Darden Restaurants Shares Slide 10% After Q1 Miss, Maintains Guidance

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) shares fell 10% on Thursday after the Olive Garden parent reported fiscal first-quarter results that missed analyst forecasts, while maintaining full-year guidance that barely matched consensus estimates.

The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.97 per share for the quarter ended August 24, below expectations of $2.00. Revenue rose 10.4% to $3 billion but fell short of the $3.04 billion forecast.

Same-restaurant sales rose 4.7% across Darden's brands, led by Olive Garden with a 5.9% gain and LongHorn Steakhouse with 5.5%. Fine Dining slipped 0.2%, while the Other Business segment, including the recently acquired Chuy's Tex Mex, rose 3.3%.

Management reaffirmed full-year earnings guidance of $10.50 to $10.70 per share, which at the high end was just above consensus of $10.69.

For fiscal 2026, Darden projected sales growth of 7.5% to 8.5%, including about 2% from the extra 53rd week, same-restaurant sales growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, and roughly 65 new restaurant openings.