Overview

* Darden fiscal Q1 2026 revenue rises 10.4% yr/yr

* Adjusted EPS for fiscal Q1 increases 12.6% but misses analyst expectations, per LSEG data

* Same-restaurant sales grow 4.7%, driven by Olive Garden ( DRI ) and LongHorn Steakhouse

Outlook

* Company expects fiscal 2026 sales growth of 7.5% to 8.5%

* Darden forecasts same-restaurant sales growth of 2.5% to 3.5%

* Company plans 65 new restaurant openings in fiscal 2026

* Darden projects fiscal 2026 EPS of $10.50 to $10.70

Result Drivers

* SALES GROWTH - Driven by 4.7% increase in same-restaurant sales and acquisition of 103 Chuys Tex Mex restaurants

* OLIVE GARDEN ( DRI ) & LONGHORN - Olive Garden ( DRI ) and LongHorn Steakhouse led same-restaurant sales growth with 5.9% and 5.5% increases respectively

* STRATEGIC FOCUS - CEO attributes strong performance to strategic focus and leveraging competitive advantages

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q1 Sales Beat $3.04 $3.04

bln bln (24

Analysts

)

Q1 Net $257.80

Income mln

Q1 Miss $1.97 $2 (27

Adjusted Analysts

EPS )

continui

ng

operatio

ns

Q1 EPS $2.19

continui

ng

operatio

ns

Q1 4.7%

Same-res

taurant

sales

growth

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 19 "strong buy" or "buy", 12 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the restaurants & bars peer group is "buy"

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Darden Restaurants Inc ( DRI ) is $235.00, about 11.2% above its September 17 closing price of $208.79

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)