Darden Restaurants Sees Handy Gain on Strong Sales, Rosy Outlook
Darden Restaurants released better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday.
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Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) released its fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. The company said that it had $0.73 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.88 billion in revenue, which compares with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.70 in EPS and revenue of $1.85 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.64 and $1.64 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, blended same-restaurant sales from Darden’s legacy brands increased 3.1%. The best performer of the group was Eddie V’s, which saw same-restaurant sales increase by 6.8%.
For the fiscal 2018 full year, the company expects to see same-restaurant sales growth of roughly 2%, total sales growth of 13% and EPS in the range of $4.45 to $4.53. The consensus estimates call for $4.44 in EPS and $8.04 billion in revenue for the fiscal 2018 full year.
Darden’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $114.7 million at the end of the quarter, down from $233.1 million at the end of the previous fiscal year.
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CEO Gene Lee commented:
Our strong same-restaurant sales and new restaurant growth drove continued market share gains during the quarter. That performance, in addition to our solid earnings growth, is a result of executing on our strategy. Our teams are building guest loyalty at all of our brands through their constant focus on our back-to-basics operating philosophy, which is grounded in food, service and atmosphere.
Excluding Tuesday’s move, Darden had outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up about 25% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up closer to 20%.
Shares of Darden were last seen up about 3.4% at $93.65, with a consensus analyst price target of $89.45 and a 52-week range of $71.02 to $95.22.
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Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
