DRI Darden Restaurants Inc - 10-K

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

Various risks and uncertainties could affect our business. Any of the risks described below or elsewhere in this report or our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could have a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. It is not possible to predict or identify all risk factors. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business operations.

Risks Relating to Inflation and Macroeconomic Disruption

A failure to address cost pressures, including rising costs for commodities, labor, health care and utilities used by our restaurants, and a failure to effectively deliver cost management activities and achieve economies of scale in purchasing could compress our margins and adversely affect our sales and results of operations.

Our results of operations depend significantly on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in the price and availability of food, ingredients, labor, health care, utilities, fuel and other related costs over which we may have little control. While inflationary conditions have somewhat abated in recent periods, we have experienced and continue to experience higher than normal inflationary conditions with respect to most or all of these costs during fiscal 2025. 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. The introduction of or changes to tariffs or adverse impacts resulting from restrictive trade policies or trade disputes on imported food products, such as produce and seafood, could increase our costs and possibly impact the supply of those products.

We cannot predict whether we will continue to be able to anticipate and react to changing food costs by adjusting our purchasing practices, menu offerings, and menu prices, and a failure to do so could adversely affect our operating results. We attempt to leverage our size to achieve economies of scale in purchasing, but there can be no assurances that we can always do so effectively. We are also subject to the general risks of inflation and its impact on the macroeconomic environment.

Increases in minimum wage, health care and other benefit costs may have a material adverse effect on our labor costs. We operate in many states and localities where the minimum wage is significantly higher than the federal minimum wage. The market for labor in the United States is competitive and has resulted in pressure on wages and may continue to do so in the future. Increases in minimum wage and market pressure may also result in increases in the wage rates paid for non-minimum wage positions. Many states and localities are also passing laws regulating employment practices and working conditions, which could have a material adverse effect on our labor costs in those areas.

Our restaurants’ operating margins are also affected by fluctuations in the price of utilities such as electricity and natural gas, whether as a result of inflation or otherwise, on which the restaurants depend for their energy supply. In addition, interruptions to the availability of gas, electric, water or other utilities, whether due to aging infrastructure, weather conditions, fire, animal damage, trees, digging accidents, geopolitical impacts or other reasons largely out of our control, may adversely affect our operations. Our inability to anticipate and respond effectively to an adverse change in any of these factors could have a significant adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

Certain economic and business factors and their impacts on the restaurant industry and other general macroeconomic factors, including unemployment, energy prices and interest rates that are largely beyond our control may adversely affect consumer behavior and our sales and results of operations.

Our business results depend on a number of industry-specific and general economic factors, many of which are beyond our control, and may adversely affect consumer behavior and our sales and our results of operations. The full-service dining sector of the restaurant industry is affected by changes in international, national, regional and local economic conditions, seasonal fluctuation of sales volumes, consumer spending patterns and consumer preferences, including changes in consumer tastes and dietary habits, and the level of consumer acceptance of our restaurant brands. The performance of individual restaurants may also be adversely affected by factors such as demographic trends, severe weather including hurricanes, traffic patterns and the type, number and location of competing restaurants.

General economic conditions, including slow global recovery from economic downturns, geopolitical conditions and uncertainty about the strength or pace of economic recovery, have also adversely affected our results of operations and may continue to do so. Economic recession, a protracted economic slowdown, a worsening economy, political instability, increased unemployment, increased inflation, increased energy prices, rising interest rates, a downgrade of the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating, imposition of retaliatory tariffs on important U.S. imports and exports or other industry-wide cost pressures have affected and can continue to affect consumer behavior and spending for restaurant dining occasions and lead to a decline in sales and earnings. Economic uncertainty has caused and may continue to cause guests to make fewer discretionary purchases, and any significant decrease in our guest traffic or average profit per transaction will negatively impact our financial performance. In addition, 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 and reduce the frequency of their dining occasions, may spend less on each dining occasion or may choose more inexpensive food options.

