Darden Restaurants beats 3Q net income expectations, misses revenue forecasts

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) on Friday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $133.8 million.

The Orlando, Florida-based company said it had profit of $1.05 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 99 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 84 cents per share.

The owner of Olive Garden and other chain restaurants posted revenue of $1.73 billion in the period, falling short of Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.74 billion.

For the current quarter ending in May, Darden Restaurants expects its per-share earnings to range from 91 cents to 94 cents.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.45 to $2.48 per share.

Darden Restaurants shares have increased 11 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 1.5 percent. The stock has risen 32 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap ) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DRI at http://www.zacks.com/ap/DRI

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Keywords: Darden Restaurants, Earnings Report