DRI
Darden Restaurants
$212.76
▲ 0.9%Updated Aug 7, 11:30 AM ET
DRI at a glance — five pillars scored 0–100 from real filed financials.
Overall: Neutral · 55/100. A wider, greener shape means more pillars look healthy. Dividends scores 0 when a company pays none — that is a choice, not a flaw.
▼ Down 4.2% over the last 12 months
Market Cap
$23.40B
P/E
22.18x
Forward P/E (est.)
20.81x
ROE
50.7%
Revenue Growth
8.5%
EPS Growth
6.6%
Profit Margin
8.7%
FCF Yield
5.4%
Debt / Equity
1.62x
ROIC
25.0%
Interest Coverage
27.14x
Current Ratio
0.39x
Dividend Yield
2.9%
Implied Growth (rev. DCF)
4.3%
Rating Score
55/100
Darden Restaurants (DRI) is a large-cap company in the Restaurants industry, part of the Consumer Discretionary sector of the S&P 500, with a market value around $23.40B.
In its latest reported year it generated about $12.08B in revenue and $1.05B in net profit.
Our model rates DRI Neutral (55/100) on growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation. The summary below is built from its filed financials and current ratios and refreshes automatically.
Evidence of durable competitive advantage in the filed financials (10 years of history).
Some durable-advantage evidence, but not across the board — dig into which ingredient is weak and whether it's cyclical or structural.
19.9% average over the last 3 years
±1.4 pts around 18.8% across 10 years
grew in 7 of the last 9 year-over-year periods
positive in 10 of 10 years
25.0% latest fiscal year
A moat can't be proven by numbers alone — this scores the evidence a durable advantage leaves behind (pricing power, consistency, returns on capital), computed the same way for every stock. Pair it with the business overview before concluding anything.
Technical analysis reads price and volume to judge momentum and timing. It complements the fundamentals above — it does not replace them. Here is what DRI's chart says today, with each tool explained.
Trend — moving averages. A moving average is the average closing price over a window, which smooths out daily noise. DRI trades near $212.76, above its 50-day average ($201.63) and 200-day average ($195.75). Price above both averages, with the shorter one above the longer, is the textbook definition of an uptrend — momentum favours buyers.
Momentum — RSI. The Relative Strength Index runs 0–100 and measures how strong recent gains are versus losses. Above 70 is "overbought", below 30 "oversold". At 39 it is in neutral territory — neither stretched nor washed out.
MACD. MACD compares two moving averages to flag shifts in momentum. Its histogram is currently negative — short-term momentum is fading.
Volatility — ATR. Average True Range is the typical daily move. DRI's is $6.21 (~2.9% of price), so swings of about that size each day are normal — handy for setting a stop that isn't too tight.
Support & resistance. Over the last month DRI found buyers near $191.73 (support) and sellers near $219.38 (resistance); its 52-week range is $169.00–$220.85. A decisive break beyond either edge often marks the next move.
Volume. The latest session traded 1.0× the 20-day average — about normal. Rising volume on up-days suggests real buying; on down-days, real selling.
Educational information to help you read a chart — not a recommendation or a forecast. It updates daily as the price and indicators change.
4Y CAGR
13.8%
Revenue moved from $6.93B in 2016 to $12.08B in 2025, a 6.4% compound annual growth rate. The most recent year grew a steady 8.5% year over year. Slower, mature growth is common for established businesses.
Gross Margin
20.5%
Operating Margin
11.3%
Net Margin
8.7%
ROE
50.7%
Darden Restaurants keeps about 8.7% of each sales dollar as net profit, with a 20.5% gross margin and 11.3% operating margin. Return on equity is 50.7% and return on invested capital about 25.0%. Margins are moderate — typical of a competitive but profitable business.
Total Debt
$2.14B
Net Debt
$1.90B
Net Debt / EBITDA
1.4x
Debt / Equity
1.62x
Leverage: debt-to-equity is 1.6x, and operating profit covers interest about 27.1x, with a current ratio of 0.4x. That is elevated leverage, which raises risk if earnings or rates move against it. It carries roughly $2.14B of total debt against $240.40M of cash.
Operating CF
$1.71B
Free Cash Flow
$1.06B
FCF Margin
8.8%
In the latest year Darden Restaurants produced about $1.71B of operating cash flow and $1.06B of free cash flow after capital spending. That is a free-cash-flow yield of about 5.4% on today's price. Strong cash generation funds dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment.
Can the payout survive a bad year? Scored from filed cash flow, earnings coverage, and the raise/cut record.
The dividend is being paid, but coverage or consistency is thinner than an income investor should rely on without a closer look.
Dividend yield
2.9%
Per share (latest FY)
$5.60
Total paid (latest FY)
$658.50M
History on record
10 years
dividend uses 62% of free cash flow
63% of net income paid out
total dividends increased 4 years in a row
payout was cut at least once in the last 10 years
Coverage uses the latest fiscal year as filed with the SEC; the streak counts total dollars paid (per-share figures can carry split artifacts). Educational information, not income advice.
P/E
22.18x
P/S
2x
P/B
10.51x
EV / EBITDA
—
DRI trades at 22.2x trailing earnings (about 20.8x on estimated forward earnings), 2.0x sales, and 10.5x book value. Reverse-engineering today's price implies the market expects roughly 4.3% long-term free-cash-flow growth. That is a fairly typical valuation for a profitable company.
