Darden Restaurants, owner of renowned chains such as Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, announced fiscal third-quarter net income of $323.4 million, showing an increase from $312.9 million in the previous year. Net income per share rose to $2.74, compared to $2.60 from the prior year. Despite this financial growth, the company faced challenges with its same-store sales performance, which fell short of analyst expectations.
In the third quarter, Darden's same-store sales rose by 0.7%, falling below the anticipated growth of 1.7%. The company's fine-dining segment, which includes The Capital Grille and Ruth's Chris Steak House, reported a decline of 0.8% in same-store sales. Meanwhile, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, two of Darden's flagship brands, experienced weaker-than-expected same-store sales growth.
Darden has adjusted its financial outlook for the full year, narrowing its forecast for adjusted earnings from continuing operations to a range of $9.45 to $9.52 per share. This is a slight shift from the previous forecast range of $9.40 to $9.60 per share. The company has also projected its full-year revenue to be approximately $12.1 billion.
Analysts had anticipated a 1.5% growth in same-store sales, reflecting a more optimistic view than the actual results reported by Darden. The fine-dining segment's underperformance contributed significantly to the shortfall in expected growth.