Furthermore, we cannot predict the effects that actual or threatened armed conflicts, including the ongoing armed conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East, terrorist attacks, efforts to combat terrorism, heightened security requirements, or a failure to protect information systems for critical infrastructure, such as the electrical grid and telecommunications systems, could have on our operations, the economy or consumer confidence generally. Any of these events could affect consumer spending patterns or result in increased costs for us due to security measures.

Unfavorable changes in the above factors or in other business and economic conditions affecting our guests could increase our costs, reduce traffic in some or all of our restaurants or impose practical limits on pricing, any of which could lower our profit margins and have a material adverse effect on our sales, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Human Capital

The inability to hire, train, reward and retain restaurant team members and determine and maintain adequate staffing may impact our ability to achieve our operating, growth and financial objectives.

Our long-term growth depends substantially on our ability to recruit and retain high-quality team members to work in and manage our restaurants. Adequate staffing and retention of qualified restaurant team members is a critical factor impacting our

guests’ experience in our restaurants. Maintaining adequate staffing in our existing restaurants and hiring and training staff for our new restaurants require precise workforce planning which has been complicated by the competitive labor market in the United States. The market for the most qualified talent continues to be competitive, and we must provide competitive wages, benefits and workplace conditions to maintain our most qualified team members. A shortage of qualified candidates who meet all legal citizenship or work authorization requirements, failure to recruit and retain new team members in a timely manner or higher than expected turnover levels all could affect our ability to open new restaurants, grow sales at existing restaurants or meet our labor cost objectives. Anticipated changes in immigration laws and regulations could decrease the pool of candidates with legal work authorizations, cause disruption in the workforce for all companies that rely on hourly workers and increase the costs, time and requirements to hire new employees. An inability to adequately monitor and proactively respond to team member dissatisfaction could lead to poor guest satisfaction, higher turnover, litigation and unionization, which could jeopardize our ability to meet our growth targets or impact our results of operations.

A failure to recruit, develop and retain effective leaders or the loss or shortage of personnel with key capacities and skills could impact our strategic direction and jeopardize our ability to meet our business performance expectations and growth targets.

Our future growth depends substantially on the contributions and abilities of key executives and other leadership team members. We must continue to recruit, retain and motivate management team members in order to achieve our current business objectives and support our projected growth. Unplanned changes in senior management could expose us to significant changes in strategic direction and initiatives. A failure to maintain appropriate organizational capacity and capability to support leadership excellence (adequate resources, innovative skill sets and expectations) and build adequate bench strength required for growth or a loss of key skill sets could jeopardize our ability to meet our business performance expectations and growth targets.

We may be subject to increased labor and insurance costs.

Our restaurant operations are subject to United States and Canadian federal, state and local laws governing such matters as minimum wages, working conditions, overtime and tip credits. As federal, state and local minimum wage rates increase, we may need to increase not only the wages of our minimum wage employees, but also the wages paid to employees at wage rates that are above minimum wage. Labor shortages, increased employee turnover and health care and other benefit or working condition regulations also have increased and may continue to increase our labor costs. These increased costs could, in turn, lead us to increase our menu prices, which could negatively impact our sales. Conversely, if competitive pressures or other factors prevent us from offsetting increased labor costs by increases in menu prices, our profitability may decline. In addition, the current premiums that we pay for our insurance (including workers’ compensation, general liability, property, health, and directors’ and officers’ liability) may increase at any time, thereby further increasing our costs. The dollar amount of claims that we experience under our workers’ compensation and general liability insurance, for which we carry high per-claim deductibles, may also increase at any time, thereby further increasing our costs. Further, the decreased availability of property and liability insurance has the potential to negatively impact the cost of premiums and the magnitude of uninsured losses.

Risks Relating to Health and Safet y

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

The United States and other countries have experienced, or may experience in the future, outbreaks of viruses, such as the novel coronavirus that caused COVID-19, norovirus, avian flu or “SARS,” “MERS,” H1N1 or “swine flu,” or other diseases. To the extent that a virus or disease is food-borne, or perceived to be food-borne, future outbreaks may adversely affect the price and availability of certain food products and cause our guests to eat less of a product, or could reduce public confidence in food handling and/or public assembly. For example, public concern over avian flu may cause fear about the consumption of chicken, eggs and other products derived from poultry, and the inability to serve poultry-based products would restrict our ability to provide a variety of menu items to our guests. If we change a restaurant menu in response to such concerns, we may lose guests who do not prefer the new menu, and we may not be able to attract a sufficient new guest base to produce the sales needed to make the restaurant profitable. We also may have different or additional competitors for our intended guests as a result of such a change and may not be able to successfully compete against such competitors. If a virus is transmitted by human contact or respiratory transmission, our employees or guests could become infected, or could choose, or be advised, to avoid gathering in public places, any of which could adversely affect our restaurant guest traffic and our ability to adequately staff our restaurants, receive deliveries on a timely basis or perform functions at the corporate level. We also could be adversely affected if the World Health Organization and/or The United States Centers for Disease Control were to restrict travel to affected geographic areas where we source our products, thus possibly impacting the continuity of supply. Additionally, jurisdictions in which we have restaurants may impose mandatory closures, seek voluntary closures or impose restrictions on operations. Even if such measures are not implemented and a virus or other disease does not spread significantly, the perceived risk of infection or significant health risk may cause guests to choose other alternatives to dining out in our restaurants which may adversely affect our business.

A failure to maintain food safety throughout the supply chain and food-borne illness concerns may have an adverse effect on our business.

Food safety is a top priority for us, and we dedicate substantial resources to ensuring that our guests enjoy safe, quality food products.  Even with strong preventative interventions and controls, food safety issues could be caused at the source or by food suppliers or distributors and, as a result, may be out of our control and require prompt action to mitigate impact.  In addition, regardless of the source or cause, any report of food-borne illnesses caused by pathogens such as E. coli, hepatitis A, norovirus, listeria or salmonella, or other food safety issues including food tampering or contamination at one of our restaurants could adversely affect the reputation of our brands and have a negative impact on our sales. Even instances of food-borne illness, food tampering or food contamination occurring solely at our competitors’ restaurants, suppliers or distributors (even if we do not work with them) could result in negative publicity about the food service industry generally and adversely impact our sales. Social media has dramatically increased the speed with which negative publicity, including actual or perceived food safety incidents, is disseminated before there is any meaningful opportunity to investigate, respond to and address an issue. The occurrence of food-borne illnesses or food safety issues could also adversely affect the price and availability of affected ingredients, resulting in higher costs and lower margins.

Risks Relating to Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Privacy

We rely heavily on information technology in our operations, and insufficient guest or employee facing technology or a failure to maintain a continuous and secure cyber network, free from material failure, interruption or security breach, could harm our ability to effectively operate our business and/or result in the loss of respected relationships with our guests or employees.

We rely heavily on information systems across our operations, including for e-commerce, marketing programs, employee engagement, management of our supply chain, the point-of-sale processing system in our restaurants, and various other processes and transactions. Our ability to effectively manage our business and coordinate the production, distribution and sale of our products depends significantly on the reliability, security and capacity of these systems. In addition, we must effectively respond to changing guest expectations and new technological developments, and if we fail to implement emerging technologies as quickly and efficiently as our competitors, we may lose guests or employees. As technology continues to play an increasing role in our guests’ experiences, disruptions, failures or other performance issues with guest-facing technology systems could impair the benefits that they provide to our business and negatively affect our relationship with our guests. The failure of these systems to operate effectively, problems with transitioning to upgraded or replacement systems, or any other failure to maintain a continuous and secure cyber network could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to the Company, our team members or guests. This could include the theft of our intellectual property, trade secrets or sensitive personal or financial information. Some of these essential business processes that are dependent on technology are outsourced to third parties. While we make efforts to ensure that our providers are observing proper standards and controls, we cannot guarantee that breaches or failures caused by these outsourced providers will not occur.

