ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended November 24, 2024.
Second Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights, Comparisons Versus Same Fiscal Quarter Last Year
Consolidated Darden*
2.4 %
Olive Garden
2.0 %
LongHorn Steakhouse
7.5 %
Fine Dining**
(5.8) %
Other Business*
0.7 %
* Will not include Chuy’s until they have been owned and operated by Darden for a 16-month period (Q4 Fiscal 2026); Consolidated
Darden includes Ruth’s Chris for the month of November only
** Fine Dining includes Ruth’s Chris for the month of November only
*** See the “Non-GAAP Information” below for more details
“We had a strong quarter and I am pleased that our four largest brands – Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen – generated positive same-restaurant sales, as did three of our four business segments,” said Darden President & CEO Rick Cardenas. “I continue to believe in the power of our strategy and our brands’ ability to compete effectively regardless of the environment. Each of our brand leadership teams are focused on the long term and staying committed to executing at the highest level.”
Segment Performance
Segment profit represents sales, less costs for food and beverage, restaurant labor, restaurant expenses and marketing expenses. Segment profit excludes non-cash real estate related expenses. From the date of acquisition forward, sales and profits from Chuy’s restaurants are included within the Other Business segment.
Q2 Sales
Q2 Segment Profit
($ in millions)
2025
2024
2025
2024
Consolidated Darden
$2,890.0
$2,727.3
Olive Garden
$1,292.5
$1,251.4
$277.1
$262.5
LongHorn Steakhouse
$710.1
$643.0
$134.2
$111.8
Fine Dining
$306.0
$318.0
$52.7
$56.6
Other Business
$581.4
$514.9
$79.2
$66.5
YTD Sales
YTD Segment Profit
($ in millions)
2025
2024
2025
2024
Consolidated Darden
$5,647.0
$5,457.9
Olive Garden
$2,501.6
$2,479.3
$526.1
$524.8
LongHorn Steakhouse
$1,423.6
$1,312.8
$261.8
$229.2
Fine Dining
$584.9
$591.5
$90.3
$96.3
Other Business
$1,136.9
$1,074.3
$162.9
$150.8
Dividend Declared
Darden’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.40 per share on the Company’s outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on February 3, 2025 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 10, 2025.
Share Repurchase Program
During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 0.9 million shares of its common stock for a total of $142 million. As of the end of the fiscal second quarter, the Company had $601 million remaining under the current $1 billion repurchase authorization.
Fiscal 2025 Financial Outlook
The Company updated its full year financial outlook for fiscal 2025 which now includes Chuy’s operating results, but excludes approximately $47 million, pre-tax, of expected transaction and integration related costs associated with the acquisition. The Company will provide additional details during its investor conference call scheduled for this morning at 8:30 am ET.
* Does not include Ruth’s Chris and Chuy’s as they were not owned and operated by Darden for a 16-month period at the beginning of the fiscal year
** See the “Non-GAAP Information” below for more details
Investor Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call and slide presentation today, Thursday, December 19, 2024 at 8:30 am ET to review its recent financial performance. The call will be webcast live at: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=ySzhMvAL. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download any software required to listen to the webcast. Prior to the call, a slide presentation will be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at: www.darden.com. For those who cannot access the Internet, please dial 1-877-407-9219. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call.
About Darden
Darden is a restaurant company featuring a portfolio of differentiated brands that include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy’s, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s and Bahama Breeze. For more information, please visit www.darden.com.
Information About Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this communication regarding our expected earnings performance and all other statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements concerning our future economic performance, are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are first made, and we undertake no obligation to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after such date. We wish to caution investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those anticipated in the statements. The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Darden’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports. These risks and uncertainties include: a failure to address cost pressures and a failure to effectively deliver cost management activities, economic factors and their impacts on the restaurant industry and general macroeconomic factors including unemployment, energy prices and interest rates, the inability to hire, train, reward and retain restaurant team members, a failure to develop and recruit effective leaders, labor and insurance costs, health concerns including food-related pandemics or outbreaks of flu or other viruses, food safety and food-borne illness concerns, technology failures including failure to maintain a secure cyber network, compliance with privacy and data protection laws and risks of failures or breaches of our data protection systems, the inability to successfully complete our integration of Chuy’s Holdings operations into our business, risks relating to public policy changes and federal, state and local regulation of our business, intense competition, changing consumer preferences, an inability or failure to manage the accelerated impact of social media, a failure to execute innovative marketing and guest relationship tactics, climate change, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, long-term and non-cancelable property leases, failure to execute a business continuity plan following a disaster, shortages or interruptions in the delivery of food and other products and services, failure to drive profitable sales growth, a lack of availability of suitable locations for new restaurants, higher-than-anticipated costs to open, close, relocate or remodel restaurants, risks of doing business with franchisees, licensees and vendors in foreign markets, volatility in the market value of derivatives, volatility leading to the inability to hedge equity compensation market exposure, failure to protect our intellectual property, environmental, social and governance risk, including disclosure expectations and the impacts of third party ratings, litigation, unfavorable publicity, disruptions in the financial markets, impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets, changes in tax laws or unanticipated tax liabilities, failure of our internal controls over financial reporting and other factors and uncertainties discussed from time to time in reports filed by Darden with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Non-GAAP Information
The information in this press release includes financial information determined by methods other than in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), such as adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations. The Company’s management uses these non-GAAP measures in its analysis of the Company’s performance. The Company believes that the presentation of certain non-GAAP measures provides useful supplemental information that is essential to a proper understanding of the operating results of the Company’s businesses. These non-GAAP disclosures should not be viewed as a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance measures that may be presented by other companies. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures are included in this release.
