Darden Restaurants Inc. shares fell 1.7% in Thursday premarket trading after it reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that missed expectations. The Olive Garden parent posted net income of $247.0 million, or $1.93 per share, up from $128.7 million, or 98 cents per share. Sales totaled $2.449 billion, up from $1.733 billion last year. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $2.10 and sales of $2.513 billion. Same-restaurant sales rose 38.1%, below the FactSet consensus for 43.1% growth. Olive Garden rose 29.9%, Longhorn Steakhouse was up 31.6% and the fine dining segment, which includes The Capital Grille and Eddie V’s soared 85.8%. Darden had record sales in December, but omicron “significantly impacted” demand and operations in January, said Chief Executive Gene Lee in a statement. February bounced back with “strong sales,” he said. For fiscal 2022, Darden is guiding for sales of $9.55 billion to $9.62 billion, same-restaurant sales growth of 29% to 30% and EPS of $7.30 to $7.45. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $9.609 billion, same-restaurant sales growth of 32.9% and EPS of $7.51. Darden stock is down 2.2% over the past year, while the benchmark S&P 500 index has gained 14.6%.
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