Darden Restaurants missed fiscal fourth-quarter revenue estimates, sending its share down -4% Thursday morning,
The restaurant company’s quarterly revenue increased +4.5% year-over-year to $2.23 billion, but lagged analysts’ estimates of $2.24 billion (based on Refinitiv poll of analysts).
Total same-store sales growth across all of Darden’s restaurants came in at +1.6% for the quarter, falling short of analysts’ estimates of +2.3%.Darden mentioned a decline of -0.4% in foot traffic to its Olive Garden locations open at least a year. The restaurant reported same-store sales growth of 2.4%.
However, Darden did beat earnings expectations for the quarter. It reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.76, compared to Wall Street’s estimates of $1.73.
Looking ahead, the company expects same-store sales growth of 1% to 2%, and net earnings per share of $6.30 to $6.45.