President & Chief Executive Officer, Darden Restaurants
Search every verified Ricardo Cardenas interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. During Darden Restaurants’ fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter earnings call on June 25, 2026, Cardenas said the company had “a great year” and noted that fiscal 2026 marked Darden’s 31st year as a publicly traded company, with an average annualized total shareholder return of 10% or greater for any 10 fiscal year period. He stated that consumer spending “remains pretty resilient” and that while consumer mood is “still a little cautious,” weaker sentiment has not translated into reduced spending. Cardenas added that Darden’s casual brands saw an increase in visits year-over-year from all income groups, including the bottom quintile. Cardenas discussed Olive Garden’s performance, saying he expected the brand to be at the lower end of the company’s 2.5% to 3.5% growth range for the year but still achieve “decent growth.” He noted that Olive Garden’s segment profit margin increased 50 basis points in Q4 despite a 50-basis-point headwind from a “lighter portion” investment, and he projected margins to be “flat to positive” for the full year. Cardenas described Olive Garden as “an engine that has been fueling growth for Darden” through cash generation. He also reiterated the company’s measured approach to pricing, stating that Darden prices “below inflation over time to preserve our value proposition and support traffic.” On third-party delivery, Cardenas listed concerns including price transparency, data control, and tips for employees, saying those issues would need to be addressed before Darden would enter that model. He also highlighted that Darden promoted 1,375 hourly team members into management roles in fiscal 2026, noting that many senior leaders, including himself, began as hourly team members.
“Fiscal 26 marks our 31st year as a publicly traded company and Darden has achieved an average annualized total shareholder return of 10% or greater for any 10 fiscal year period when considering Darden stock price appreciation plus dividend yield.”
“In regards to consumer, we really haven't seen a whole lot of change based on what we've been saying for the last couple of quarters. Consumer spending remains pretty resilient. Overall, the mood with consumers is still a little cautious, but as we've said a couple of times before, the weaker consumer sentiment hasn't...”
“Consumer spending remains pretty resilient. Overall, the mood with consumers is still a little cautious. But as we've said a couple of times before, the weaker consumer sentiment hasn't necessarily translated into reduced spending. Our casual brands saw an increase in visits year-over-year from all income groups, inclu...”
“We have consistently taken a measured approach, pricing below inflation over time to preserve our value proposition and support traffic. This discipline helps us maintain guest relevance, support long-term traffic growth, and strengthen the durability of the business across different operating environments.”
“Fiscal 26 marks our 31st year as a publicly traded company and Darden has achieved an average annualized total shareholder return of 10% or greater for any 10 fiscal year period when considering Darden stock price appreciation plus dividend yield.”
“One of the most powerful things about Garden is our ability to change our team members lives. We give people the opportunity to grow and progress regardless of their first role with us. Many of our senior senior leaders, including me, began as hourly team members. That's why I'm extremely proud that we promoted 1375 ho...”
“In regards to consumer, we really haven't seen a whole lot of change based on what we've been saying for the last couple of quarters. Consumer spending remains pretty resilient. Overall, the mood with consumers is still a little cautious. But as we've said a couple of times before, the weaker consumer sentiment hasn't...”
“In regards to third-party delivery, as we've mentioned many times, there's a few things that we don't like about third-party delivery, that model, but some of them solved. Others we'd have to see addressed before we get into that. And I'll give you some examples: price transparency for our consumers so they know exactl...”
“We had a strong quarter with same restaurant sales and earnings growth that exceeded our expectations. I'm proud of the great work by our restaurant teams throughout the quarter, particularly on Mother's Day, as several brands achieved sales records for that day.”
“What we believe is happening right now in the casual dining space is our consumers are figuring out that casual dining is a great value. And so, they're coming to casual dining more. And we're starting to we're seeing that across our brands and some of the industry. And so without commenting on what's happening in othe...”
“We had a strong quarter with same restaurant sales and earnings growth that exceeded our expectations. I'm proud of the great work by our restaurant teams throughout the quarter, particularly on Mother's Day as several brands achieved sales records for that day.”
“As we look across what's been going on over the last five or six years, as you recall, we've been very prudent in keeping our pricing below inflation, because we knew that over time pricing matters if you take it too much. And what we believe is happening right now in the casual dining space is our is consumers are fig...”
“Overall I am pleased with our performance this quarter and proud of how our teams managed their business and controlled what they could control. Raj will share specifics but when you exclude weather impacts which were even greater than last year's challenging weather same restaurant sales at all four of our segments we...”
“I think the consumer, you know, we see and hear the same thing you hear and see that consumers are feeling a little less optimistic. That said, you know, as we kind of come out of the third quarter into the fourth quarter and we gave you our expectation for Q4, you know, people even if they say they're feeling less opt...”
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Darden Restaurants Q4 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Darden Restaurants Q4 2026 Earnings Call | Full-Year Sales Top $13B Driven by LongHorn Steakhouse Growth If you find our work useful, please support us by purchasing a Super Thanks— it truly helps us a lot. #earningscall #StockMarketNews #conferenceCall Earnings Call | Earnings Conference Call | Earnings concall | concall | quarterly results | Stock News | Full Year results | Fiscal Year results | investment news | stock latest news | Annual Meeting of Shareholders | Annual Meeting of Unitholders | Special and Annual Meeting of Shareh…
06/25/2026 Q&A: 24:23 Darden Restaurants, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Chuy's, Yard House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Bahama Breeze, The Capital Burger, Darden and Darden Restaurants brand names. Darden Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Orlando, Florida. #dardenrestaurants #earningscall #fundamentalanalysis #dri #investing
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) reported Q4 2025 sales of USD 3.3B (+10.6% YoY) and adjusted EPS of USD 2.98 (+12.5% YoY). Join CEO Rick Cardenas and CFO Raj Vennam for insights on 4.6% same-store sales, Uber Direct growth, and Bahama Breeze divestiture! Explore Q&A on consumer trends and unit growth. ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction by Operator 00:41 – Courtney Aquilut, IR: Opening Remarks 02:20 – Rick Cardenas, CEO: Q4 Overview 03:50 – Rick Cardenas: Olive Garden Performance 07:20 – Raj Vennam, CFO: Financial Results 12:15 – Raj Vennam: Segment Performance 15:34 – Raj Vennam…
03/20/2025 Q&A: 17:46 Darden Restaurants, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names. Darden Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is based in Orlando, Florida. #dardenrestaurants #fundamentalanalysis #earningscall #dri #investing
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