Darden Restaurants rise after annual sales forecast raise

Shares of Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants DRI.N rise as much as 3% to $206.75 in early trading

Darden expects fiscal year 2026 same-restaurant sales to grow 4.5%, compared with its prior forecast of 3.5% to 4.3%

Narrows EPS forecast to between $10.57 and $10.67, largely above estimates of $10.57

Quarterly sales rose 5.9% to $3.34 billion, roughly in line with expectations, with same-store sales rising across segments

Analysts at TD Cowen said they are encouraged by forecast raise as it signals boost in fourth quarter

However, co misses Q3 profit estimates - data compiled by LSEG

Up to last close, stock has risen ~9% YTD