From time to time, we and our third party service providers and suppliers experience unauthorized attempts to infiltrate and interrupt information systems. To date, interruptions of these information systems as a result of unauthorized infiltration attempts have not had a material impact on our operations. However, because technology is increasingly complex and cyber-attacks are increasingly sophisticated and more frequent, there can be no assurance that such incidents will not have a material adverse effect on us in the future. In addition, the rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence technologies may intensify our and our service providers’ and key suppliers’ cybersecurity risks. Unauthorized access, theft, use, destruction or other compromises are becoming increasingly sophisticated, more difficult to detect, contain and mitigate, and may occur through a variety of methods, including attacks using malicious code, vulnerabilities in software, hardware or other infrastructure (including systems used by our supply chain), system misconfigurations, phishing or social engineering. Failure of our or our service providers’ information systems to function as intended, or cyber-attacks or security breaches, could result in loss of revenue, assets, personal data, intellectual property, trade secrets or other sensitive and confidential data, violation of applicable privacy and data security laws, reputational harm to the companies and their brands, operational disruptions, legal challenges and significant remediation and other costs, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Any such failures or disruptions, whether caused by system failures or threat actors attempting to infiltrate our systems, may cause delays in guest service, reduce efficiency in our operations, require significant capital investments to remediate the problem, result in customer, employee or advertiser dissatisfaction or otherwise result in negative publicity that could harm our reputation. We could also be subjected to litigation, regulatory investigations or the imposition of penalties. Such security breaches also could result in a violation of applicable U.S. and international privacy, cyber and other laws or trigger data breach notification laws, including new disclosure rules promulgated by the SEC, and subject us to private third party or securities litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings, any of which could result in our exposure to material civil or criminal liability. As information security laws and regulations change and cyber risks evolve, we may be required to make significant capital

investments and other expenditures to comply with new legal requirements, investigate security incidents, remedy cybersecurity issues, recuperate lost data, prevent future compromises and adapt systems and practices to react to the changing threat environment.

We may incur increased costs to comply with privacy and data protection laws, and, if we fail to comply or our systems are compromised, we could be subject to government enforcement actions, private litigation and adverse publicity.

We receive and maintain certain personal, financial and other information about our customers, employees, vendors and suppliers. In addition, certain of our vendors receive and maintain certain personal, financial and other information about our employees and customers. The use and handling, including security, of this information is regulated by evolving and increasingly demanding data privacy laws and regulations in various jurisdictions, as well as by certain third-party contracts and industry standards. Complying with existing and newly developed laws and regulations, which are subject to change and uncertain interpretations and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, may lead to a decline in guest engagement or cause us to incur substantial costs or modifications to our operations or business practices to comply. The increasingly complex and evolving regulatory environment related to data privacy and data protection laws may result in significant costs arising from compliance and from any non-compliance, whether or not due to our negligence, and could affect our brand reputation and our results of operations. We have and expect to continue to have significant expenses arising from compliance with these regulatory regimes due to changes in the techniques and sophistication used to conduct cyber-attacks and breaches. In addition, if our security and information systems are compromised as a result of data corruption or loss, cyber-attack or a network security incident, or if our employees or vendors fail to comply with these laws and regulations or fail to meet industry standards and this information is obtained by unauthorized persons or used inappropriately, it could result in liabilities and penalties and could damage our reputation, cause interruption of normal business performance, cause us to incur substantial costs and result in a loss of customer confidence, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, we could be subject to litigation and government enforcement actions as a result of any such failure.

Risks Related to the Integration of Chuy’s

The inability to successfully integrate the Chuy’s brand’s operations into our business could harm our ability to achieve the sales growth, cost savings and other benefits we expect to be able to realize from Chuy’s operations.

The integration of the Chuy’s business into our operations is a complex, costly and time-consuming process that may not be successful. The primary areas of focus for successfully combining the business of Chuy’s with our operations include, among others: retaining and integrating management and other key employees; integrating information, communications and other systems; and managing the growth of the combined company.

Even if we successfully integrate the business of Chuy’s into our operations, there can be no assurance that we will realize the anticipated benefits. We expect that the acquisition of Chuy’s will result in various benefits for the combined company including, among others, business and growth opportunities and significant synergies from increased efficiency in purchasing, distribution and other restaurant and corporate support. Increased competition and/or deterioration in business conditions may limit or delay our ability to expand this business. As such, we may not be able to realize the synergies, goodwill, business opportunities and growth prospects anticipated in connection with the acquisition of Chuy’s.

