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Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) fiscal 2025 third quarter adjusted profit was in line with analyst estimates, but same-restaurant sales fell short.
The parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.80 On net sales of $3.16 billion. Visible Alpha polled analysts who had forecast $2.80 and $3.2 billion respectively.
Darden reported that same-restaurant sales increased 0.7%, including 0.6% at Oliver Garden and a 2.6% increase at LongHorn. Analysts had expected that same-restaurant revenue would grow by 1.74% in total, including 1.49% Olive Garden and 5.1% LongHorn.
Darden maintained its full-year forecast, but only reduced its adjusted EPS projection from $9.40 to $9.00 to a range between $9.45 and $9.52.
Ahead of Thursday's results, Oppenheimer analysts said they expected "industry-wide headwinds from calendar shifts, weather, a challenging flu season, and consumer weakness" in the quarter would cause Darden's same-restaurant sales to grow by 1.2%, below consensus.
Darden shares, up 9% in the past year, fell 1.5% shortly after the report.
