The shares of Darden Restaurants Inc. fell 2.5% on Friday after the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants fell slightly below second-quarter revenue expectations, while reporting a rise in profit.
The Orlando, Florida-based restaurant operator also said its estimated same-store sales growth of 2.5% to 3% in 2024 would miss FactSet’s consensus estimate for 3.1% growth.
Darden DRI,
said second-quarter profit rose to $212.1 million, or $1.76 per share, from $187.2 million, or $1.52 per share, in the year-ago period. Darden’s second-quarter adjusted earnings were $1.84 per share.
Darden beat FactSet’s second-quarter consensus estimate of $1.74 per share.
Second-quarter revenue rose 9.7% to just under $2.73 billion, just shy of analyst estimates of $2.74 billion.
Chief Executive Rick Cardenas said the company continued to grow its market share as it “outperformed sales and foot traffic at the same restaurants.”
Looking ahead, Darden said it expects full-year 2024 adjusted earnings of $8.75 to $8.90 per share, compared to the FactSet consensus estimate of $8.82 per share.
Darden expects 2024 revenue of about $11.5 billion, compared to analyst estimates of $11.6 billion.