🍝 Darden Restaurants (DRI): stable growth in a volatile sector? Evercore says yes.

📈 Why does Evercore have confidence?

  1. Long-term stability and brand
    Olive Garden (45% of sales) and LongHorn (25%) are strong brands with a loyal customer base. This allows us to predict sustainable growth without dramatic fluctuations.
  2. Innovation without the risk of over-expansion
    • Using Uber Direct for food delivery
    • Cheaper meal options for the more sensitive segment
    • Optimization of smaller brands (e.g. Bahama Breeze - strategy review)
  3. Access to shareholders
    • Reinvestment in development and share buybacks
    • Despite margin pressure, EBIT margin is expected to grow by 35 bps
  4. Strong performance even in a challenging environment
    • SSS up 4.6% in Q4 fiscal, Olive Garden up +6.9%
    • At a time when other chains are struggling with declining sales

🧠 SWOT analysis of Darden Restaurants:

🔎 Valuation and investment attractiveness:

📌 Target price of $250 is considered conservatively realistic given the growth profile and consistent $DRIperformance .

✅ Who is DRI attractive to?

Yes, if:

  • You are looking for a defensive growth title with a dividend
  • you believe in brand strength and operational discipline
  • you are looking for a company with lower volatility than tech stocks
  • you prefer cash-flow positive companies with buybacks

Think twice if:

  • you expect rapid expansion or aggressive growth
  • you don't want to be exposed to US consumer spending
  • you're looking for a cheap P/E (21x is fair, but not cheap)

🗣️ Summary:

"Darden $DRI is not a sexy growth story. It's a steady yield machine - and in a sector where surviving means winning."

"If you want to invest in something that moves slowly but surely - DRI is like Olive Garden: not always exciting, but you can always count on it."


It's not great, but $CAVA is an interesting business too and the performance is great.

It doesn't look bad, but I already have $MCD in my portfolio and I think it's a much better business.

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