Darden Restaurants stock slips premarket despite Q4 earnings beat

Investing.com -- Shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. fell in premarket trading Thursday despite the casual-dining operator posting a quarterly earnings beat and issuing fiscal 2027 guidance that topped Wall Street estimates.

Darden, which operates 2,202 company-owned restaurants including Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.66 for its fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, three cents above the analyst consensus of $3.63. Revenue came in at $3.72 billion against an estimate of $3.73 billion.

The quarter included a 53rd week of operations compared with 52 weeks in the prior year. That extra week contributed $0.25 to both reported and adjusted diluted EPS figures.

Total sales rose 13.7% from a year earlier, driven by the additional week, a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.6%, and 43 net new restaurant openings.

By brand, same-restaurant sales grew 9.5% at LongHorn Steakhouse, 4.6% in Other Business, 2.4% at Olive Garden, and 1.9% in Fine Dining. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 22.8% from a year earlier.

For the full fiscal year, Darden reported total sales of $13.21 billion, a 9.4% increase, with blended same-restaurant sales up 4.5%. Adjusted diluted EPS for the year was $10.64, an increase of 11.4%.

For fiscal 2027, the company projected total sales of $13.60 billion to $13.75 billion and diluted EPS from continuing operations of $11.10 to $11.35, well above the consensus estimates of $13.22 billion in revenue and $10.62 in EPS.

The company also forecast same-restaurant sales growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, 75 to 80 new restaurant openings, and EBITDA of $2.26 billion to $2.29 billion. Total capital spending is expected to be approximately $875 million, with total inflation of approximately 3.0%.

The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.62 per share, an 8.0% increase from the prior quarter, payable Aug. 3, 2026, to shareholders of record as of July 10, 2026.

Directors also authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $1.5 billion with no expiration date, replacing a prior authorization. During the quarter, DRI repurchased approximately 0.7 million shares for $138 million.

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