ORLANDO, Fla., June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 25, 2025.

 

•Total sales increased 10.6% to $3.3 billion driven by a blended same-restaurant sales1 increase of 4.6% and sales from the acquisition of 103 Chuy's Tex Mex (Chuy's) restaurants and 25 net new restaurants

•Same-restaurant sales:

•Reported diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $2.58

•Excluding $0.40 of Chuy's transaction and integration related costs and costs from restaurant closures, adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $2.98, an increase of 12.5%3

•The Company repurchased $51 million of its outstanding common stock

•Total sales increased 6.0% to $12.1 billion driven by a blended same-restaurant sales1, 2 increase of 2.0% and sales from the acquisition of 103 Chuy's restaurants and 25 net new restaurants

•Same-restaurant sales:

•Reported diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $8.88

•Excluding $0.67 of Chuy's transaction and integration related costs and costs from restaurant closures, adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $9.55, an increase of 7.5%3

“We had a strong quarter with same-restaurant sales and earnings growth that exceeded our expectations,” said Darden President & CEO Rick Cardenas. “Our adherence to our winning strategy, anchored in our four competitive advantages and being brilliant with the basics, led to a successful year. Our strategy remains the right one for the company, and we will continue to execute it to drive growth and long-term shareholder value.”

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, the Company changed its reporting of segment profit to exclude pre-opening costs. Fiscal 2024 figures were recast for comparability. Segment profit represents sales, less costs for food and beverage, restaurant labor, restaurant expenses and marketing expenses. Segment profit excludes non-cash real estate related expenses. Sales and profits from Chuy's restaurants are included within the Other Business segment from the date of acquisition forward.

						Q4 Sales												Q4 Segment Profit
($ in millions)						2025						2024						2025						2024
Consolidated Darden						$3,271.7						$2,957.3
Olive Garden						$1,381.0						$1,277.5						$328.4						$291.4
LongHorn Steakhouse						$833.8						$762.7						$167.8						$147.2
Fine Dining						$334.6						$327.1						$62.9						$64.6
Other Business						$722.3						$590.0						$126.3						$102.5

Darden's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.50 per share on the Company's outstanding common stock, a 7.1% increase from third quarter fiscal 2025. The dividend is payable on August 1, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 10, 2025.

During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 0.2 million shares of its common stock for a total of $51 million. In addition, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Darden's Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to $1 billion of its outstanding common stock. This repurchase program does not have an expiration and replaces the previously existing share repurchase authorization.

“Our long-term framework calls for 10-15% Total Shareholder Return over time,” said Darden CFO Raj Vennam. “Over our 30-year history as a public company, Darden has achieved an annualized total shareholder return of 10% or greater over any 10 fiscal-year period. This level of performance reflects the strength of our operating model and the durability of the cash flows it generates.”

Below is the full year financial outlook for fiscal 2026, which includes a 53rd week. This outlook includes the impact of the additional week. We will provide more details during our investor conference call scheduled for this morning at 8:30 am ET.

•Total sales growth of 7% to 8%, including approximately 2% growth related to the 53rd week

•Same-restaurant sales4 growth of 2% to 3.5%

•New restaurant openings of 60 to 65

•Total capital spending of $700 to $750 million

•Total inflation of 2.5% to 3.0%

•An effective tax rate of approximately 13%

•Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations of $10.50 to $10.70, including:

◦Approximately $0.20 related to the addition of the 53rd week

•Approximately 117 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding

Darden will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on September 17, 2025. The meeting will be held in a virtual format only. The record date for shareholders to vote in the Annual Meeting is July 23, 2025.

The Company will host a conference call and slide presentation on Friday, June 20, 2025 at 8:30 am ET to review its recent financial performance. To listen to the call live, please go to https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=7QyRH4t8. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download any software required to listen to the webcast. Prior to the call, a slide presentation will be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at: www.darden.com. For those who cannot access the Internet, please dial 1-877-407-9219. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call.

