Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI), the parent company of popular chains like Olive Garden, reported mixed financial results for its fourth quarter on June 25, 2026. The company operates in the competitive full-service restaurant industry. The news caused Darden Restaurants' shares to slide more than 3% in premarket trading as investors reacted.
On the positive side, Darden Restaurants announced an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.66, which surpassed the consensus analyst estimate of $3.63. This marks a notable increase from the $2.98 per share reported in the same quarter a year ago and represents the first EPS beat in the last four quarters.
The company's revenue for the quarter was approximately $3.72 billion, falling just short of the analyst expectation of $3.73 billion. While this was a miss of 0.42%, the figure still represents a significant 13.7% climb from the $3.27 billion in revenue from the prior year, partly due to an extra week.
Despite overall same-store sales rising 4.6%, growth at the key Olive Garden brand and its fine-dining restaurants fell short of expectations, as highlighted by CNBC. Furthermore, the company's forecast for its fiscal 2027 earnings and revenue came in on the lower end of Wall Street's projections.
In a move to return value to shareholders, Darden Restaurants announced an increased quarterly dividend and a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program. The company's financial structure includes a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.74, which indicates its reliance on debt to finance its assets relative to shareholder equity.
