==Chuy's (CHUY) to be acquired by Darden Restaurants (DRI)

 

Darden Restaurants expands into Mexican category with Chuy's acquisition 

• Darden Restaurants (DRI -1.1%) is back on the M&A hunt. Just over a year since its closed on its acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House, the company announced last night it will acquire Chuy's (CHUY +48%) for $37.50 per share, a Tex-Mex-inspired full-service casual dining restaurant chain. It's an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $605 mln.
• DRI sees Chuy's as complementing its existing portfolio, which includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth's Chris, Cheddar's, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's and Bahama Breeze. What's notable about Chuy's is that it's Darden's first foray into the popular Mexican dining category.
• Darden describes Mexican as one of the fastest growing dining categories, and Chuy's is the largest full-service operator with strong unit economics. Chuy's currently has 101 restaurants, all of which are company-owned, so no franchisees. Average restaurant sales at Chuy's are $4.5 mln, with an average check of $19 and an impressive restaurant level EBITDA margin of almost 20%. DRI expects to use its scale to drive further cost benefits.
• While CHUY, not surprisingly, is sharply higher on the news, DRI is trading modestly lower. Perhaps investors are worried that Darden is biting off more than it can "Chuy", so soon after it just closed on Ruth's Chris in June 2023. Also, CHUY's shares have been trending lower over the past year as results have not been great. Investors may be balking at DRI paying a huge 48% premium over CHUY's $25.27 closing price yesterday, and all in cash.

=Darden Restaurants (DRI) reported earnings on Thur 20 Sept 18 (b/o)

Darden Restaurants beats by $0.10, beats on revs; Q1 comps +3.3%; raises FY19 EPS, revenue, and comps guidance 

• Reports Q1 (Aug) earnings of $1.34 per share, $0.10 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $1.24; revenues rose 6.5% year/year to $2.06 bln vs the $2.03 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Blended same-restaurant sales increased 3.3% (+5.3% for Olive Garden, +3.1% for LongHorn Steakhouse, +3.9% for The Capital Grille.)
• Co issues raised guidancefor FY19, sees EPS of $5.52-5.65 from $5.40-5.56 vs. $5.55 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY19 revs of +5.0-5.5% from +4-5% to ~$8.48-8.52 bln vs. $8.46 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees same store sales of +2.0-2.5% versus +1.0-2.0% prior guidance.

Earnings expected this week : Sept 17 - 21, 18 (wk 38)

Earnings confirmed for this week

Monday (Sept 17) 

• Morning: None
• Afternoon: FDX  ORCL

Tuesday (Sept 18)

• Morning: APOG AZO CBRL GIS 
• Afternoon: None

Wednesday (Sept 19)

• Morning: CPRT
• Afternoon: MLHR  RHT

Thursday (Sept 20)

• Morning: DRI   THO
• Afternoon: MU  SCS  UNFI

Friday (Sept 21)

• Morning: None

-=Darden Restaurants (DRI) reported earnings on Thur 21 June 18 (b/o)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Darden Restaurants' fourth-quarter topped Wall Street expectations, buoyed by strong sales at most of its restaurants.

Darden appears to be capitalizing on Americans' appetite for eating out. Even though gas prices are climbing, Americans spent more at bars and restaurants in May, with sales up 1.3 percent, according to the Commerce Department. Americans seem to be highly confident about the economy, buoyed by steady job gains, an unemployment rate at an 18-year low and Trump administration tax cuts.

For the three months ended May 27, Darden — the owner or Olive Garden and other restaurants — earned $174.5 million, or $1.39 per share. A year earlier, the Orlando, Florida-based company earns $123.8 million, or 98 cents per share.

That's 4 cents better than what analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted.

Shares surged more than 9 percent before the opening bell on Thursday.

Revenue increased to $2.13 billion from $1.93 billion, beating the $2.12 billion that Wall Street expected.

