations |
| $2.68 |
|
Q3 Same-restaurant sales growth |
| 4.20% |
|
*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.
For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.
