Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) earnings on September 24, 2026
More Darden Restaurants, Inc. earnings
Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Accurate
Darden Restaurants fell sharply after reporting earnings, dropping as much as 6.6% during the day before recovering to close 3% lower.
DRI price around the earnings
207.24
Change: -3.0%
2026-09-24, 20:00 UTC
End of the measured window
199.50
204.47
209.45
214.42
213.69
September 24, 2026
- Price: green if it ends above the starting price; red if it ends below
- End of the measured window
- Market open
- Starting price
Prior thesis
Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Accurate
- Thesis published
- Results released
Weak technicals outweigh analyst optimism
The stock is underperforming the broader market while retail investors have already invested heavily, creating a crowded position. Analysts maintain a positive outlook and cite a target, but recent earnings have been mixed and the technical setup shows weakness.
Context analyzed before publication
- Summary
- Weak technicals outweigh analyst optimism
- Playbook
- The stock cases in a narrow $212-$214 range while lagging SPY by nearly 6%. Recent earnings missed estimates in 2 of the last 4 quarters, and retail positioning appears saturated after a recent drop.
- Trend
- Expert sentiment turned sharply negative and has stayed there
Analysts
Drivers
-
Analysts
Positive
Analysts recommend buying with an average price target of $233, but the scenario points pessimistic.
Evidence
- Analyst consensus
- Buy
- Consensus average (1-5)
- 1.9
- Analysts covering the stock
- 26
- Average price target
- 232.96
- Lowest price target
- 156
- Highest price target
- 276
- Upside to price target
- 9%
- Quarterly earnings growth
- 33.3%
- Revenue growth
- 13.7%
- Forward EPS
- 12.4
- Trailing EPS
- 10.44
- Analyst moves in the last 60 days
- 8
- Strong buy: 2
- Buy: 16
- Hold: 10
- Sell: 1
- Strong sell: 0
- Strong buy
- 2
- Buy
- 16
- Hold
- 10
- Sell
- 1
- Strong sell
- 0
- September 21, 2026 · Freedom Capital Markets: Maintains rating (Buy → Buy)
- September 16, 2026 · Seaport Global: Initiates coverage (Buy)
- September 15, 2026 · Oppenheimer: Maintains rating (Outperform → Outperform)
- September 14, 2026 · Morgan Stanley: Maintains rating (Overweight → Overweight)
- September 11, 2026 · Citigroup: Maintains rating (Buy → Buy)
- September 11, 2026 · Stephens & Co.: Maintains rating (Equal-Weight → Equal-Weight)
- August 27, 2026 · Keybanc: Maintains rating (Overweight → Overweight)
- August 24, 2026 · Baird: Upgrades rating (Neutral → Outperform)
News and sentiment
Evidence
Sentiment
- Sentiment
- Constructive
- Mention volume
- High
- Normalized volume
- 99%
- Messages
- 30
News
Sources (6)
- Darden Restaurants, TD Synnex And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Thursday (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- How To Earn $500 A Month From Darden Restaurants Stock Ahead Of Q1 Earnings (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Earnings Are Imminent; These Most Accurate Analysts Revise Forecasts Ahead Of Earnings Call (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Seaport Global Initiates Coverage On Darden Restaurants with Buy Rating, Announces Price Target of $240 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Oppenheimer Maintains Outperform on Darden Restaurants, Raises Price Target to $245 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Morgan Stanley Maintains Overweight on Darden Restaurants, Raises Price Target to $255 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
Technicals
Drivers
-
Technical
Neutral
Price sits between support near $212 and resistance near $214 — a very tight 1.5-point market review range.
Evidence
- Price when the context was analyzed
- 213.75
- Average true range (ATR)
- 2.1%
- Distance to 52-week high
- -6.1%
- 14-day change (14d)
- +2.1%
- 30-day change (30d)
- -5.3%
- 30-day relative strength
- -5.9%
- SPY change (30d)
- +0.6%
- Nearest support
- 212.45
- Distance to nearest support
- 0.6%
- Nearest resistance
- 213.93
- Distance to nearest resistance
- 0.1%
- Volume accumulation ratio (14d / 46d)
- 0.84
- Mid: 212.45 (0.6% away, 0.29 ATR, 18 touches)
- Major: 210.99 (1.3% away, 0.62 ATR, 41 touches)
- Major: 210.11 (1.7% away, 0.82 ATR, 37 touches)
- Major: 213.93 (0.1% away, 0.04 ATR, 20 touches)
- Minor: 214.77 (0.5% away, 0.23 ATR, 6 touches)
- Major: 215.74 (0.9% away, 0.45 ATR, 45 touches)
Trends
Evidence
- Average earnings surprise
- -0.5%
- June 25, 2026: actual EPS 3.66 vs estimate 3.64 (surprise +0.6%)
- March 19, 2026: actual EPS 2.95 vs estimate 2.94 (surprise +0.3%)
- December 18, 2025: actual EPS 2.08 vs estimate 2.1 (surprise -0.8%)
- September 18, 2025: actual EPS 1.97 vs estimate 2.01 (surprise -2.0%)
Expected move
Drivers
-
Past earnings
Negative
The company missed analyst expectations in 2 of its last 4 quarterly reports (Sept and Dec 2025).
