Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Ridiculous over reaction to last quarters result. First time the stock missed earning estimates since middle of 04! Middle and lower income people will stop eating at red lobster and olive garden.

Everyone eats. Olive Garden & Red Lobster will remain favorites once the economy picks up again.

Ridiculous over-reaction to the third quarter numbers. RARE acquisition should be a good move.

Bad news already priced in prior to earnings.

no one has any money to spend on eating out

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The Olive Garden in our area is constantly packed and has been for at least the past year. It is located in a very upscale area of Houston and seems to draw mostly people from the older surrounding areas. The Red Lobster is not nearly as crowded but is in a hard to reach location - but still draws a bit of a wait on a Friday evening.

This seems a good time to buy Darden, as the price is relatively low. An Olive Garden and a Red Lobster just opened in this area, and there is always a wait for tables.

47

my pops owns this and he should have sold at 46...red lobsters arent doing well

cost of corn

Now that DRI has a plan to shake off Smokey Bones and its drag on performance, things will improve. They will continue to expand and improve operations and will come up with a new concept to take the growth harness that SB failed to fill.

Olive Garden, a restaurant concept of Darden Restaurants, Inc., recently achieved 50 consecutive quarters of positive U.S. same-restaurant sales growth. This demonstrates the company's strong brand identity and commitment to delivering a genuine Italian dining experience to its more than three million guests weekly. Additionally Red Lobster, another concept of Darden has been recognized as the nation's best seafood restaurant 18 years in a row, based on a nationwide poll of diners by Restaurants & Institutions magazine. Apart from these two the company’s other concepts like Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill and Seasons 52 are also heading towards a growth path.

Darden Restaurants is aggressively looking to acquire a rival restaurant in the "casual dining space" to compliment its current brands. Moreover the company is looking at both "small emerging businesses" and "intermediate scale operations" with chains of about 100 units and smaller and which could eventually have 300 to 400 outlets and generate $1 billion dollars in sales. The company is also looking at repairing its Smokey Bones brand, which was on a downturn recently, by considering possible changes to its name, menu, and restaurant design so that it can broaden its appeal and increase the frequency of guest visits.

The increasing number of people in their 50s and 60s which are the prime customers in the casual dining sector is expected to prove as a positive demographic shift for Darden. Moreover with its solid cash flow and the share buyback program it is expected that Darden will rock the casual dining segment as well as the stock market in the coming future.

Great resturants, always packed, and everybody eats good.

I work for the company

Demographic change (ageing population) would like to eat out. That would help. Their new concept seasons52 is gaining popularity among the diet conscious generation. The forward P/E is less than 15. Two big cash cow brands (Olive Garden and Red Lobster)

great management

'Tis the season for Italian.

Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze are weighing down Darden's overall performance and this is expected to continue into the near future as management puts together a new strategy to unlock value out of Smokey Bones... like scrapping the BBQ concept altogether for a more Texas steakhouse type. Until it can get these younger concepts in order I don't expect market-beating performance from this stock.