Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Stock Analysis
Breakout setup
Consumer Cyclical · Restaurants
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $209.05 — A.R:R is negative (-0.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 3.9): -1.5.
Darden Restaurants operates 2,159 full-service restaurants across 11 brands including Olive Garden (935), LongHorn Steakhouse (591), Chuy's (108), Ruth's Chris (82), The Capital Grille (71), and others in the U.S. and Canada. Fiscal 2025 total sales were $12.08B across four... Read more
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $209.05 — A.R:R is negative (-0.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 3.9): -1.5. Chart setup: Golden cross, above all MAs, RSI 54, MACD bullish. Score 5.0/10, high confidence.
Passes 6/8 gates (positive momentum, clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news boost analyst 0.60, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: moderate.
About Darden Restaurants, Inc.
About Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Darden Restaurants operated 2,159 company-owned restaurants across 11 brands — including Olive Garden (935 units), LongHorn Steakhouse (591 units), and Ruth's Chris (82 units) — in the United States and Canada in fiscal 2025, generating $12.1 billion in total sales. The brand portfolio spans casual to fine dining price points, with Olive Garden accounting for the largest single-brand unit count and LongHorn Steakhouse second. The company also oversaw 154 franchised and 4 contractually operated locations globally.
Darden's revenue derives entirely from transactional food and beverage sales at company-owned restaurants, with no major customers representing a significant share of sales. The company aggregates its brands into four reportable segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (Ruth's Chris, The Capital Grille, and Eddie V's), and Other Business (Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Chuy's, Yard House, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and The Capital Burger). Average check per person in fiscal 2025 ranged from $19 at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen to $123 at Eddie V's, with alcoholic beverages ranging from 4.7% to 30% of brand-level sales. The company acquired Chuy's Holdings in October 2024 for $613.7 million in net cash consideration, adding 103 restaurants, and is exploring strategic alternatives for the Bahama Breeze brand, which includes 28 company-owned locations. Cost exposure centers on food commodities including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, and produce, as well as labor in states with above-federal minimum wages.
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Labor costs pose a structural challenge across a 2,159-restaurant footprint staffed primarily by hourly workers, most of whom work part-time. The 10-K discloses that Darden operates in many states where the minimum wage is significantly higher than the federal minimum wage, and notes that minimum wage increases may also push up wages for non-minimum-wage positions. Anticipated changes in immigration laws could shrink the pool of candidates with legal work authorizations, compounding turnover risk and the cost of supporting the 60–65 new restaurant openings projected for fiscal 2026.
See also: Consumer Cyclical · Restaurants
From Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted June 10, 2026.
Recent developments
updated 2026-06-17Recent Developments — Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Latest news
- NEWS Citigroup Maintains Buy on Darden Restaurants, Raises Price Target to $245 — benzinga Jun 15, 2026 positive
- NEWS B of A Securities Maintains Buy on Darden Restaurants, Raises Price Target to $276 — benzinga Jun 5, 2026 positive
- NEWS Reported Earlier, Four Corners Property Trust Announced A Single Property Asset Exchange With Darden Restaurants — benzinga May 29, 2026 neutral
- NEWS Keybanc Maintains Overweight on Darden Restaurants, Raises Price Target to $228 — benzinga May 27, 2026 positive
- NEWS New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sold Over $129K Worth of Darden Restaurants Stock: Here's What You Should Know — benzinga May 20, 2026 neutral
Generated 2026-06-17T09:02:26Z.
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Rating Breakdown
2 floor-breakers
Growth below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
No near-term catalyst priced in. Thesis progression will come from fundamentals grinding, not event reaction.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $209.05 — A.R:R is negative (-0.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Leverage penalty (D/E 3.9): -1.5. Chart setup: Golden cross, above all MAs, RSI 54, MACD bullish. Prior stop was $198.29. Score 5.0/10, high confidence.
Take-profit target: $209.86 (+0.4% upside). Prior stop was $198.29. Stop-loss: $198.29.
Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining; Leverage penalty (D/E 3.9): -1.5; Consecutive earnings misses (2).
Darden Restaurants, Inc. trades at a P/E of 22.0 (forward 18.4). TrendMatrix value score: 5.4/10. Verdict: Sell.
34 analysts cover DRI with a consensus score of 3.9/5. Average price target: $226.
What does Darden Restaurants, Inc. do?Darden Restaurants operates 2,159 full-service restaurants across 11 brands including Olive Garden (935), LongHorn...
Darden Restaurants operates 2,159 full-service restaurants across 11 brands including Olive Garden (935), LongHorn Steakhouse (591), Chuy's (108), Ruth's Chris (82), The Capital Grille (71), and others in the U.S. and Canada. Fiscal 2025 total sales were $12.08B across four reportable segments; Darden acquired Chuy's in October 2024 for $613.7M net.