Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Introduction Darden Restaurants, Inc. ( Darden, the Company, we, us, or our ) is a full-service restaurant company, and as of May 31, 2026, we owned and operated 2,202 restaurants through subsidiaries in the United States under the Olive Garden , LongHorn Steakhouse , Yard House , Ruth s Chris Steak House ( Ruth s Chris ), Cheddar s Scratch Kitchen , The Capital Grille , Chuy s , Seasons 52 , E…
$217.56
+$3.04 (+1.42%)
EOD Oct 22, 2026
11.98% operating margin is respectable but not wide. ROIC at 13.87%. Suggests the business covers its cost of capital, but doesn't point to a wide moat.
Revenue grew 9.4%, steady but not accelerating.
Net debt of $7.79B represents 7.0x FCF, leverage limits flexibility.
21.3x earnings, 23.3x FCF. Valuation is in a reasonable range. The main question is whether the business can re-accelerate or if current trajectory is already priced in.
Price History
Valuation & Multiples
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$13.37B
▲ +9.4% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$1.18B
▲ +15.0% YoY
Op. Margin
11.69%
▲ +0.7pp YoY
ROIC
13.39%
▲ +1.0pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$1.05B
▲ +5.3% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$1.79B
▲ +8.6% YoY
Net Debt
$8.37B
Cash & Equiv.
$221M
5Y CAGR: +12.9%
5Y CAGR: +3.6%
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SourceComputed from the 10-Q filed 21 Sept 2026, covering the period ending 30 Aug 2026, as reported to the SEC. Data last refreshed 3 Oct 2026. How this is calculated.
Price from market data, last close as of 22 Oct 2026. Fiscal year ends May. Sector medians are approximate S&P 500 benchmarks and update periodically.
Is Darden Restaurants (DRI) overvalued?
At a P/E of 21.3 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 23.3, Darden Restaurants (DRI) trades above a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $101.79 per share, so at $217.56 the stock looks overvalued (53.2% above estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Darden Restaurants scores 57/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a mixed business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 2.9%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology, or see how the market compares in our US profitability statistics. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Frequently asked
What is Darden Restaurants's fair value?+
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $101.79 per share for DRI, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $76.34. At today's $217.56, that puts the stock about 53.2% above estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Is Darden Restaurants a high-quality business?+
Darden Restaurants scores 57 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a mixed business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 11.7% operating margin and a 13.4% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Does Darden Restaurants (DRI) pay a dividend, and how much?+
Yes, Darden Restaurants pays a regular dividend of about $6.14 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 2.9% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 59.4% of earnings, so the dividend is well covered. Darden Restaurants has grown the dividend at roughly 5.3% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For DRI's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
Is Darden Restaurants a good stock to buy right now?+
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. DRI currently trades above its estimated intrinsic value and scores 57/100 on quality (mixed). It also yields about 2.9%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.
Related stocks: Retail-Eating Places
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR filings and third-party price providers. Scores, valuations, and metrics are algorithmic estimates. This is not investment advice. See our Terms and Methodology.
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