Darden Restaurants reluctantly turns to delivery to reverse sales decline

The news: Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants inked a two-year, exclusive delivery partnership with Uber following a disappointing quarter during which the company missed both earnings and revenue expectations.

  • Net sales for the quarter ended August 25 rose 1% year over year (YoY) to $2.76 billion, falling short of LSEG’s $2.8 billion consensus estimate.
  • Same-store sales across Darden’s brands fell 1.1% YoY, with the company’s fine-dining segment and Olive Garden reporting the biggest declines at 6.0% and 2.9%, respectively.

First Published on Sep 19, 2024