Sales at Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants open at least a year both rose 2.4 percent in the quarter. At Eddie V's, the figure jumped 3.6 percent and at The Capital Grille the metric climbed 2.6 percent. Yard House, Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze also reported sales growth.

For fiscal 2018, Darden Restaurants Inc. earned $596 million, or $4.73 per share, on revenue of $8.08 billion.

Going forward, the company anticipates fiscal 2019 earnings of $5.40 to $5.56 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet are looking for earnings of $5.41 per share.

=Darden Restaurants (DRI) reported earnings on Tue 19 Dec 2017 (b/o)

Darden Restaurants beats by $0.03, beats on revs; Q2 comps +3.1%; raises FY18 EPS, rev and comp guidance 

• Reports Q2 (Nov) earnings of $0.73 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.70; revenues rose 14.6% year/year to $1.88 bln vs the $1.86 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Blended same-restaurant sales from Darden's legacy brands increased 3.1%. (+3.0% for Olive Garden. +3.8% for LongHorn Steakhouse).
• Same-restaurant sales for Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen were -2.0%.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $4.45-4.53 from $4.38-4.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.44 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY18 revs of +13% from +11.5-13.0% to ~$8.102 bln vs. $8.04 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co sees FY18 comp guidance of approx +2% versus +1-2% prior guidance 

=Darden Restaurants (DRI) reported earnings on Mon 27 March 2017 (a/h)

• Darden Restaurants beats bottom line estimates and issues above-consensus earnings guidance. Also of note, the company will acquire Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen in an all-cash deal.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) on Monday reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $165.6 million.

On a per-share basis, the Orlando, Florida-based company said it had profit of $1.32.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.27 per share.

The owner of Olive Garden and other chain restaurants posted revenue of $1.88 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.86 billion.

Darden Restaurants expects full-year earnings to be $3.95 to $4 per share.

Darden Restaurants shares have risen roughly 4 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed almost 5 percent.

Darden Restaurants (DRI) reported earnings on Tue 5 Apr 2016 (b/o)

** charts after earnings **

Darden Restaurants beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY16 EPS above consensus; Q3 comps +6.2%  :

• Reports Q3 (Feb) adj earnings of $1.21 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.20; revenues rose 6.7% year/year to $1.85 bln vs the $1.85 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Q3 Same-restaurant sales increased 6.2% for the fiscal quarter.
• Co issues raised guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $3.48-3.52 from $3.25-3.35 vs. $3.47 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. This reflects the expectation that the Company's combined U.S. same-restaurant sales growth this fiscal year will be 3.0% to 3.5%.

DRI — is it a buy?

• 3/9/16:  DRI at $66; is it a buy?

• No; hasn't moved in a month

Darden Restaurants(DRI) reported earnings on Fri 18 Dec 2015 (before open)

** charts before earnings **

** charts after earnings **

Darden Restaurants beats by $0.12, reports revs in-line; raises FY16 guidance above consensus; raises dividend, authorizes new buyback  :

• Reports Q2 (Nov) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 3.2% year/year to $1.61 bln vs the $1.62 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Same-restaurant sales increased 1.6% for the fiscal quarter; On a comparable calendar basis, same-restaurant sales increased 2.9% for the quarter.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $3.25-3.35 vs. $3.20 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, up from prior guidance of $3.15-3.30. Sees same-restaurant sales to 2.5% to 3.0%, up from prior guidance of of +2% to +2.5%.
• The Company successfully concluded the spin-off of Four Corners Property Trust (FCPT) that included 424 restaurant properties, resulting in a stock dividend valued at $6.79 per share (Darden equivalent) as of the November 10, 2015 market close, the first day of regular-way trading in FCPT stock. In addition, the Company has completed 62 of 64 planned restaurant sale leasebacks and the sale leaseback of its Restaurant Support Center in Orlando.
• Co raised dividend 14% to $0.50 per common share, and authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $500 million of its outstanding common stock.