Darden Restaurants Reports Better Than Expected Q3, Shares Dip Slightly Lower

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI were trading lower by around 0.50 percent early Tuesday morning after the company reported its third-quarter results.

Darden Restaurants said that it earned $1.21 per share in the third quarter on revenue of $1.85 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.19 per share on revenue of $1.84 billion.

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Same-restaurant sales rose 62 percent in the quarter and were positive across all brands. The company also noted that total sales rose 6.6 percent at Olive Garden, 5.4 percent at LongHorn Steakhouse, 5.4 percent at Fine Dining and 10.7 percent at its Other Business segment.

Looking forward to the full fiscal year 2016, Darden expects to earn $3.48 to $3.52 per share while same-restaurant sales growth is expected to be between 3–3.5 percent. Wall Street analysts were previously estimating the company to earn $3.49 per share in the full fiscal year.

"Our strong same-restaurant sales reinforce that our strategy is working as we continued to profitably grow market share during the quarter," said CEO Gene Lee. "Our teams are building loyalty every day with better guest experiences and improved value. Operating margins increased this quarter as we leveraged our sales growth and remained focused on disciplined cost management. Additionally, we returned over $200 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases this quarter."