Darden Restaurants Inc. Q3 Profit Increases, Beats Estimates

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

The company's earnings came in at $323.4 million, or $2.74 per share. This compares with $312.9 million, or $2.60 per share, last year.

Excluding items, Darden Restaurants Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $330.2 million or $2.80 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $2.79 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the period rose 6.2% to $3.158 billion from $2.974 billion last year.

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

-Earnings: $323.4 Mln. vs. $312.9 Mln. last year. -EPS: $2.74 vs. $2.60 last year. -Revenue: $3.158 Bln vs. $2.974 Bln last year.

-Guidance: Full year EPS guidance: $9.45 - $9.52 Full year revenue guidance: $12.1 Bln