- Implied move
- +2.0%
- Source
- Options chain
Reactions over its last 20 earnings
- Median move
- 2.3%
- 75th percentile move
- 5.9%
- 90th percentile move
- 7.8%
- Up / down moves
- 10 / 10
- Average up move
- +4.3%
- Average down move
- -3.2%
Monitoring and close
What Darden Restaurants, Inc. reported
- Status
- Finished
| Actual EPS | 2.05 |
|---|---|
| EPS estimate | 2.06 |
| EPS surprise | -0.5% |
| Revenue | $3,200 million |
| Revenue estimate | $3,206 million |
| Revenue surprise | -0.2% |
Darden shares fell after Q1 results missed estimates. Olive Garden's same-store sales growth slowed. Thursday's market faced pressure from rising oil and Treasury yields.
Sources (31)
- Crude Oil Rises Over 4%; Darden Earnings Miss Views (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden’s Sales Rise as Olive Garden Targets Lunch Comeback (opens in a new tab) — FSR
- Darden Restaurants Falls on Results; Stitch Fix Down on Forecast | Stock Movers (opens in a new tab) — Bloomberg
- Darden Stock Declines After Earnings. Olive Garden’s Growth Is Slowing Down. (opens in a new tab) — Barrons.com
- Darden Restaurants Q1 Earnings Call Highlights (opens in a new tab) — MarketBeat
- Darden Stock Dips After Disappointing Q1 Results (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants’ Earnings Hit by Higher Food and Labor Costs (opens in a new tab) — The Wall Street Journal
- Darden slips as Q1 results miss estimates (opens in a new tab) — Yahoo Finance Video
- Darden Restaurants, Inc. 2027 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation (opens in a new tab) — SeekingAlpha
- Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript (opens in a new tab) — SeekingAlpha
- Darden Restaurants Shares Fall as Q1 Revenue Misses Analyst Estimate (opens in a new tab) — InvestorsHub
- Darden Restaurants Q1 2027 earnings: profit falls, Olive Garden slows (opens in a new tab) — Quartz
- Darden Restaurants Q1 2027 Earnings Call: Complete Transcript (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Misses First-Quarter Revenue Views, Maintains Full-Year Outlook (opens in a new tab) — MT Newswires
- Trump & Xi Meet While Oil & Bond Yields Rise (opens in a new tab) — Zacks
- Darden revenue rises but misses estimates in fiscal first quarter (opens in a new tab) — Proactive
- Darden Q1 Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates, Both Up Y/Y, Stock Down (opens in a new tab) — Yahoo
- Compared to Estimates, Darden Restaurants (DRI) Q1 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics (opens in a new tab) — Zacks
- Darden’s Earnings Hit by High Food and Labor Costs. Stock of Olive Garden’s Parent Declines. (opens in a new tab) — Barrons.com
- TD Cowen Reiterates Hold on Darden Restaurants, Maintains $215 Price Target (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants falls as Q1 revenue misses expectations (opens in a new tab) — Yahoo
- Darden Restaurants Posts Sales Gains but Profit Slips on Higher Expenses (opens in a new tab) — The Wall Street Journal
- Earnings Scheduled For September 24, 2026 (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants (DRI) Misses Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates (opens in a new tab) — Zacks
- Darden (NYSE:DRI) Reports Q3 CY2026 In Line With Expectations (opens in a new tab) — StockStory
- Darden Restaurants Affirms FY2027 GAAP EPS Guidance of $11.10-$11.35 vs $11.27 Est (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants reported earnings of $2.05 per share in the first quarter, below the $2.06 expected. Revenue was $3.20 billion, falling short of the $3.21 billion estimate. — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants Q1 Adj. EPS $2.05 Misses $2.06 Estimate, Sales $3.200B Miss $3.206B Estimate (opens in a new tab) — Benzinga
- Darden Restaurants Reports Fiscal 2027 First Quarter Results; Declares Quarterly Dividend; and Reaffirms Fiscal 2027 Outlook (opens in a new tab) — Yahoo
- Darden Restaurants Delivers Despite Inflationary Pressures (opens in a new tab) — SeekingAlpha
- Darden Restaurants stock falls as Olive Garden reports slower growth (opens in a new tab) — CNBC
Pre-market second reading after the results
- Verdict
- Missed expectations
Heading into the open, Results came in below expectations on both earnings and revenue and the price is indicating -2.7% pre-market, a move in line with the stock's usual reaction (about 2%). The figures don't confirm the prior scenario: there was no prior directional scenario to check against.
How the stock reacted
- Outcome
- Accurate
- Consolidated
- -3.0%
- Max favorable move (MFE)
- 6.6%
- Max adverse move (MAE)
- 0%