Darden Restaurants (DRI) FY2026 10-K Annual Report

Filed: Jul 24, 2026
Consumer Discretionary
Retail-Eating PlacesSEC EDGAR

Darden Restaurants (DRI) 10-K annual report for fiscal year 2026, filed with SEC EDGAR on Jul 24, 2026. This page provides AI-powered analysis including business overview, management discussion & analysis (MD&A), risk factors, and key financial data such as revenue, net income, gross margin, operating margin, and return on equity (ROE) extracted from XBRL.

Darden Restaurants FY2026 10-K Analysis

Business Overview

  • Core business: Largest U.S. full-service restaurant company operating 2,202 owned restaurants across 11 brands primarily in the U.S. market
  • Strategic shift: Closed ~50% of Bahama Breeze restaurants; converting remainder to other Darden brands over 12–18 months starting FY 2026
  • Expansion: Added 43 net new U.S. restaurants in FY 2026; projected 75-80 openings in FY 2027 across major brands with $4.3M-$10.2M capital investment per unit
  • Notable metric: Workforce of 209,931 team members, with 67% employee turnover rate — one of the lowest in the restaurant industry
  • Unique fact: Sold eight Olive Garden Canada restaurants in FY 2026 to Recipe Unlimited but retained brand royalties via franchise agreement

Management Discussion & Analysis

  • Revenue $13.21B in fiscal 2026, up 9.4% YoY from $12.08B; driven by extra week, 4.5% same-restaurant sales growth, 43 net new restaurants
  • Operating margin 12.0% in fiscal 2026 vs 11.3% in 2025; net earnings $1.21B, up 15.5%; diluted EPS $10.44 vs $8.88, up 17.6%
  • Best performing segment: Olive Garden sales $5.59B, 7.3% growth, margin 22.5% vs 22.3%; Worst: Fine Dining margin 17.7% vs 18.6%, 90bps decline
  • Operating cash flow $1.85B, capex $734M; dividends paid $693M ($6.00/share); share repurchases $671.7M; financing included $194M commercial paper proceeds
  • Fiscal 2027 sales guidance $13.60B-$13.75B, same-restaurant sales growth 2.5%-3.5%; capex guidance approx. $875M; ongoing Bahama Breeze brand closures/conversions

Risk Factors

  • Regulatory risk: compliance with evolving federal, state, and local labor laws including minimum wage increases and employment regulations impacting labor costs
  • Macroeconomic threat: inflationary conditions in fiscal 2026 raising costs of commodities (beef, poultry, seafood), labor, and utilities, pressuring operating margins
  • Supply chain vulnerability: reliance on limited suppliers, risk of shortages or delays from weather, animal disease outbreaks, trade disputes, affecting product availability and costs
  • Competitive risk: rising competition from restaurant chains, grocery prepared foods, and delivery aggregators increasing pressure on pricing, guest traffic, and marketing effectiveness
  • Financial risk: long-term lease obligations on 2,104 of 2,202 U.S. restaurants, exposing company to fixed costs on closed or underperforming locations

Darden Restaurants FY2026 Key Financial Metrics
XBRL

Revenue

$13.2B

+9.4% YoY

Net Income

$1.2B

+15.0% YoY

Gross Margin

20.3%

-17bp YoY

Operating Margin

12.0%

+70bp YoY

Net Margin

9.1%

+44bp YoY

ROE

54.7%

+925bp YoY

Total Assets

$12.9B

+2.2% YoY

EPS (Diluted)

$10.38

+17.2% YoY

Operating Cash Flow

$1.9B

+8.6% YoY

Source: XBRL data from Darden Restaurants FY2026 10-K filing on SEC EDGAR. All figures in USD.

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