Darden Restaurants vs Yum! Brands
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Darden Restaurants and Yum! Brands side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Darden Restaurants is the larger business, with $13.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $8.2B for Yum! Brands, about 1.6 times as much.
- Darden Restaurants grew revenue faster (9.4%, against 8.8%).
- Yum! Brands kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (31.3% operating margin, against 12.0%).
- Yum! Brands turned more of its sales into free cash flow (20.0% FCF margin, against 8.5%).
- Yum! Brands earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (54.8%, against 24.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Darden Restaurants’s earnings: a P/E of 20.8x against 18.8x for Yum! Brands.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Darden Restaurants
DRI
4/10
Revenue growth5-year growthNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Yum! Brands
YUM
5/10
Gross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capital
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | DRI FY26 | YUM FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $24.4B | $41.4B |
| Revenue | $13.2B | $8.2B |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $1.6B |
| Net income | $1.2B | $1.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 9.4% | 8.8% |
| 5-year growth | 12.9% | 7.8% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | −1.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 20.3% | 69.8% |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | 31.3% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | 19.0% |
| FCF margin | 8.5% | 20.0% |
| Return on capital | 24.8% | 54.8% |
| Return on equity | 53.4% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.2B | $11.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.5x | 4.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.4B | $1.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.8x | 18.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.