Darden Restaurants lifts sales forecast, beats quarterly estimates on casual dining demand
June 20 (Reuters) - Darden Restaurants (DRI.N), opens new tab forecast annual same-store sales above estimates after strong quarterly results on Friday, banking on demand driven by food delivery and advertising efforts at its casual dining chains such as Olive Garden.
Shares of the company rose about 3% in premarket trading after the company also announced a new $1 billion share repurchase program.
Casual dining and fast casual restaurant chains, including Olive Garden and Shake Shack (SHAK.N), opens new tab, have benefited from menu innovations and promotions to entice customers, offsetting the impact of consumers turning to home-cooked meals to save money.
Meanwhile, fast food chains including burger giant McDonald's (MCD.N), opens new tab, Starbucks (SBUX.O), opens new tab and Domino's Pizza (DPZ.O), opens new tab have been struggling with tepid demand.
Darden expects annual same-store sales to grow in the range of 2% to 3.5%, midpoint of which is above analysts' estimates of 2.64%, as per data compiled by LSEG.
Initiatives such as home deliveries with the help of Uber Direct and "buy one, take one" offerings at Olive Garden have further helped the restaurant chain operator.
Its consolidated same-store sales were up 4.6% in the quarter compared to a year ago, with Olive Garden sales rising 6.9%.
The company posted fourth-quarter sales of $3.27 billion, edging past estimates of $3.26 billion.
It logged adjusted profit of $2.98 per share for the quarter ended May 25, above estimates of $2.97 per share, owing to moderate price hikes and lower input costs.
However, the company forecast annual earnings per share between $10.50 and $10.70, compared with estimates of $10.75 per share.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
Meta partners with sports eyewear brand Oakley to launch AI-powered glasses
June 20 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab said on Friday it has teamed up with Oakley to release AI-powered smart glasses, expanding its push into wearable tech after the success of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The social media company is expanding its partnership with Oakley and Ray-Ban-parent EssilorLuxottica ( opens new tab amid growing consumer interest in AI-powered wearable devices. Meta has sold millions of Ray-Ban Meta glasses since their launch and said its "Oakley Meta HSTN" will feature a hands-free high-resolution camera, open-ear speakers, water resistance and Meta AI capabilities. The limited-edition product will be available for preorder starting July 11 at $499, with additional products starting at $399 launching later this summer. Meta said the product line would roll out in North America, Australia and several European countries, with plans to expand to Mexico, India and the United Arab Emirates by the year-end. The Oakley Meta HSTN will debut this month at several major sporting events including Fanatics Fest and UFC International Fight Week. Smaller rival Snap (SNAP.N), opens new tab said earlier this month it would launch its smart glasses, called Specs, for consumers next year. Companies such as Google are also exploring similar investments.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Amazon issues urgent warning to all Prime users over hack stealing accounts: Delete these emails NOW
Amazon is alerting its 200 million Prime members to a sharp rise in cyber scams just weeks before its biggest-ever Prime Day event, set to begin July 8. The online retail giant says fraudsters are ramping up efforts to steal customer accounts and payment details. Amazon found that impersonation scams spiked by 80 percent during Prime Day in 2024, and similar schemes are already underway this year. The most common tactics involve fake emails and text messages designed to look like official Amazon communications, often containing malicious links or requests for personal information. Cybercriminals are seizing on the hype and urgency surrounding the four-day sales event to lure unsuspecting shoppers. With global sales expected to break records, Shoppers are urged to be cautious, avoid clicking suspicious links, and report any suspicious messages to Amazon. 'Independent sellers sold more than 200 million items during Prime Day,' Amazon said in a statement. 'Prime members in the US chose to consolidate their deliveries on millions of orders, saving an estimated 10 million trips.' This year's Prime Day event will run in 26 countries, including the US, UK, India, and Canada. Ireland and Colombia are joining the list for the first time. To counter these attacks, Amazon said it removed more than 55,000 phishing websites and 12,000 fraudulent phone numbers last year. Scammers rely on urgency and fear, often warning users their account will be locked or charged unless they act immediately. Victims are frequently asked to verify account details or resolve fake issues by providing gift card numbers, passwords, or one-time passcodes, methods Amazon states it never uses. In November, the company found that 94 percent of global impersonation scams came through email, text messages, or phone calls. Two-thirds of those scams focused on fake account issues. To verify if a text message is truly from Amazon, go to the Message Center under 'Your Account.' Only legitimate communications from Amazon will appear there. Moreover, before clicking on email attachments, review the sender's address. Legitimate Amazon emails will come from an '@ address. Check the 'From' name in your email to see the full sender address and check for misspellings or suspicious characters. In March, the company tweeted on X that impersonation scams on social media have jumped 33 percent since December 2024. 