Darden is a restaurant company featuring a portfolio of differentiated brands that include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy's, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze. For more information, please visit www.darden.com.

Forward-looking statements in this communication regarding our expected earnings performance and all other statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements concerning our future economic performance, are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are first made, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after such date. We wish to caution investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those anticipated in the statements. The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Darden's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports. These risks and uncertainties include: a failure to address cost pressures and a failure to effectively deliver cost management activities, economic factors and their impacts on the restaurant industry and general macroeconomic factors including unemployment, energy prices, tariffs and interest rates, the inability to hire, train, reward and retain restaurant team members, a failure to develop and recruit effective leaders, labor and insurance costs, health concerns including food-related pandemics or outbreaks of flu or other viruses, food safety and food-borne illness concerns, technology failures including failure to maintain a secure cyber network, compliance with privacy and data protection laws and risks of failures or breaches of our data protection systems, the inability to successfully complete our integration of Chuy's Holdings operations into our business, risks relating to public policy changes and federal, state and local regulation of our business, intense competition, changing consumer preferences, an inability or failure to manage the accelerated impact of social media, a failure to execute innovative marketing and guest relationship tactics, climate change, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, long-term and non-cancelable property leases, failure to execute a business continuity plan following a disaster, shortages or interruptions in the delivery of food and other products and services, failure to drive profitable sales growth, a lack of availability of suitable locations for new restaurants, higher-than-anticipated costs to open, close, relocate or remodel restaurants, risks of doing business with franchisees, licensees and vendors in foreign markets, volatility in the market value of derivatives, volatility leading to the inability to hedge equity compensation market exposure, failure to protect our intellectual property, environmental, social and governance risk, including disclosure expectations and the impacts of third party ratings, litigation, unfavorable publicity, disruptions in the financial markets, impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets, changes in tax laws or unanticipated tax liabilities, failure of our internal controls over financial reporting and other factors and uncertainties discussed from time to time in reports filed by Darden with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The information in this press release includes financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), such as adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations. The Company’s management uses these non-GAAP measures in its analysis of the Company’s performance. The Company believes that the presentation of certain non-GAAP measures provides useful supplemental information that is essential to a proper understanding of the operating results of the Company’s businesses. These non-GAAP disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures are included in this release.

(Analysts) Courtney Aquilla, (407) 245-5054; (Media) Rich Jeffers, (407) 245-4189

 

			5/25/2025						5/26/2024
			(Unaudited)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents			$	240.0					$	194.8
Receivables, net			93.8						79.1
Inventories			311.6						290.5
Prepaid income taxes			135.6						121.7
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			156.7						136.7
Total current assets			$	937.7					$	822.8
Land, buildings and equipment, net			4,716.0						4,184.3
Operating lease right-of-use assets			3,555.9						3,429.3
Goodwill			1,659.4						1,391.0
Trademarks			1,346.4						1,148.0
Other assets			371.6						347.6
Total assets			$	12,587.0					$	11,323.0
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable			$	439.6					$	399.5
Short-term debt			—						86.8
Accrued payroll			207.5						190.1
Accrued income taxes			4.7						6.1
Other accrued taxes			83.0						71.0
Unearned revenues			599.4						591.8
Other current liabilities			913.3						847.2
Total current liabilities			$	2,247.5					$	2,192.5
Long-term debt			2,128.9						1,370.4
Deferred income taxes			278.8						232.0
Operating lease liabilities - non-current			3,816.9						3,704.7
Other liabilities			1,803.6						1,580.9
Total liabilities			$	10,275.7					$	9,080.5
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock and surplus			$	2,295.6					$	2,252.4
Retained earnings (deficit)			(16.1)						(35.5)
Accumulated other comprehensive income			31.8						25.6
Total stockholders’ equity			$	2,311.3					$	2,242.5
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity			$	12,587.0					$	11,323.0