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By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Darden Eating places inventory (NYSE:) jumped 8.6% Thursday, hitting a 52-week excessive, as restaurant eating got here again massive time within the first quarter to propel the corporate’s gross sales and earnings larger.
High-quality eating gross sales rose about 85% as folks tried to place the worry of Covid behind and stepped out to get pleasure from their time with buddies and households.
Gross sales at LongHorn Steakhouse rose 47% whereas Olive Backyard’s have been up 37%
A dividend, an expanded share buyback program of $750 million and a revised steerage additionally boosted the sentiment for the inventory. Together with the remaining a part of the earlier buyback, the corporate goals to repurchase inventory price $1 billion.
The corporate now sees complete annual gross sales at $9.5 billion at midpoint, up from $9.35 billion at middle of the vary given in June.
Whole gross sales elevated 51% from final 12 months to $2.31 billion pushed by a blended same-restaurant gross sales enhance of 47.5% and the addition of 34 new eating places.
Earnings per share rose greater than six-fold to $1.76. Each gross sales and EPS beat estimates.
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