TacticScaleWhat Darden Restaurants Does & How It Makes Money (DRI)
Updated October 2026 · reflects Darden Restaurants's latest reported financials
Operator of full-service restaurant chains including Olive Garden and LongHorn. Darden makes money by selling meals and drinks to diners at the full-service restaurants it owns and operates under its portfolio of brands.
How Darden Restaurants makes money
Darden makes money by selling meals and drinks to diners at the full-service restaurants it owns and operates under its portfolio of brands.
What Darden Restaurants does
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a full-service restaurant operator with locations in the United States and Canada. It owns and runs a broad portfolio of brands, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Chuy's, Yard House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Bahama Breeze and The Capital Burger. The portfolio covers everyday casual dining as well as premium steak and seafood, so it reaches diners at many price points. The company was founded in 1938 and is based in Orlando, Florida.
Products & services
- Olive Garden
- LongHorn Steakhouse
- Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen
- Ruth's Chris Steak House
- The Capital Grille
- Yard House
What is Darden Restaurants worth?
On an owner-earnings DCF, Darden Restaurants's most-likely value is about $110 versus a recent price near $198 (44% above fair value). But TacticScale only calls a stock undervalued when the price sits below its conservative no-growth floor (~$68) with a margin of safety — so the honest verdict here is “Fairly priced — no edge.” Fair value earns its keep only at the extremes, not in the wide middle.
Price sits in the normal range — fair value isn't actionable here; it earns its keep only when price drops below the no-growth floor, or runs to roughly double the optimistic case.
⚠ High leverage — net debt is 8.2× annual cash flow. Net debt is subtracted from this fair value, but refinancing at higher rates, principal timing, and share dilution aren’t modeled — the equity can be worth far less if cash flow weakens.
Analysis, not advice. Fair value is a margin-of-safety estimate from a deterministic owner-earnings DCF, not a price target or recommendation. See the full breakdown →
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