Darden Restaurants posts 4Q profit, results beat Wall Street forecasts

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $105.3 million.

On a per-share basis, the Orlando, Florida-based company said it had profit of 82 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and to account for discontinued operations, were $1.08 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 93 cents per share.

The owner of Olive Garden and other chain restaurants posted revenue of $1.88 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.87 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $709.5 million, or $5.47 per share. Revenue was reported as $6.76 billion.

Darden Restaurants expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.05 to $3.20 per share.

Darden Restaurants shares have climbed 18 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 3 percent. The stock has risen 40 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