Darden Restaurants, the owner of brands such as Olive Garden, reported mixed quarterly results on Tuesday, but raised its forecast for fiscal 2019, sending shares up 1 percent.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 92 cents vs. 91 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.97 billion vs. $1.98 billion expected
Darden also said same-store sales grew 2.1 percent, beating analysts’ estimates of 2.0 percent. Strong sales at Olive Garden and Capital Grille restaurants that have been open at least a year boosted those numbers. Darden’s upscale steakhouse chain reported the highest same-store sales growth of 3.7 percent, beating even Olive Garden.
Darden reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $115.6 million, or 92 cents per share, up from $84.7 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Darden earned $135.3 million, or 92 cents per share, from continuing operations, topping the 91 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Net sales rose 4.9 percent to $1.97 billion, missing expectations of $1.98 billion.
The restaurant company raised its full-year forecast, saying it now expects to earn between $5.60 and $5.70 per share for the fiscal year and to see same-store sales growth of 2.5 percent. Those numbers largely match up with analysts’ estimates of same-store sales growth of 2.5 percent and earnings of $5.65 per share.
Last quarter, Darden said it expected same-store sales to increase within a range of 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent. It also said it expected to earn between $5.52 and $5.65 per share for the year.
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