Cost Edge Allows Darden to Offer a Compelling Value Proposition to Stretched Consumers

In our view, Darden Restaurants is poised to steal share in the US full-service dining industry. Its largest casual-dining concepts, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, continue to benefit from compelling value propositions. Ongoing investments in operations, guest experience, and new unit development should enable Darden to outperform in a mature category that’s highly fragmented, with 63% of sales held by independent operators, per Euromonitor. We forecast 5.8% system sales growth for Darden over the next five years, besting our 3% outlook for the broader full-service industry.