Risks Related to the Restaurant Industry

We are subject to a number of risks relating to public policy changes and federal, state and local regulation of our business, including in the areas of environmental matters, minimum wage, employee benefit regulations, unionization, menu labeling, immigration requirements and taxes, and an insufficient or ineffective response to legislation or government regulation may adversely impact our cost structure, operational efficiencies and talent availability.

The restaurant industry is subject to extensive federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. The development and operation of restaurants depends on the selection and acquisition of suitable sites to a significant extent, which are subject to building, zoning, land use, environmental, traffic and other regulations and requirements. We are subject to licensing and regulation by state and local authorities relating to health, sanitation, safety and fire standards and the sale of alcoholic beverages. We are subject to laws and regulations relating to the preparation and sale of food, including regulations regarding product safety, nutritional content and menu labeling. We are subject to federal, state, and local laws governing employment practices and working conditions.   These laws cover minimum wage rates, wage and hour practices, labor relations, paid and family leave, workplace safety, and immigration, among others.  The myriad of laws and regulations being passed at the state and local level creates unique challenges for a multi-state employer as different standards apply to different locations, sometimes with conflicting requirements.  We must continue to monitor and adapt our employment practices to comply with these various laws and regulations.

We also are subject to federal and state laws which prohibit discrimination and other laws regulating the design and operation of facilities, such as the ADA. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be costly and increase our exposure to litigation and governmental proceedings, and a failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws could result in negative publicity that could harm our reputation. New or changing laws and regulations relating to union organizing rights and activities may impact our operations at the restaurant level and increase our labor costs.

We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the use, storage, discharge, emission and disposal of hazardous materials. There also has been increasing focus by United States and overseas governmental authorities on other environmental matters, such as climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. This increased focus may lead to new initiatives directed at regulating a yet to be specified array of environmental matters. Legislative, regulatory or other efforts to combat climate change or other environmental concerns could result in future increases in the cost of raw materials, taxes, compliance, risk management, transportation and utilities, which could decrease our operating profits and necessitate future investments in facilities and equipment.

We are subject to laws relating to information security, cashless payments and consumer credit, protection and fraud. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be costly, and any failure or perceived failure to comply with these laws or any breach of our systems could harm our reputation or lead to litigation, which could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

The impact of current laws and regulations, the effect of future changes in laws or regulations that impose additional requirements and the consequences of litigation relating to current or future laws and regulations, or an insufficient or ineffective response to significant regulatory or public policy issues, could negatively impact our cost structure, operational efficiencies and talent availability, and therefore have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Failure to comply with the laws and regulatory requirements of federal, state and local authorities could result in, among other things, revocation of required licenses, administrative enforcement actions, fines and civil and criminal liability. Compliance with these laws and regulations can be costly and can increase our exposure to litigation or governmental investigations or proceedings.

We face intense competition, and if we have an insufficient strategy or focus on competition and the consumer landscape, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The full-service dining sector of the restaurant industry is intensely competitive with respect to pricing, service, location, personnel, take-out and delivery options and type and quality of food, and there are many well-established competitors. We compete within each market with national and regional restaurant chains and locally-owned restaurants. We also face growing competition as a result of the trend toward convergence in grocery, deli and restaurant services, particularly in the supermarket industry which offers “convenient meals” in the form of improved entrées, side dishes or meal preparation kits from the deli or prepared foods sections. Furthermore, delivery aggregators and food delivery services provide consumers with convenient access to a broad range of competing restaurant chains and food retailers, particularly in urbanized areas, and may form a closer relationship with our customers and increase costs to us. We compete primarily on the quality, variety and value perception of menu items. The number and location of restaurants, type of brand, quality and efficiency of service, attractiveness of facilities and effectiveness of advertising and marketing programs are also important factors. We anticipate that intense competition will continue with respect to all of these factors. We may be unable to successfully respond to changing consumer preferences, including with respect to new technologies and alternative methods of engaging with our brands, like delivery. In addition, online platforms and aggregators may direct potential customers to other options based on paid placements, online reviews or other factors. If we are unable to continue to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We are subject to changes in consumer preferences that may adversely affect demand for food at our restaurants.

