By Dean Seal

Darden Restaurants is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results before the market opens Thursday. Here is what you need to know:

PROFIT: The parent company of Olive Garden and other restaurant chains is expected to post a profit of $330.5 million for the quarter ended in late February, according to the consensus estimate of 21 analysts polled by FactSet. That would be up from $312.9 million in the same period a year earlier.

EARNINGS: Per share, earnings are expected to be $2.80, according to the projections of 28 analysts polled by FactSet.

SALES: Sales are expected to rise to $3.21 billion from $2.97 billion in the year-earlier period, according to the forecasts of 24 analysts surveyed by FactSet.

The stock rose 9.1% during the quarter and most recently closed at $188.07.

WHAT TO WATCH

--Comparable sales are expected to rise a tidy 1.6%, according to FactSet, which would be an improvement from a 1% drop in comps in the year-earlier quarter.

--Oppenheimer analysts expect the company to miss that comparable-sales target after sloppy industry data in January and February, which included fiscal calendar shifts, weather impacts, a challenging flu season and overall consumer weakness. That should improve in quarters to come, however, as the rollout of Olive Garden delivery takes shape, the analysts said in a recent research note.

--Darden also will likely miss earnings estimates for the quarter, but that's probably been priced into the stock already, Truist analysts said in a recent research note. Those estimates are somewhat stale and don't account for adverse weather and continued inflation in the cost of beef, the analysts said.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2025 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

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