An Olive Garden restaurant in Times Square in Latest York
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Darden Restaurants on Friday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street’s expectations, as consumers continued to eat out despite pressure from inflation.
The corporate also raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2023 to a variety of $10.3 billion to $10.45 billion from its previous range of $10.2 billion to $10.4 billion.
Here’s what the corporate reported for the fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 27, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $1.52 adjusted vs. $1.44 expected.
- Revenue: $2.49 billion vs. $2.43 billion expected.
Darden’s total sales rose 9.4% compared with the identical quarter last 12 months.
Darden also said its total expenses jumped to $2.25 billion from $2.03 billion a 12 months earlier, driven primarily by higher food, beverage and labor costs.
CEO Rick Cardenas said in the corporate’s earnings release he’s pleased with the corporate’s results this quarter and said all of their brands “performed at a high level,” saying that the corporate “surpassed $10 billion in sales on a trailing 52-week basis for the primary time in Darden’s history.”
Olive Garden, which accounts for nearly half of Darden’s revenue, saw same-store sales increase 7.6%, while overall same-store sales rose 7.3% for the corporate. The corporate saw the same increase of seven.3% for LongHorn Steakhouse, its second biggest brand.
Darden also said it had 1,887 locations open as of the top of the quarter, compared with 1,852 last 12 months.
Read the total earnings report here.
It is a developing story. Check back for updates.