Consumers are continually changing health and dietary preferences. As a result, our diverse portfolio of restaurant brands are continually challenged to evolve our menu offerings to appeal to these changing customer preferences, while maintaining our brand character and retaining popular menu items. During periods of high public health risk such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumers choose to order food To Go or for delivery rather than dining in at full-service restaurants. If other future public health issues cause these preferences to increase, we may need to further adapt our offerings to respond to these additional changes. New information or changes in dietary, nutritional, allergen or health guidelines or environmental or sustainability concerns, whether issued by government agencies, academic studies, advocacy organizations or similar groups, may cause some groups of consumers to select foods other than those that are offered by our restaurants. If we fail to anticipate changing trends or other consumer preferences, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our inability or failure to recognize, respond to and effectively manage the accelerated impact of social media could have a material adverse impact on our business.

The proliferation and utilization of existing and innovative social media platforms allows individuals and businesses access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Information posted on such platforms at any time may be adverse to our interests or may be inaccurate, each of which may harm our performance, prospects, or business.  The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction.  The dissemination of information online could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations, regardless of the information’s accuracy.

Our competitors are constantly expanding their use of social media and new social media platforms are rapidly being developed, potentially making more traditional social media platforms obsolete. As a result, we need to continuously innovate and develop our social media strategies in order to maintain broad appeal with guests and brand relevance. As part of our marketing efforts, we rely on social media platforms and search engine marketing to attract and retain guests. We also continue to invest in other digital marketing initiatives that allow us to reach our guests across multiple digital channels and build their awareness of, engagement with, and loyalty to our brands. These initiatives may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher revenues, increased employee engagement or brand recognition. In addition, a variety of risks are associated with the use of social media, including the improper disclosure of proprietary information, negative comments about us, exposure of personally identifiable information, fraud, or out-of-date information. The inappropriate use of social media vehicles by our guests or employees could increase our costs, lead to litigation or result in negative publicity that could damage our reputation.

A failure to identify and execute innovative marketing and guest relationship tactics, ineffective or improper use of other marketing initiatives, and increased advertising and marketing costs could adversely affect our sales and results of operations.

If our competitors increase their spending on advertising and promotions, if our advertising, media or marketing expenses increase, if our advertising and promotions become less effective than those of our competitors, or if we do not adequately leverage technology and data analytic capabilities needed to generate concise competitive insight, we could experience a material adverse effect on our sales and our results of operations. A failure to sufficiently innovate, develop guest relationship initiatives, or maintain adequate and effective advertising could inhibit our ability to maintain brand relevance and drive increased sales.

As part of our marketing efforts, we rely on social media platforms and search engine marketing to attract and retain guests. These initiatives may not be successful, and pose a variety of other risks, as discussed above under the heading: “Our inability or failure to recognize, respond to and effectively manage the accelerated impact of social media could have a material adverse impact on our business.”

Climate change, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters could adversely affect our sales or results of operations.

The long-term effects of climate change and global warming will result in more severe, volatile weather or extended droughts, which could increase the frequency and duration of weather impacts on our operations. Adverse weather conditions have in the past and may continue to impact guest traffic at our restaurants, cause the temporary underutilization of outdoor patio seating and, in more severe cases such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires or other natural disasters, cause property damage and temporary closures, sometimes for prolonged periods, which could negatively impact our sales or costs. Climate change and government regulation relating to climate change, including regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, could result in construction delays and increased costs, interruptions to the availability or increases in the cost of utilities, and shortages or interruptions in the supply or increases to the costs of food items and other supplies.

Risks Relating to Our Business Model and Strategy

A majority of our restaurants are operated in leased properties and as a result, we are committed to long-term lease obligations that we may not be able to cancel if we want to close a restaurant location and we may be unable to renew the leases that we may want to extend at the end of their terms.

As of May 25, 2025, 2,065 of our 2,159 restaurants operating in the United States and Canada operate in leased locations, and the leases are generally non-cancellable for some period of time. If we close a restaurant in a leased location, we may remain committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease, which would include, among other things, payment of the base rent for the balance of the lease term. Additionally, the potential losses associated with our inability to cancel leases may result in our keeping open restaurant locations that are performing significantly below targeted levels. As a result, ongoing lease obligations at closed or underperforming restaurant locations could impair our results of operations. In addition, at the end of the lease term and expiration of all renewal periods, we may be unable to renew the lease without substantial additional cost, if at all.

As a result, we may be required to close or relocate a restaurant, which could subject us to construction and other costs and risks that may have an adverse effect on our operating performance.

Our inability or failure to execute on a comprehensive business continuity plan following a major natural disaster, such as a hurricane or manmade disaster, at our corporate facility could have a materially adverse impact on our business.

Many of our corporate systems and processes and corporate support for our restaurant operations are centralized at one Florida location.   We have disaster recovery procedures and business continuity plans in place to address most events of a crisis nature, including hurricanes and other natural or manmade disasters, and back up and off-site locations for recovery of electronic and other forms of data and information. However, if we are unable to fully implement our disaster recovery plans, we may experience delays in recovery of data, inability to perform vital corporate functions, tardiness in required reporting and compliance, failures to adequately support field operations and other breakdowns in normal communication and operating procedures that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and exposure to administrative and other legal claims.

We may lose sales or incur increased costs if our restaurants experience shortages, delays or interruptions in the delivery of food and other products from our third party vendors and suppliers.

We have a limited number of suppliers and distributors for certain of our products and services. Shortages, delays or interruptions in the supply of food items and other supplies to our restaurants may be caused by severe weather; natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, wildfires and earthquakes; macroeconomic conditions (such as tariffs and trade disputes) resulting in disruptions to the shipping and transportation industries; labor issues such as increased costs or worker shortages or other operational disruptions at our suppliers, vendors or other service providers; the inability of our vendors or service providers to manage adverse business conditions, obtain credit or remain solvent; or other conditions beyond our control. Such shortages, delays or interruptions could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of the items we buy and the operations of our restaurants. Supply chain disruptions have increased some of our costs and limited the availability of certain products for our restaurants in the past and may continue to do so. Consumers at our restaurants may be sensitive to price increases, and if we increase menu prices as a result of increased food costs or remove menu items due to shortages, such responses may negatively impact our sales. If we temporarily close a restaurant or remove popular items from a restaurant’s menu, that restaurant may experience a significant reduction in sales during the time affected by the shortage or thereafter as a result of our guests changing their dining habits.

Our failure to drive both short-term and long-term profitable sales growth through brand relevance, operating excellence, opening new restaurants of existing brands, and acquiring new restaurant brands could result in poor financial performance.

As part of our business strategy, we intend 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. This strategy involves numerous risks, and we may not be able to achieve our growth objectives.

At existing brands, we may not be able to maintain brand relevance and restaurant operating excellence to achieve sustainable same-restaurant sales growth and warrant new unit growth. Failure to maintain such brand and operating excellence may also result in restaurant closures. Existing brand short-term sales growth could be impacted if we are unable to drive near-term guest count and sales growth, and long-term sales growth could be impacted if we fail to extend our existing brands in ways that are relevant to our guests. A failure to innovate and extend our existing brands in ways that are relevant to guests and occasions in order to generate sustainable same-restaurant traffic growth and produce non-traditional sales and earnings growth opportunities, insufficient focus on our competition, or failure to adequately address declines in the casual dining industry, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, we may not be able to support sustained new unit growth or open all of our planned new restaurants, and the new restaurants that we open may not be profitable or as profitable as our existing restaurants. New restaurants typically experience an adjustment period before sales levels and operating margins normalize, and even sales at successful newly-opened restaurants generally do not make a significant contribution to profitability in their initial months of operation. The opening of new restaurants can also have an adverse effect on guest counts and sales levels at existing restaurants.

