Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) shares traded higher on Thursday after the company posted an earnings beat and continued to show steady demand across its brands.
The results offered investors some reassurance, even as analysts said questions still linger over margins, costs, and consumer spending trends.
Quarterly Metrics
The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 2.95, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.94. Quarterly sales of $3.345 billion (+5.9% year over year) outpaced the Street view of $3.333 billion.
Growth in revenues was driven by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.2% and sales from 31 net new restaurants.
Darden’s consolidated same-restaurant sales growth was led by a 7.2% increase at LongHorn Steakhouse. Olive Garden posted 3.2% growth, while Fine Dining and Other Business delivered gains of 2.1% and 3.9%, respectively.
“Across all our brands, we’re seeing historically high team member and manager retention, which is enabling consistent execution and strong guest satisfaction,” said Darden President …