Darden Restaurants (DRI) Q4 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates

Financial Performance - Darden Restaurants reported quarterly earnings of $2.98 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.96 per share, and up from $2.65 per share a year ago [1] - The company posted revenues of $3.27 billion for the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.18%, compared to $2.96 billion in the same quarter last year [3] - The earnings surprise for the quarter was 0.68%, while the previous quarter saw a surprise of -0.36% with actual earnings of $2.80 against an expectation of $2.81 [2] Market Performance - Darden Restaurants shares have increased approximately 19.3% since the beginning of the year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 1.7% [4] - The current Zacks Rank for Darden Restaurants is 3 (Hold), indicating that the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future [7] Future Outlook - The consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $1.93 on revenues of $3.04 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $10.70 on revenues of $13.16 billion [8] - The estimate revisions trend for Darden Restaurants is mixed, and changes in earnings expectations may occur following the recent earnings report [5][7] Industry Context - The Retail - Restaurants industry, to which Darden Restaurants belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 36% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting potential challenges ahead [9]