10:15 AM EDT, 06/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) expects results in fiscal 2025 to be higher than the previous year, even though the company's fourth-quarter revenue and same-restaurant sales missed market estimates.

Per-share earnings are set to be in between $9.40 and $9.60 for the ongoing fiscal full year, while sales are pegged at $11.8 billion to $11.9 billion, the parent company of Olive Garden ( DRI ) and LongHorn Steakhouse said Thursday. The consensus on Capital IQ is for GAAP EPS of $9.59 and revenue $11.88 billion. In the just ended fiscal year, EPS grew 6.6% to $8.53 and sales increased 8.6% to $11.39 billion.

"We had a strong year by staying disciplined, being brilliant with the basics, and controlling what we could control," Chief Executive Rick Cardenas said in a statement. "This enabled us to exceed the high end of the EPS range we provided at the beginning of the fiscal year despite weakening conditions that emerged in the back half of the year."

Same-restaurant sales are expected to grow by 1% to 2% for fiscal 2025, while the Street is looking for a gain of 1.7%. In fiscal 2024, same-restaurant sales rose 1.6%. Darden plans to open about 45 to 50 restaurants during the year.

"We view (fiscal 2025) guidance as solid, given an uncertain macro backdrop with slowed restaurant spending and increased competitive discounts," Truist Securities said in a client note. The brokerage has a buy rating on Darden's stock and a price target of $185.

The company posted adjusted EPS of $2.65 for the quarter ended May 26, up from $2.58 the year before, topping the Street's view for $2.61. Sales inclined 6.8% to $2.96 billion, just shy of analysts' $2.97 billion forecast.

"Despite sales results that were weaker than we anticipated, earnings exceeded our initial expectations for the year," Chief Financial Officer Raj Vennam said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. "Strong cost management by our teams and easing commodities and labor inflation drove this earnings outperformance."

Same-restaurant sales were flat for the three-month period, trailing the market consensus for a 0.3% increase. Same-restaurant sales declined 1.5% for Olive Garden ( DRI ) and moved 4% higher at LongHorn Steakhouse. The fine dining segment fell 2.6%.

Price: 152.90, Change: +0.94, Percent Change: +0.62