Darden Restaurants Stock Gains After Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Jump 6%

Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI shares are trading higher in the premarket session on Thursday.

The company reported that the second quarter adjusted earnings per share was $2.03, beating the street view of $2.02. Quarterly sales of $2.89 billion missed the analyst consensus estimate of $2.899 billion.

Total sales increased 6%, driven by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 2.4% and sales from the addition of 103 Chuy’s restaurants and 39 net new restaurants.

Olive Garden same-restaurant sales soared 2%, LongHorn Steakhouse sales jumped 7.5%, Fine Dining sales fell 5.8%, and Other Business increased 0.7%.

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“I continue to believe in the power of our strategy and our brands’ ability to compete effectively regardless of the environment,” said Darden President & CEO Rick Cardenas. “Each of our brand leadership teams are focused on the long term and staying committed to executing at the highest level.”

The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.40 per share on the company’s outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on February 3 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 10.

During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 0.9 million shares of its common stock for a total of $142 million. As of the end of the fiscal second quarter, the company had $601 million remaining under the current $1 billion repurchase authorization.

Outlook: Darden Restaurants now sees FY25 total sales of approximately $12.1 billion (prior outlook $11.8 billion – $11.9 billion) versus the $12.084 billion estimate.

It reiterated diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations of $9.40 to $9.60, compared to the $9.44 estimate. The outlook excludes approximately $47 million, pre-tax, of Chuy’s transaction and integration related costs.

The company expects same-restaurant sales growth of around 1.5% (prior view 1.0% to 2.0%). Additionally, Darden Restaurants now plans to open 50 to 55 new restaurants during the fiscal year.

Price Action: DRI shares are trading higher by 9.08% to $174.39 premarket at last check Thursday.

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