$DRI Q2 Earnings Report
$DRI Long
Darden is a multi-chain restaurant brand growing at a very high pace as it recovers from the pandemic. Some of their restaurants include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. Comparing their revenue from last year to this year, it is up by 43% and it is only the middle of the year. Their operating income is up by 154% and EPS is up by 161%. And when looking at third-quarter results, growth rates are similarly impressive. Sales increased 41.3% year over year from $1,733 million in Q3 of 2021 to $2,449 million in Q3 of 2022. Operating income increased from $148 million in the same quarter last year to $301 million this quarter resulting in 103% YoY growth and EPS increased 97% from $0.98 to $1.93. When looking at the guidance for fiscal 2022, Darden Restaurants is expecting total sales to be between $9.55 billion and $9.62 billion. And while Darden Restaurants will clearly exceed results from 2021, the company will also exceed pre-pandemic results. The same will be true for EPS, which is also expected to beat pre-pandemic levels. One thing I believe to be helping their revenue is the summer season starting and a higher volume of people eating out as compared to before. As mentioned in their guidance, they are planning to open many new restaurants and do renovations to their existing places which is a very good sign that they expect these types of record-breaking revenues to continue. High inflation could have an impact on income however, I don’t think it’s going to be anything noticeable. Unlike other products as food prices go up, people have no other choice but to buy them. At the same time when you are out having a date night or just hanging out with family you don’t have any other options but to eat out and since eating out isn’t something people usually do, they can justify its price once in a while. Another issue could be their staffing shortage. Compared to last year, they had 3x more staff than they do now. However, as the CEO mentioned last quarter, it was mostly due to the new Covid variant and it should be resolved very soon.
Exchange NYSE Sector Consumer Discretionary Industry Restaurants 1 Year Target $151.00 Today's High/Low $116.00/$112.73 Share Volume 1,713,414 Average Volume 2,564,866 Previous Close $114.20 52 Week High/Low $164.28/$110.96 Market Cap 14,182,294,458 P/E Ratio 14.32 Forward P/E 1 Yr. 15.47 Earnings Per Share(EPS) $7.94 Annualized Dividend $4.40 Ex-Dividend Date Apr 7, 2022 Dividend Pay Date May 2, 2022 Current Yield 3.85% Beta 1.32 Ceo: Time: before market open Estimate: 3.5%