LongHorn Tops Darden Q4; Olive Garden Lag Highlights Cautious 2027 Outlook
Darden posted mixed Q4 results: adjusted EPS of $3.66 on revenue of $3.72 billion (EPS beat, revenue miss); same-store sales rose 4.6% overall, led by LongHorn at 9.5% while Olive Garden grew 2.4% and the fine-dining segment (The Capital Grille and Ruth's Chris) 1.9%. An extra fiscal week boosted sales. For fiscal 2027, the company guides $13.60-$13.75 billion in revenue and $11.10-$11.35 in EPS, with 2.5%-3.5% SSS growth and 75-80 new locations; shares fell about 3% premarket as investors weighed the results against Street expectations.