Darden Restaurants (DRI) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) is projected to post its Q3 2026 results before the market opens on Thursday, March 19th. Analysts expect Darden Restaurants to post earnings of $2.95 per share and revenue of $3.3342 billion for the quarter. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Interested persons are encouraged to explore the company’s upcoming Q3 2026 earning overview page for the latest details on the call scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 8:30 AM ET.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Darden Restaurants to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $11 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.76.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Glenview Trust co boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.0% in the second quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 1,565 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.33.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.