Darden Restaurants (DRI) slides as Q3 earnings and revenue miss estimates

Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) missed analyst expectations for fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue. The company also updated its full-year guidance.

DRI shares fell over 5.5% ahead of Thursday’s market open.

Darden reported Q3 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.62, slightly below the analyst prediction of $2.64. Revenue came in at $3 billion, missing the consensus estimates of $3.03 billion.

For the fiscal year 2024, Darden Restaurants projects its EPS to be between $8.80 and $8.90, compared to the previous guidance range of $8.75 to $8.90 and versus analyst expectations of $8.86.

The forecast for EPS from continuing operations was set at $8.45 to $8.55.

The multi-brand restaurant operator anticipates its fiscal year 2024 revenue to be around $11.4 billion, slightly down from the $11.5 billion it previously forecasted, and below the expected $11.51 billion.

During this quarter, Darden Restaurants bought back approximately 0.2 million shares for about $33 million. Moreover, the company's Board of Directors has recently approved a new stock repurchase program, allowing for the buyback of up to $1 billion of its outstanding common stock.

"I am proud of our teams and the way they performed this quarter," said Darden President and CEO, Rick Cardenas.

"Looking ahead, our focus remains on controlling what we can control, leveraging and strengthening our competitive advantages, and executing our back-to-basics operating philosophy in order to effectively manage the business for the long-term."

By Vahid Karaahmetovic

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