Jeffrey Bernstein's questions to DARDEN RESTAURANTS (DRI) leadership • Q1 2026
Question
Jeffrey Bernstein asked about Darden's confidence in raising its comp guidance despite macro concerns and tougher comparisons, and how fiscal Q2 performance is expected to align with the new full-year range. He also inquired about the potential for other brands to adopt first-party Uber delivery and updated thoughts on using Uber for order aggregation.
Answer
CEO Rick Cardenas expressed confidence in the raised guidance, citing strong unit development. CFO Raj Vennam noted that while Q2 started well, the back half of the year is still expected to have lower comps than the first half. CEO Rick Cardenas confirmed that another Darden brand is planning to embrace first-party delivery in Q3, but Darden remains focused on first-party delivery due to ongoing challenges with the third-party marketplace model.