Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI)

FairStock Score: 47/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look at Darden as a scaled full-service restaurant operator: many familiar banners, 209,931 employees, and filed revenue of $13.2B in fiscal year 2026, the year ended 2026-05-31, up from $12.1B in fiscal year 2025 and $11.4B in fiscal year 2024. That is steady top-line progress, and FairStock's computed Lynch category is STALWART, citing 13.9% annual profit growth and 12.9% revenue growth over five years. The brand portfolio and scale are real advantages, but full-service dining is competitive, and FairStock's ROCE calculation of 7.72% suggests total-capital returns are only modest. The balance sheet gives me pause. Debt-to-equity is 3.65, the Altman Z-score is 1.38, and the Piotroski F-score is 4/9. ROE is high at 53.72%, but with that leverage I do not treat it as a pure quality signal. Trailing free cash flow is $1.0B, a 4.2% FCF yield, and the dividend yield is 3.10%. Filed results show mixed momentum: in fiscal Q1 2027, the quarter ended 2026-08-30, revenue was $3.2B and net income $233.4M, versus fiscal Q1 2026, the quarter ended 2025-08-24, when net income was $257.8M on $3.0B of revenue. At the 2026-10-26 close of $213.25, FairStock's P/E is 20.43, P/B is 11.02, EV/EBITDA is 13.99, and the Graham Number is $65.49, a -224.32% margin of safety. That is not a Graham bargain. I would want profit trends and leverage to improve before calling the price conservative.

In plain English: Darden Restaurants runs full-service restaurant chains such as Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. Sales have grown, but profits recently slipped and the company uses a lot of debt. At $213.25, the stock looks expensive compared with its earnings, accounting value, and cash flow.

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Data as of 2026-10-26 close · note generated 2026-10-28 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q1 2027 10-Q (period ended 2026-08-30) · fiscal Q3 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-02-22) · fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-11-23) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2025-08-24) · FY2026 10-K (period ended 2026-05-31) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-05-25) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-05-26)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer