DRI - Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-03-21 11:42:02 ET
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI)
Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call
March 21, 2024 8:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Kevin Kalicak - Investor Relations
Rick Cardenas - President and Chief Executive Officer
Raj Vennam - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Eric Gonzalez - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Brian Bittner - Oppenheimer
Dennis Geiger - UBS
Jon Tower - Citigroup
David Tarantino - Baird
Jeffrey Bernstein - Barclays
Jeff Farmer - Gordon Haskett
Andrew Strelzik - BMO Capital Markets
John Ivankoe - JPMorgan
Danilo Gargiulo - Bernstein Research
Sara Senatore - Bank of America
Gregory Francfort - Guggenheim Securities
Patrick Johnson - Stifel
Lauren Silberman - Deutsche Bank
Peter Saleh - BTIG
Brian Vaccaro - Raymond James
Presentation
Operator
Hello, and welcome to the Darden Fiscal Year 2024 Third Quarter Earnings Call. Your lines have been placed on a listen-only mode until the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] This conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time.
I'll now turn the call over to Mr. Kevin Kalicak. Thank you. You may begin, Kevin.
Kevin Kalicak
Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating on today's call. Joining me today are Rick Cardenas, Darden's President and CEO; and Raj Vennam, CFO.
As a reminder, comments made during the call will include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Those risks are described in the company's press release, which was distributed this morning, and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are simultaneously broadcasting a presentation during this call, which is posted in the Investor Relations section of our website at darden.com.
Today's discussion and presentation includes certain non-GAAP measurements, and reconciliations of these measurements are included in the presentation. Looking ahead, we plan to release fiscal 2024 fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, June 20, before the market opens, followed by a conference call.
During today's call, any reference to pre-COVID when discussing third quarter performance is a comparison to the third quarter of fiscal 2020. Additionally, all references to industry results during today's call refer to Black Box Intelligence, casual dining benchmark, excluding Darden, specifically Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. During our fiscal third quarter, industry same-restaurant sales decreased 4.2% and industry same-restaurant guest counts decreased 6.5%.
This morning, Rick will share some brief remarks on the quarter, and Raj will provide details on our financial results and an update to our fiscal 2024 financial outlook....
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript