Darden Restaurants, Inc. · DRI · FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q1 2026

Darden raises FY2026 outlook as brands and menu innovation drive growth

The quarter supports a constructive operating thesis for Darden: resilient brand demand, menu innovation, off-premise growth, and new-unit development supported a raised outlook. The evidence is not unqualified; commodity costs, consumer sensitivity, and the need to sustain traffic against tougher comparisons remain the main tests.

Reported Before market openNYSEConsumer Cyclical $23.76B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $2.95 Consensus $2.94
EPS surprise +0.3% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $3.35B Consensus $3.33B
Revenue surprise +0.3% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +1.8% Event window
SPY move -0.2% Same window
Abnormal move +2.1% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.5× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -1.6% Up to 20 sessions
DRISPY benchmark

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What changed

Compared with the prior quarter, management moved from maintained to raised guidance. The current analysis also highlights stronger same-restaurant performance, a larger FY2027 opening and capital-spending plan, planned Bahama Breeze conversions, and broader use of AI-enabled operating tools.

Guidance delta

Management raised FY2026 guidance to about 9.5% total sales growth and adjusted EPS of $10.57-$10.67.

Key takeaways

  • Darden said same-restaurant sales grew 4.2% and outperformed the casual-dining benchmark by 540 basis points.
  • Olive Garden menu innovation, LongHorn execution, off-premise and catering, and new restaurants were identified as growth drivers.
  • Beef-cost coverage and moderated commodity inflation helped address margin risk, but consumer and cost pressures remain relevant.

Management priorities

  • Open 75-80 new restaurants in FY2027.
  • Convert 14 Bahama Breeze locations to other Darden brands.
  • Invest about $850 million in FY2027 capital expenditures across openings, conversions, technology, and refresh.
  • Expand lighter-portion menu concepts and AI tools for forecasting, scheduling, and back-office efficiency.

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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. 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

$207.24Previous close
$95Low
$197.52Average
$265High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Sep 25, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

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

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
TD Cowen Hold HoldMaintainSep 24, 2026
Freedom Capital Markets Buy BuyMaintainSep 21, 2026
Oppenheimer Outperform OutperformMaintainSep 15, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainSep 14, 2026
Stephens & Co. Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainSep 11, 2026
Show 54 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $207.24. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Seaport GlobalEric Gonzalez$240$209.02 +15.8%Sep 16, 2026
OppenheimerAnalyst unavailable$245$218.61 +18.2%Sep 15, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$255$209.82 +23.0%Sep 14, 2026
StephensAnalyst unavailable$220$207.65 +6.2%Sep 11, 2026
Deutsche BankAnalyst unavailable$245$215.36 +18.2%Sep 1, 2026
See 136 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 · 2026-09-25T09:51:03.417994+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-25T09:51:03.415148+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 2026-09-25. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.