(Analysts) Phil McClain, (407) 245-4476; (Media) Rich Jeffers, (407) 245-4189
Fiscal Q2 Reported to Adjusted Earnings Reconciliation
Q2 2025
Q2 2024
$ in millions, except per share amounts
Earnings
Before
Income
Tax
Income
Tax
Expense
Net
Earnings
Diluted
Net
Earnings
Per
Share
Earnings
Before
Income
Tax
Income
Tax
Expense
Net
Earnings
Diluted
Net
Earnings
Per
Share
Reported Earnings from Continuing Operations
$ 245.9
$ 30.2
$ 215.7
$ 1.82
$ 241.4
$ 29.1
$ 212.3
$ 1.76
% Change vs Prior Year
3.4 %
Adjustments:
Transaction and integration related costs
27.7
3.4
24.3
0.21
12.8
3.2
9.6
0.08
General and administrative expenses
25.0
2.8
22.2
0.19
5.6
1.4
4.2
0.03
Impairments*
—
—
—
—
5.9
1.5
4.4
0.04
Interest**
2.7
0.6
2.1
0.02
1.3
0.3
1.0
0.01
Adjusted Earnings from Continuing Operations
$ 273.6
$ 33.6
$ 240.0
$ 2.03
$ 254.2
$ 32.3
$ 221.9
$ 1.84
% Change vs Prior Year
10.3 %
* Write-off of acquired Ruth’s Chris assets not able to be utilized.
** In Q2 FY25, Chuy’s associated costs relate to write-off of term loan issuance and interest rate hedge settlement. In Q2 FY24, Ruth’s associated costs relate to write-off of term loan issuance used to fund Ruth’s Chris acquisition, which was paid off with proceeds from bond offering.
Reconciliation of Fiscal 2025 Reported to Adjusted Earnings Outlook
2025
Reported diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations
$9.07
to
$9.27
Chuy’s transaction and integration related costs
0.40
0.40
Income tax expense
(0.07)
(0.07)
Adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations
$9.40
to
$9.60
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Number of Company-Owned Restaurants
11/24/24
11/26/23
Olive Garden
925
912
LongHorn Steakhouse
580
566
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen
181
182
Chuy’s
104
—
Yard House
88
87
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
82
78
The Capital Grille
70
64
Seasons 52
45
44
Bahama Breeze
43
42
Eddie V’s
30
31
The Capital Burger
4
4
Darden Continuing Operations
2,152
2,010
DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS
(In millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
11/24/2024
11/26/2023
11/24/2024
11/26/2023
Sales
$ 2,890.0
$ 2,727.3
$ 5,647.0
$ 5,457.9
Costs and expenses:
Food and beverage
872.8
845.8
1,719.5
1,696.8
Restaurant labor
926.8
880.9
1,816.1
1,756.2
Restaurant expenses
477.7
450.4
935.9
897.0
Marketing expenses
48.8
36.9
93.5
75.5
General and administrative expenses
144.1
114.8
270.5
268.1
Depreciation and amortization
127.7
112.5
249.2
222.3
Impairments and disposal of assets, net
—
7.5
1.0
10.6
Total operating costs and expenses
$ 2,597.9
$ 2,448.8
$ 5,085.7
$ 4,926.5
Operating income
292.1
278.5
561.3
531.4
Interest, net
46.2
37.1
83.3
66.8
Earnings before income taxes
245.9
241.4
478.0
464.6
Income tax expense
30.2
29.1
54.7
57.5
Earnings from continuing operations
$ 215.7
$ 212.3
$ 423.3
$ 407.1
Losses from discontinued operations, net of tax benefit of $0.2, $0.3, $0.6 and
$0.4, respectively
(0.6)
(0.2)
(1.0)
(0.5)
Net earnings
