Darden Restaurants Inc. Q2 Profit Increases, beats estimates

(RTTNews) - Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) released earnings for its second quarter that increased from the same period last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company's earnings came in at $212.1 million, or $1.76 per share. This compares with $187.2 million, or $1.52 per share, in last year's second quarter.

Excluding items, Darden Restaurants Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $221.9 million or $1.84 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.73 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the quarter rose 9.6% to $2.73 billion from $2.49 billion last year.

Darden Restaurants Inc. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q2): $212.1 Mln. vs. $187.2 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q2): $1.76 vs. $1.52 last year. -Analyst Estimate: $1.73 -Revenue (Q2): $2.73 Bln vs. $2.49 Bln last year.

-Guidance: Full year EPS guidance: $8.75 to $8.90 Full year revenue guidance: $11.5 Bln