A two-stage discounted cash flow on real SEC-filed free cash flow — the intrinsic-value anchor professional analysts triangulate from.
DCF fair value / share
$205.19
Current price
$212.76
Starting FCF (latest 10-K)
$1.06B
Growth, years 1–5
8.5%
Fade to terminal, years 6–10
2.5%
Discount rate
9.0%
Cash flows grow at the stage-1 rate (trailing revenue growth, capped at 20%) for five years, fade to 2.5% by year 10, and continue at that rate forever (Gordon terminal value), all discounted at 9.0%. Small changes in assumptions move the result a lot — treat this as one reference point, not a target price. Educational only, not investment advice.
Where DRI sits versus its Consumer Discretionary sector peers in the S&P 500.
Bands show the middle half (25th–75th percentile) of the 85 Consumer Discretionary companies in the S&P 500 — the peer-relative anchor professional comps analysis uses. Context only — not investment advice.
How DRI stacks up against its Consumer Discretionary peers — valuation, profitability, and growth versus the sector median.
In the Consumer Discretionary sector (158 S&P 500 companies), DRI ranks #33 of 158 by our overall rating. It trades at roughly in line versus the sector on earnings (22.2x P/E vs. 25.8x median) with a higher return on equity (50.7% vs. 26.2%) and faster revenue growth (8.5% vs. 6.8%).
P/E vs sector
22.2x
median 25.8x
ROE vs sector
50.7%
median 26.2%
Growth vs sector
8.5%
median 6.8%
Sector rank
#33
of 158 by rating
Valuation vs. quality map
The sweet spot is upper-left: more profitable (higher ROE) for a lower P/E. Dashed lines mark the sector median.
Peers are the closest Consumer Discretionary companies by sub-industry and size. Sector median is across all 158 S&P 500 names in the sector. Educational, not a recommendation.
Project revenue → earnings → price. Edit the assumptions to build your own case.
2030 price target (Base Case)
$0.00 – $0.00
vs. $212.76 today · expected CAGR -1% – 9%
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $13.16B | $14.35B | $15.64B | $17.05B | $18.58B |
| Net income | $1.18B | $1.29B | $1.41B | $1.53B | $1.67B |
| EPS | $10.77 | $11.74 | $12.80 | $13.95 | $15.20 |
| Share price (low) | $140.02 | $152.63 | $166.36 | $181.33 | $197.65 |
| Share price (high) | $236.96 | $258.29 | $281.54 | $306.87 | $334.49 |
| CAGR (low–high) | -34% / 11% | -15% / 10% | -8% / 10% | -4% / 10% | -1% / 9% |
Educational model on sample fundamentals — not a forecast or investment advice. Outputs are only as good as your assumptions.
The case for DRI:
- Strong return on equity (50.7%) shows capital is put to work well.
- Healthy free-cash-flow yield (~5.4%) funds buybacks and dividends.
- Pays a 2.9% dividend on top of any price gains.
The case against DRI:
- Elevated leverage (debt/equity 1.6x) adds financial risk.
- Like any single stock, it is exposed to competition, the economic cycle, and shifts in its end markets.
Balance-sheet risk — debt/equity of 1.6x magnifies the impact of higher rates or weaker earnings.
Market risk — sector rotation, the economic cycle, and broad sentiment move the stock regardless of fundamentals.
On balance, the picture is mixed: Darden Restaurants is a large-cap consumer discretionary business growing at a mature pace, with modest profitability, and a heavier debt load to watch. It trades at 22.2x earnings, which our model scores Neutral (55/100). Weigh this against your own goals and time horizon — this is educational information, not a recommendation.
Analyst Ratings
What 33 Wall Street analysts covering DRI recommend (August 2026). Consensus is a useful sanity check — not a substitute for your own homework.
Analysts have turned more cautious over the last three months (-6 pts of buy ratings).
Latest SEC Filings
DRI's most recent filings, straight from SEC EDGAR. Annual and quarterly reports are the deep dives; 8-Ks flag material events the moment they happen.
In the Idea Lab
DRI — frequently asked questions
Is DRI a good stock to buy?
We don't give buy or sell advice. Our model rates Darden Restaurants Neutral (55/100) based on its growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation — use that as a research starting point and make your own decision.
What is DRI's rating on The Stocks School?
Darden Restaurants currently scores 55/100 (Neutral) on our transparent model, which weighs real fundamentals: growth, margins, returns on capital, balance-sheet strength, and valuation.
How our ratings work →Where does DRI's data come from?
Live price data plus real fundamentals and 5-year financials pulled directly from Darden Restaurants's SEC filings — refreshed automatically, not hand-entered.
How is the 5-year projection for DRI calculated?
It's a scenario model: it grows revenue at an assumed rate, applies a profit margin and a valuation multiple, and shows the resulting share-price range. The assumptions are yours to change — it's a tool for thinking, not a prediction.
Is this DRI analysis financial advice?
No. Everything on this page is educational research, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell DRI. Always do your own research and consider a licensed professional.
Data notice. Fundamentals and financial statements are sourced from company filings (SEC EDGAR) and market-data providers; prices and market caps refresh on trading days and may be delayed. Ratings, projections, technical signals, and written summaries are model- or rule-generated for education and may simplify or lag the latest filings.
Not advice. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional before investing.