Darden Restaurants
DRI NYSE· Restaurants
Last close · Oct 26, 2026
$213.25
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Darden Restaurants had $13.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026, up 9.4% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +12.9% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 12.0%, up 0.7 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 12 is left after running the business.
- Darden Restaurants made $1.2B of net profit in fiscal 2026. From fiscal 2017 to 2026, diluted EPS grew 11.8% a year.
- Free cash flow was $1.1B in fiscal 2026, 8.5% of revenue.
- Darden Restaurants returned $1.4B to shareholders in fiscal 2026, 122% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 1.8%.
- Darden Restaurants owes $3.2B more than it holds in cash, about 1.5 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$24.4B
P/E
20.8x
Revenue
$13.2B
Net income
$1.2B
Free cash flow
$1.1B
Operating margin
12.0%
Darden Restaurants in 30 seconds · fiscal 2026
Are sales growing?
+9.4%
Yes. Sales grew 9.4% last year.
Does it make a profit?
9.1%
A little. It keeps 9.1% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
8.5%
Partly. 8.5% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
1.5x
Keep an eye on it. Repaying its debt would take 1.5 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
6 / 9
Mixed. It passes 6 of 9 health tests.
How is the share priced?
20.8x
One share costs 20.8 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 17.7x.
What Darden Restaurants does
Darden Restaurants owns and runs full-service restaurants in the United States. On May 31, 2026, it operated 2,202 restaurants, including 949 Olive Garden and 618 LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants. Its other brands include Yard House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy's, Seasons 52 and Eddie V's. Another 167 restaurants are run by independent operators under franchise and development agreements, in the U.S. and in other countries. Sales come mainly from food and drink. The company reports four segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (Ruth's Chris, The Capital Grille and Eddie V's), and Other Business, which covers its remaining brands plus royalties and fees from franchised and managed restaurants. It says it does not rely on any major customers. At Olive Garden the average check was about $25.00 per person in fiscal 2026. At Yard House, alcoholic drinks made up 28.9 percent of sales.
Biggest risks, in its own words
- Rising costs for food, labor, health care and utilities that menu price increases may not cover.
- Trouble hiring, training and keeping restaurant team members.
- Food safety problems or food-borne illness concerns, and health scares such as outbreaks of flu or other diseases.
- Intense competition, and weaker guest spending when the economy or consumer confidence slips.
- Fiscal year ends
- May 31, 2026
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Jul 24, 2026
- Legal name
- DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC.
- CIK
- 0000940944
Darden Restaurants · DRI
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $9.6B | $10.5B | $11.4B | $12.1B | $13.2B |
| Revenue growth | 33.8% | 8.9% | 8.6% | 6.0% | 9.4% |
| Gross margin | 19.8% | 19.0% | 20.1% | 20.5% | 20.3% |
| Operating margin | 12.1% | 11.5% | 11.5% | 11.3% | 12.0% |
| Net income | $953M | $982M | $1.0B | $1.0B | $1.2B |
| Net margin | 9.9% | 9.4% | 9.0% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| Diluted EPS | $7.39 | $7.99 | $8.51 | $8.86 | $10.38 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $1.3B | $1.6B | $1.6B | $1.7B | $1.9B |
| Capital expenditure | $377M | $565M | $601M | $645M | $734M |
| Free cash flow | $888M | $988M | $1.0B | $1.1B | $1.1B |
| FCF margin | 9.2% | 9.4% | 9.0% | 8.8% | 8.5% |
| Dividends paid | $563M | $590M | $628M | $659M | $693M |
| Share buybacks | $1.1B | $459M | $454M | $418M | $672M |
| Share count change | −2.1% | −4.7% | −1.7% | −2.0% | −1.8% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $421M | $368M | $195M | $240M | $220M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $1.9B | $2.1B | $2.8B | $3.7B | $3.4B |
| Shareholders' equity | $2.2B | $2.2B | $2.2B | $2.3B | $2.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.0x | 1.1x | 1.5x | 1.9x | 1.5x |
| Current ratio | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.3x |
| Interest coverage | 28.4x | 23.9x | 14.1x | 11.8x | 12.5x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 29.8% | 27.7% | 26.2% | 22.6% | 24.8% |
| Return on equity | 38.0% | 44.6% | 46.3% | 46.1% | 53.4% |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Altman Z'' | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | −0.0 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$24.0M
12 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Darden Restaurants · DRI
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darden Restaurants DRI | $24.4B | 9.4% | 12.0% | 8.5% | 24.8% | 20.8x | 6 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG | $36.3B | 5.4% | 16.2% | 12.1% | 73.7% | 26.1x | 4 |
| Yum China YUMC | $15.9B | 4.4% | 10.9% | 7.1% | — | 16.7x | — |
| Restaurant Brands Internatio... QSR | $34.3B | 12.2% | 23.3% | 15.4% | 9.0% | 20.0x | 6 |
| Yum! Brands YUM | $41.4B | 8.8% | 31.3% | 20.0% | 54.8% | 18.8x | 6 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $213.25 a share, the company is worth $24.4B: 20.8 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Darden Restaurants grew sales faster than 3 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 3 of 4.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000940944). Data updated October 9, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.