An Olive Garden restaurant in Times Square in New York
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Darden Restaurants on Friday reported quarterly earnings and income that beat Wall Street’s expectations, as shoppers continued to eat out regardless of strain from inflation.
The firm additionally raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2023 to a spread of $10.3 billion to $10.45 billion from its earlier vary of $10.2 billion to $10.4 billion.
Here’s what the corporate reported for the fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 27, in contrast with what Wall Street was anticipating, based mostly on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $1.52 adjusted vs. $1.44 anticipated.
- Revenue: $2.49 billion vs. $2.43 billion anticipated.
Darden’s whole gross sales rose 9.4% in contrast with the identical quarter final yr.
Darden additionally stated its whole bills jumped to $2.25 billion from $2.03 billion a yr earlier, pushed primarily by greater prices for dairy, grains and produce. The firm additionally cited development and labor prices as causes for the leap in bills.
CEO Rick Cardenas stated within the firm’s earnings launch he is happy with the corporate’s outcomes through the quarter and stated all of their manufacturers “performed at a high level,” saying that the corporate “surpassed $10 billion in sales on a trailing 52-week basis for the first time in Darden’s history.”
Olive Garden, which accounts for practically half of Darden’s income, noticed same-store gross sales improve 7.6%, whereas total same-store gross sales rose 7.3% for the corporate. The firm noticed an analogous improve of seven.3% for LongHorn Steakhouse, its second greatest model.
Executives on the convention name stated gross sales reached an all-time excessive on Thanksgiving throughout its eating places and so they anticipate gross sales to proceed to do nicely through the vacation season.
Darden stated it had 1,887 areas open as of the top of the quarter, in contrast with 1,852 final yr.