Darden Restaurants, Inc. · DRI · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q4 2025

Darden demand held up, but cost pressure still clouds margin durability

Darden's resilient demand, unit growth and delivery expansion support the growth case, but the evidence is mixed on durability: pricing below inflation and beef, labor and regional pressures continue to challenge margins.

Reported Before market openNYSEConsumer Cyclical $22.61B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $2.08 Consensus $2.10
EPS surprise -1.0% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $3.10B Consensus $3.08B
Revenue surprise +0.9% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +1.8% Event window
SPY move +0.8% Same window
Abnormal move +1.0% Stock minus SPY
Volume 3.2× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +8.3% Up to 20 sessions
DRISPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

The current analysis highlights strong sales across all brands, a 4% fully incremental first-party delivery mix, accelerated lighter-portion rollout, increased capex and 65–70 planned openings. Guidance was maintained, while pricing is expected to move closer to inflation in the back half.

Guidance delta

Management maintained FY2026 guidance; the supplied analysis says sales growth and EPS remain on target.

Key takeaways

  • Total sales rose 7% year over year, with same-restaurant sales growth across all segments despite elevated beef costs.
  • First-party delivery via Uber Direct reached 4% of sales and was described as fully incremental.
  • Olive Garden's lighter-portion rollout was accelerated to all locations by January, with a projected 20–30 basis points of mix impact.
  • Management reaffirmed FY2026 guidance while expecting pricing to move closer to inflation in the back half.

Management priorities

  • Complete the Olive Garden lighter-portion rollout.
  • Expand first-party delivery to additional brands, including Yard House.
  • Open 65–70 new units and fund openings and brand investments with disciplined capex.
  • Use value promotions and limited-time events while adjusting pricing later in the year.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
DRI REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q2 '24 estimate $3B Q2 '24 actual $3B, miss Q3 '24 estimate $3B Q3 '24 actual $3B, miss Q4 '24 estimate $3B Q4 '24 actual $3B, miss Q1 '25 estimate $3B Q1 '25 actual $3B, miss Q4 '25 estimate $3B Q4 '25 actual $3B, beat Q1 '26 estimate $3B Q1 '26 actual $3B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $3B Q2 '26 actual $3B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $3B Q3 '26 actual $3B, beat Q4 '26 estimate $4B Q4 '26 actual $4B, miss Q1 '27 estimate $3B Q2 '27 estimate $3B Q3 '27 estimate $4B Q4 '27 estimate $4B
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy59 ratings
Bullish3864.4%
Neutral2033.9%
Bearish11.7%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$197.41Current
$95Low
$198.28Average
$265High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 2, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Stephens & Co. Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainSep 25, 2026
Mizuho Outperform OutperformMaintainSep 25, 2026
Guggenheim Buy BuyMaintainSep 25, 2026
Freedom Capital Markets Buy BuyMaintainSep 25, 2026
Citigroup Buy BuyMaintainSep 25, 2026
Show 54 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $197.41. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
BernsteinDanilo Gargiulo$230$206.12 +16.5%Sep 25, 2026
Mizuho SecuritiesNick Setyan$245$207.44 +24.1%Sep 25, 2026
Seaport GlobalEric Gonzalez$240$209.02 +21.6%Sep 16, 2026
OppenheimerAnalyst unavailable$245$218.61 +24.1%Sep 15, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$255$209.82 +29.2%Sep 14, 2026
See 138 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Darden Restaurants, Inc., through its various subsidiaries, focuses on the ownership and operation of full-service dining establishments across both the United States and Canada. As of May 29, 2022, the company's extensive portfolio comprised 1,867 directly managed restaurants. These included a significant presence from its flagship brands: 884 Olive Garden outlets, 546 LongHorn Steakhouse locations, 172 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchens, 85 Yard House venues, 62 Capital Grille branches, 45 Seasons 52 restaurants, 42 Bahama Breeze sites, 28 Eddie V's Prime Seafood establishments, and 3 Capital Burger eateries. In addition to its owned operations, Darden also oversees 60 franchised restaurants, specifically 35 Olive Garden units, 18 LongHorn Steakhouse units, 4 Cheddar's Scratch Kitchens, 2 Capital Grille locations, and 1 Bahama Breeze restaurant. The company, which originated in 1968, is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Historical context

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-02T02:06:12.215241+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-02T02:06:12.212118+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-02. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.