Darden FY2026: sales up 9.4% to $13.21 billion, adjusted EPS up 11.4%
Darden closed fiscal 2026 with $13.21 billion of sales, up 9.4%, and adjusted EPS of $10.64, up 11.4% — a year management says significantly outperformed the industry. Every brand group posted positive same-restaurant sales and fiscal 2027 guidance of $11.10–$11.35 extends the growth, so the read leans positive. Just remember the extra 53rd week added $0.25 of EPS, a one-off that flatters the comparison.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowReported diluted EPS from continuing operations was $10.44 for the year and $3.54 for the fourth quarter; adjusted, those become $10.64 and $3.66, with full-year adjusted EPS up 11.4%. The reported-to-adjusted bridge is mostly restaurant closures, impairments, the Chuy's integration, tax items and a $0.27 gain on the Olive Garden Canada sale. Be careful: the data set mixes periods — the $3.66 figure is fourth-quarter only, while $10.64 is the full year — and the extra week added $0.25 to both reported and adjusted EPS.
Full-year sales rose 9.4% to $13.21 billion from $12.08 billion, helped by 4.5% blended same-restaurant sales, 2.1% from the extra week and 43 net new restaurants. Every brand group contributed: Olive Garden +4.0%, LongHorn Steakhouse +7.2%, Fine Dining +1.2% and Other Business +3.9%. Fourth-quarter sales rose 13.7% to $3.72 billion, but that quarter leaned unusually hard on the extra week (7.6% of the gain).
Management guides fiscal 2027 to $13.60–$13.75 billion of sales and $11.10–$11.35 of diluted EPS, against $13.21 billion of sales and $10.64 of adjusted EPS in fiscal 2026. That assumes same-restaurant sales of 2.5%–3.5%, slower than the 4.5% just delivered, plus 75–80 new restaurants and about 3.0% inflation. The retail-relevant read: the sales midpoint of $13.68 billion is only about 3.5% above fiscal 2026, a year that carried an extra week fiscal 2027 will not have.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-09-17
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