Diners wearing protective masks wait outside an Olive Garden restaurant in Thornton, Colorado, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
Chet Strange | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Darden Restaurants on Thursday reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations as customers visited Olive Garden and its other chains more than expected.
The company is forecasting that its fiscal fourth-quarter results will show it’s well on the way to recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Shares of the company rose more than 4% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 98 cents vs. 69 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.73 billion vs. $1.63 billion expected
The company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $128.7 million, or 98 cents per share, down from $232.3 million, or $1.89 per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of 69 cents per share.
Net sales fell 26.1% to $1.73 billion, topping expectations of $1.63 billion.
