Olive Garden Italian restaurant sign showing company logo, Spokane Valley, Washington, owned by Darden Restaurants Incorporated headquartered in Florida.
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Darden Restaurants on Thursday reported mixed quarterly results as Olive Garden’s same-store sales fell for the second consecutive quarter.
For fiscal 2025, Darden is forecasting that its same-store sales will grow just 1% to 2%.
Shares of the company rose more than 1% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting for the quarter ended May 26, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $2.65 adjusted vs. $2.61 expected
- Revenue: $2.96 billion vs. $2.97 billion expected
Darden reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $308.1 million, or $2.57 per share, down from $315.1 million, or $2.58 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding costs related to the Ruth’s Chris acquisition and other items, the company earned $2.65 per share.
Net sales rose 6.8% to $2.96 billion, fueled by its acquisition of Ruth’s Chris Steak House and 37 other net new locations.
Looking to fiscal 2025, Darden is forecasting earnings per share from continuing operations of $9.40 to $9.60, in line with Wall Street’s expectations of $9.55 per share. The company is also anticipating net sales of $11.8 billion to $11.9 billion, on the low end of analysts’ expectations of $11.94 billion.
Darden is projecting same-store sales growth of 1% to 2% in fiscal 2025 and total inflation of 3%. The company plans to spend $550 million to $600 million on capital expenditures.