'Scammers monitor customer complaints on comments, then respond using fake accounts,' Amazon said. The company emphasizes it never asks customers to click external links or move conversations to private messages. While earlier fraud attempts focused on account access, by May 2025, payment fraud had become the most reported scam, accounting for 38 percent of cases. Amazon reminds users: 'We will never call or email you requesting sensitive information like passwords.' The company has issued clear safety steps: Always access your account through the official app or website, never respond to suspicious messages, and report scam attempts through Amazon's help center or self-reporting tool. Additionally, Amazon encourages customers to enable two-factor authentication, avoid reusing passwords across websites, and turn on app notifications to confirm legitimate account activity. 'Count to ten before you act,' Amazon advises, stressing that any message pushing urgent action is a red flag. In March, Amazon also warned about 'Membership Renewal Scams,' messages prompting users to renew services by entering payment details on fake websites. To avoid delivery scams, Amazon recommends buying directly from the company instead of third-party sellers whenever possible. Items shipped and sold by Amazon are more likely to qualify for fast Prime shipping, arrive as advertised, and offer easier returns. Some customers report receiving refunds for defective items without needing to return them, due to Amazon's streamlined internal process. To verify a product is sold by Amazon, look for 'Ships from and sold by under the price or beneath the 'Add to Cart' and 'Buy Now' buttons. On the Amazon app, this information appears directly below those same buttons. 'As deals drop, consumers may also drop their guards,' an Amazon spokesperson said. 'Stay vigilant, trust only verified sources, and think twice before clicking that link or answering that call.'
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
US Supreme Court lets fuel producers challenge California emissions standards
WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court sided on Friday with fuel producers that had opposed California's standards for vehicle emissions and electric cars under a federal air pollution law, agreeing that their legal challenge to the mandates should not have been dismissed. The justices in a 7-2 ruling overturned a lower court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit by a Valero Energy (VLO.N), opens new tab subsidiary and fuel industry groups. The lower court had concluded that the plaintiffs lacked the required legal standing to challenge a 2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision to let California set its own regulations. "The government generally may not target a business or industry through stringent and allegedly unlawful regulation, and then evade the resulting lawsuits by claiming that the targets of its regulation should be locked out of court as unaffected bystanders," conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision. The dispute centered on an exception granted to California during Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration to national vehicle emission standards set by the agency under the landmark Clean Air Act anti-pollution law. Though states and municipalities are generally preempted from enacting their own limits, Congress let the EPA waive the preemption rule to let California set certain regulations that are stricter than federal standards. The EPA's 2022 action reinstated a waiver for California to set its own tailpipe emissions limits and zero-emission vehicle mandate through 2025, reversing a 2019 decision made during Republican President Donald Trump's first administration rescinding the waiver. Valero's Diamond Alternative Energy and related groups challenged the reinstatement of California's waiver, arguing that the decision exceeded the EPA's power under the Clean Air Act and inflicted harm on their bottom line by lowering demand for liquid fuels. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out the lawsuit in 2024, finding that the challengers lacked the necessary standing to bring their claims because there was no evidence that a ruling in their favor might affect the decisions of auto manufacturers in a way that would result in fewer electric and more combustion vehicles to be sold. California, the most-populous U.S. state, has received more than 100 waivers under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has taken a skeptical view toward broad authority for federal regulatory agencies and has restricted the powers of the EPA in some important rulings in recent years. In 2024, the court blocked the EPA's "Good Neighbor" rule aimed at reducing ozone emissions that may worsen air pollution in neighboring states. In 2023, the court hobbled the EPA's power to protect wetlands and fight water pollution. In 2022, it imposed limits on the agency's authority under the Clean Air Act to reduce coal- and gas-fired power plant carbon emissions.
