Report
R.J. Hottovy
EUR 98.48 For Business Accounts Only

Darden Finds New Growth and Cost Synergy Opportunities With Cheddar's Acquisition

While no-moat Darden's third-quarter update had a familiar feel--guest experience and takeout enhancements at Olive Garden helped drive consolidated comps of 0.9% (outpacing industry averages by 5 points) while adjusted operating margins came in at a respectable 12.2% (down 10 basis points but affected by the timing of certain marketing/preopening costs and an uptick in utilities costs)--the more interesting development consisted of plans to add Cheddar's to its brand portfolio.
Darden plans to ...
Underlying
Darden Restaurants Inc.

Darden Restaurants is a restaurant company. The company owns and operates restaurants through subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada under the Olive Garden?, LongHorn Steakhouse?, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen?, Yard House?, The Capital Grille?, Seasons 52?, Bahama Breeze?, and Eddie V's Prime Seafood? trademarks. The company has four reportable segments: Olive Garden; LongHorn Steakhouse; Fine Dining (which includes The Capital Grille and Eddie V's); and Other Business (which includes Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and results from its franchise operations).

Provider
Morningstar
Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors.

Morningstar provides data on approximately 530,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 18 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately $185 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2016.

We have operations in 27 countries.

Analysts
R.J. Hottovy

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