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DOSSIER – This Tuesday, September 13, 2016, the archive photo shows a Red Lobster restaurant, a Darden brand, located in North Miami, Florida. The financial results for Darden Restaurants, Inc. were released on Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee, File)
ORLANDO, Florida – Shares of Darden Restaurants surged Thursday after the company raised its outlook and posted earnings and earnings above Wall Street estimates.
The owner of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains posted a profit of $ 223.6 million in the third quarter, exceeding expectations and a profit of $ 217.8 million for the same quarter of the year last.
Darden notes another strong performance from its flagship brands, raising expectations for annual profits from $ 5.76 to $ 5.80 per share, from $ 5.60 to $ 5.70 per share.
Same restaurant sales at Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, which account for nearly 80% of Darden's restaurants, grew by 4.3% and 3.8%, respectively, during the quarter. . Metrics is a key indicator of the health of a restaurant because it eliminates the impact of open or closed sites over the past year.
Per share, the company based in Orlando, Florida, reported having a net profit of 1.79 USD. Earnings, adjusted to exclude discontinued operations, were $ 1.80 per share.
The results have exceeded Wall Street's expectations. The average estimate of 11 badysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research indicated earnings per share of $ 1.75. Darden's earnings per share for the third quarter of last year was $ 1.73.
The company generated $ 2.25 billion in sales during the period, $ 2.13 billion more than the previous quarter, as well as Street forecasts. Nine badysts surveyed by Zacks were expecting $ 2.24 billion.
Darden shares rose more than 6% early in the session. They have increased more than 15% since the beginning of the year and about 23% in the last 12 months.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a report on Zacks' actions on DRI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DRI.
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