DRI DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC

Overview and Growth

In fiscal 2026, DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC recorded $13.21B of revenue, net income of $1.21B, and an operating cash inflow of $1.85B. At $13.21B, the top line establishes the operating scale supporting the company’s profit and cash-flow profile. Revenue was 9.4% above fiscal 2025 revenue of $12.08B, marking a year-over-year increase. The company reported diluted EPS of $10.38, adding a shareholder-level measure to the absolute income figures considered below. Diluted EPS increased by 17.2% from $8.86 in fiscal 2025, showing how the earnings change reached shareholders on a per-share basis. Revenue equaled 1.03x of total assets, indicating how much reported top-line activity the company produced relative to its period-end asset base.

Profitability

The first profit layer was $2.68B of gross profit, the amount available after reported direct revenue costs to absorb operating expenses. Gross profit represented 20.3% of revenue, showing how much of the top line remained after direct costs. Operating income was $1.58B, the earnings remaining from reported operations after the company’s recognized operating cost structure. The operating result equaled 12.0% of revenue, placing the absolute operating-income figure in the context of the company’s sales base. Net income came to $1.21B, completing the progression from revenue through gross and operating profitability to the final reported result. Net margin was 9.1%, meaning that this portion of revenue remained as net income after all recognized expenses. The earnings statement records $1.39B of pretax income, the profit base against which the reported tax provision can be assessed. Pretax income represented 10.5% of revenue, placing earnings before tax in the context of the company’s operating scale. Income tax expense totaled $174.90M, providing the reported tax component that separates pretax and after-tax earnings. The effective relationship between income tax and positive pretax income was 12.6%, without assuming a statutory-rate comparison.

Liquidity and Capital Structure

The company held $12.86B of assets against $10.65B of liabilities and $2.21B of equity, revealing how the asset base was financed. The near-term balance sheet paired $942.90M of current assets with $3.01B of current liabilities at the reporting date. Current assets covered only 0.31x of current liabilities, so current liabilities exceeded current assets at period end. Reported cash and equivalents were $219.50M, separating immediately recognizable cash resources from the rest of the current-asset base. Measured only with cash and equivalents, coverage of current liabilities was 7.3%, excluding receivables and other current assets. Borrowings totaled $2.33B, adding a fixed financing obligation alongside the company’s equity capital. Against book equity, debt measured 1.06x, placing the company’s financial leverage in clear balance-sheet terms. Debt represented 18.1% of total assets, placing borrowing in the context of the company’s full resource base. The liabilities-to-assets relationship was 82.8%, placing reported obligations against the full positive asset balance. The cash-to-assets relationship was 1.7%, comparing reported cash and equivalents with the full positive asset balance.

Cash Flow and Earnings Quality

Operating activities produced a cash inflow of $1.85B, giving the cash-flow counterpart to the accrual-based profit measures reported for the year. Operating cash flow equaled 1.54x of net income, showing how strongly accounting earnings converted into cash from operations. Capital spending was $734.00M, absorbing part of the cash generated from operations before free cash flow. Capital expenditures represented 39.6% of operating cash flow, leaving the remainder available as free cash flow. Free cash flow came to $1.12B, leaving a positive amount after capital expenditures. The free-cash-flow margin was 8.5%, measuring cash remaining after capital spending against revenue. Measured against total assets, free cash flow represented 8.7%, showing the cash productivity of the company’s assets.

Based on the annual report for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2026. Analysis generated Oct 21, 2026.