Stocks · Consumer Cyclical · Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI
$200.33 +1.48% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $22.94B
High qualityLow risk
Next earnings report: Dec 17, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $13.37B, up 8.1% from a year earlier.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $10.24, up 9.8% year over year.
- The diluted share count fell 2.7% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Cyclical sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth58Neutral
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 32%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 41%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 38%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 24%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 27%
Quality83Strong
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 24%
- Gross marginTop 6%
- Operating marginTop 29%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 39%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 40%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 49%
- Interest coverTop 28%
Value40Weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 43%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 43%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 45%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 27%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 50%
Momentum64Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 32%
- 6-month returnTop 47%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 37%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 17%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 47%
Revisions21Very weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 29%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 13%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 26%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 31%
Stability91Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 22%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 3%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 10%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 49%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 9.4% | 8.1% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 17.0% | 9.8% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 33.9% | 69.4% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 11.6% | 11.7% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 8.7% | 7.9% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 8.1% | 9.4% | ↓ | Top 32% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 9.8% | 17.0% | ↓ | Top 41% |
| Gross margin | 69.4% | 33.9% | ↑ | Top 6% |
| Operating margin | 11.7% | 11.6% | ↑ | Top 29% |
| Net margin | 8.8% | 8.9% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.9% | 8.7% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 12.4% | — | Top 24% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 8.0% | — | Top 24% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.51×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -4.6%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.6%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +17.3 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.94×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 10.6×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 3.06%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 2.94%
- Shareholder yield
- 6.00%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -2.7%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -2.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Aug 30, 2026 (filed Oct 2, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 3 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +0.1%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +1.8%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 7
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $237.79
- Target vs current price
- +18.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 60
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 65%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | +0.0% | -3.0% | -9.6% | — | — |
| Jun 25, 2026 | +0.8% | -0.3% | -5.4% | -9.1% | -2.0% |
| Mar 19, 2026 | +0.3% | +1.8% | +0.5% | -2.0% | +5.4% |
| Dec 18, 2025 | -1.0% | +1.8% | +0.2% | +13.2% | +7.6% |
| Sep 18, 2025 | -1.5% | -7.7% | -10.6% | -9.8% | -12.2% |
| Jun 20, 2025 | +0.3% | +1.4% | -3.0% | -5.9% | -4.8% |
| Mar 20, 2025 | +0.0% | +5.8% | +10.3% | +5.2% | +15.6% |
| Dec 19, 2024 | -0.5% | +14.7% | +18.0% | +16.7% | +17.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | $2.05 | $2.05 | +0.0% | $3.20B |
| Jun 25, 2026 | $3.66 | $3.63 | +0.8% | $3.72B |
| Mar 19, 2026 | $2.95 | $2.94 | +0.3% | $3.35B |
| Dec 18, 2025 | $2.08 | $2.10 | -1.0% | $3.10B |
| Sep 18, 2025 | $1.97 | $2.00 | -1.5% | $3.04B |
| Jun 20, 2025 | $2.98 | $2.97 | +0.3% | $3.27B |
| Mar 20, 2025 | $2.80 | $2.80 | +0.0% | $3.16B |
| Dec 19, 2024 | $2.03 | $2.04 | -0.5% | $2.89B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 19.6× | 19.6× | 52th | Top 43% |
| P/E (forward) | 17.8× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.5× | — | — | Bottom 45% |
| EV / Sales | 2.20× | — | — | Bottom 27% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.61% | — | — | Bottom 43% |
| Earnings yield | 5.11% | — | — | Top 43% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 16.3× – 25.1× since Aug 29, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +4.1%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +9.8%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -3.0%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.1%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.5%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -5.4%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -1.8%
- RSI (14)
- 42.4
- Relative volume
- 0.82×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 31.1%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 75th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.53
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.29
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -12.0%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -25.1%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 27, 2021 | Jun 16, 2022 | -30.0% | 182 days | 231 days (May 18, 2023) |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Nov 20, 2025 | -25.1% | 107 days | 180 days (Aug 12, 2026) |
| Jul 20, 2023 | Oct 13, 2023 | -22.2% | 60 days | 96 days (Mar 4, 2024) |
| Mar 6, 2024 | Jul 10, 2024 | -21.5% | 86 days | 100 days (Nov 29, 2024) |
| Aug 12, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | -15.1% | 34 days | Not yet recovered |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $22.94B
- P/E (TTM)
- 19.6
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $10.24
- Revenue (TTM)
- $13.37B
- Dividend yield
- 3.86%
- 52-week range
- $169.00 – $229.76
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.63B | $10.49B | $11.39B | $12.08B | $13.21B |
| Gross profit | $2.00B | $2.11B | $2.43B | $2.64B | $9.17B |
| Operating income | $1.16B | $1.20B | $1.31B | $1.36B | $1.58B |
| Net income | $952.8M | $981.9M | $1.03B | $1.05B | $1.21B |
| EPS (diluted) | $7.39 | $7.99 | $8.51 | $8.86 | $10.39 |
| Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | Q1 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.89B | $3.16B | $3.27B | $3.04B | $3.10B | $3.35B | $3.72B | $3.20B |
| Net income | $215.1M | $323.4M | $303.8M | $257.8M | $237.2M | $306.8M | $404.9M | $233.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.82 | $2.74 | $2.58 | $2.19 | $2.03 | $2.65 | $3.52 | $2.04 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $1.26B | $1.55B | $1.61B | $1.71B | $1.85B |
| Capital expenditure | -$399.1M | -$593.8M | -$628.3M | -$671.9M | -$734.0M |
| Free cash flow | $857.0M | $951.8M | $983.6M | $1.04B | $1.12B |
| Dividends paid | -$563.0M | -$589.8M | -$628.4M | -$658.5M | -$693.0M |
| Net share buybacks | -$1.03B | -$423.3M | -$410.3M | -$362.6M | -$646.7M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $220.5M
- Total assets
- $13.23B
- Total liabilities
- $11.16B
- Total debt
- $6.63B
- Net debt
- $6.41B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $2.07B
As of Aug 30, 2026 (filed Oct 2, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 2026 | $1.62 | Nov 2, 2026 |
| Jul 10, 2026 | $1.62 | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Apr 10, 2026 | $1.50 | May 1, 2026 |
| Jan 9, 2026 | $1.50 | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Oct 10, 2025 | $1.50 | Nov 3, 2025 |
| Jul 10, 2025 | $1.50 | Aug 1, 2025 |
| Apr 10, 2025 | $1.40 | May 1, 2025 |
| Jan 10, 2025 | $1.40 | Feb 3, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 6,118,094
- Days to cover
- 5.56
- Change vs previous report
- -8.0%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Nov 10, 2015
- 10,000-for-8,939
- May 2, 2002
- 3-for-2