Darden Restaurants, Inc.

“as of May 31, 2026, we owned and operated 2,202 restaurants through subsidiaries in the United States under the Olive Garden®, LongHorn Steakhouse®, Yard House®, Ruth's Chris Steak House®”

“As of May 31, 2026, we owned and operated 2,202 restaurants through subsidiaries in the United States.”

“We regard our Olive Garden®, LongHorn Steakhouse®, Yard House®, Ruth’s Chris Steak House®, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen®, The Capital Grille®, Chuy’s®, Seasons 52®, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood®, Bahama Breeze®, The Capital Burger®, Darden®, and Darden Restaurants® service marks”

“Olive Garden$5,594.8 $5,212.9 7.3 %4.0 %$5.8 $5.6 LongHorn Steakhouse$3,423.0 $3,025.5 13.1 %7.2 %$5.6 $5.2 Fine Dining$1,375.7 $1,304.8 5.4 %1.2 %$7.3 $7.2 Other Business$2,817.4 $2,533.5 11.2 %3.9 %$5.9 $5.8”

“During the second quarter of fiscal 2025, we entered into an exclusive multi-year delivery arrangement with Uber Technologies, Inc. ("Uber").”

“We license the sales and distribution of several items including Olive Garden salad dressings and salad croutons through various channels, including wholesale distribution chains and major grocery chains.”

“Sales, as presented in our consolidated statements of earnings, includes the sale of food and beverage products, royalties from our franchised restaurants, and royalties from the sale of consumer product goods.”

“We have area development, franchise, and/or license agreements in place with unaffiliated operators to develop and operate Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House, Ruth's Chris, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, and Bahama Breeze restaurants in the following regions”

“Latin America 32———112————36”

“We use or may use derivatives to hedge price risk for some of our principal ingredient, labor, and energy costs, including, but not limited to coffee, butter, wheat, soybean oil, pork, beef, diesel fuel, gasoline, and natural gas.”

“On October 11, 2024, we acquired 100 percent of the equity interest of Chuy's Holdings Inc. ("Chuy's") in an all-cash transaction of $649.1 million in total consideration”

“We believe our ability to leverage and use technology effectively is a competitive advantage and a key factor of our strategy.”

“The restaurant industry is intensely competitive with respect to the type and quality of food, price, service, restaurant location, personnel, brand, attractiveness of facilities, availability of carryout and home delivery, internet and mobile ordering capabilities, and effectiveness of advertising and marketing.”

“On July 14, 2025, we closed on the sale of eight Olive Garden restaurants in Canada (the "Olive Garden Canada Restaurants") to Recipe Unlimited Corporation ("Recipe").”

“our decision to permanently close approximately half of the remaining Bahama Breeze restaurants, which we completed on or about April 5, 2026, and our expectation to convert the remaining restaurants to other Darden brands over the next 12–18 months”

“Food and beverage costs increased as a percentage of sales, primarily due to a 1.2 percent impact from inflation, partially offset by a 0.9 percent impact from pricing leverage.”

“Food and beverage costs include inventory, warehousing, related purchasing and distribution costs, and gains and losses on certain commodity derivative contracts.”

“We expect fiscal 2027 sales from continuing operations to be $13.60 billion to $13.75 billion, driven by same-restaurant sales growth (1) of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent and sales from 75 to 80 new restaurant openings.”

“During fiscal 2026, 10.0 percent of our sales were attributable to the sale of alcoholic beverages.”

“Operating margins for our restaurants are subject to changes in the price and availability of food commodities, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, cheese, butter, and produce.”

“Certain of our domestic and all of our international locations are operated by franchisees or licensees.”

“if gasoline, natural gas, electricity, and other energy costs remain at the current elevated levels or increase further, and credit card, home mortgage, and other borrowing costs increase with rising interest rates, our guests may have lower disposable income”

“Increases in minimum wage, health care, and other benefit costs may have a material adverse effect on our labor costs.”

“Health concerns arising from food-related pandemics, outbreaks of flu, viruses, or other diseases may have an adverse effect on our business.”

“These include, among other things, international economic and political conditions, foreign currency fluctuations, trade disputes, potential increases in tariffs, differing cultures, and consumer preferences.”

“to drive profitable sales growth by increasing same-restaurant sales at existing restaurants, continuing to expand our current portfolio of restaurant brands, and acquiring additional brands that can be expanded profitably.”

“These actions and proceedings may involve allegations of illegal, unfair or inconsistent employment practices, including wage and hour violations and employment discrimination; guest discrimination; food safety issues”

“The ability to open and profitably operate restaurants is subject to various risks, such as the identification and availability of suitable and economically viable locations; the negotiation of acceptable lease or purchase terms for new locations; the need to obtain all required governmental permits, including zoning approvals and liquor licenses, on a timely basis”

“The success of our restaurants depends in large part on their locations. As demographic and economic patterns change, current locations may not continue to be attractive or profitable.”

“We also may not be able to identify and successfully acquire and integrate additional brands that are as profitable as our existing restaurants or that provide potential for further growth.”

“because these hedges also net settle on a cash basis quarterly, we have been and may in the future be required to make cash payments at those quarterly settlement dates”

“as an "anti-ESG" sentiment exists among some individuals and government institutions, we may also face scrutiny, reputational risk, lawsuits or market access restrictions from these parties regarding our ESG initiatives.”

“failure to adequately address declines in the casual dining industry, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations”

“further or unknown unauthorized uses or other misappropriation of our trademarks or service marks could diminish the value of our brands and adversely affect our business.”