Darden shares slip as Olive Garden growth and outlook miss
What's new: LongHorn same-store sales jumped 9.5%, but Darden's fiscal 2027 earnings forecast trailed Wall Street estimates.
Darden Restaurants posted mixed fourth-quarter results Thursday as weaker-than-expected sales growth at Olive Garden and its fine-dining chains overshadowed an earnings beat and pushed the stock down more than 1% in morning trading. Adjusted earnings came in at $3.66 a share for the quarter ended May 31, topping LSEG estimates of $3.63, while revenue of $3.72 billion was just below expectations. Companywide same-store sales rose 4.6%, above estimates, helped by a 9.5% gain at LongHorn Steakhouse. But Olive Garden's same-store sales increased only 2.4%, missing forecasts of 3.2%, and fine-dining growth of 1.9% also fell short. Darden projected fiscal 2027 sales of $13.60 billion to $13.75 billion and earnings per share of $11.10 to $11.35, below Wall Street's $11.40 view at the top end.