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 need to comply with other regulatory requirements; the availability of necessary contractors and subcontractors; the ability to meet construction schedules and budgets; the ability to manage union activities such as picketing or hand billing which could delay construction; increases in labor and building material costs; supply chain disruptions; the availability of financing at acceptable rates and terms; changes in patterns or severity of weather or other acts of God that could result in construction delays and adversely affect the

results of one or more restaurants for an indeterminate amount of time; and our ability to hire and train qualified management personnel and general economic and business conditions. At each potential location, we compete with other restaurants and retail businesses for desirable development sites, construction contractors, management personnel, hourly employees and other resources. If we are unable to successfully manage these risks, we could face increased costs and lower than anticipated sales and earnings in future periods.

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.

A lack of availability of suitable locations for new restaurants or a decline in the quality of the locations of our current restaurants may adversely affect our sales and results of operations.

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. Possible declines in neighborhoods where our restaurants are located or adverse economic conditions in areas surrounding those neighborhoods could result in reduced sales in those locations. In addition, desirable locations for new restaurant openings or for the relocation of existing restaurants may not be available at an acceptable cost when we identify a particular opportunity for a new restaurant or relocation. The occurrence of one or more of these events could have a significant adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

We may experience higher-than-anticipated costs or delays associated with the opening of new restaurants or with the closing, relocating and remodeling of existing restaurants, which may adversely affect our results of operations.

Our sales and expenses can be impacted significantly by the number and timing of the opening of new restaurants and the closing, relocating and remodeling of existing restaurants. We incur substantial pre-opening expenses each time we open a new restaurant and other expenses when we close, relocate or remodel existing restaurants and we have experienced higher than usual costs and expenses in recent years. The expenses of opening, closing, relocating or remodeling any of our restaurants may be higher than anticipated. Increases in the time to procure or shortages of construction labor and materials and capital equipment, or permitting delays, may impact the time it takes to open new restaurants. An increase in such expenses or delays in the timeline to complete construction could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We face a variety of risks associated with doing business with franchisees and licensees.

Certain of our domestic and all of our international locations other than in Canada are operated by franchisees or licensees. We believe that we have selected high-caliber operating partners and franchisees with significant experience in restaurant operations, and we are providing them with training and support. However, the probability of opening, ultimate success and quality of any franchise or licensed restaurant rests principally with the franchisee or licensee. If the franchisee or licensee does not successfully open and operate its restaurants in a manner consistent with our standards, or guests have negative experiences due to issues with food quality or operational execution, our brand values could suffer, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

We face a variety of risks associated with doing business with business partners and vendors in foreign markets.

We are making efforts to expand our brands overseas through licensing and franchising relationships. There is no assurance that international operations will be profitable or that international growth will continue. Our international operations are subject to all of the same risks associated with our domestic operations, as well as a number of additional risks. These include, among other things, international economic and political conditions, foreign currency fluctuations, trade disputes, potential increases in tariffs and differing cultures and consumer preferences. In addition, expansion into international markets could create risks to our brands and reputation.

We also are subject to governmental regulations throughout the world that impact the way we do business with our international franchisees and vendors. These include antitrust and tax requirements, anti-boycott regulations, import/export/customs regulations and other international trade regulations, the USA Patriot Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and applicable local law. Failure to comply with any such legal requirements could subject us to monetary liabilities and other sanctions, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Volatility in the market value of derivatives we may use to hedge exposures to fluctuations in commodity and broader market prices may cause volatility in our gross margins and net earnings.

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. Changes in the values of these derivatives may be recorded in earnings currently, resulting in volatility in both gross margin and net earnings. These gains and

losses are reported as a component of cost of sales in our Consolidated Statements of Earnings included in our consolidated financial statements.

Volatility in the United States equity markets affects our ability to efficiently hedge exposures to our market risk related to equity-based compensation awards.

The equity markets in the United States have experienced recent periods of volatility due to the impacts of macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical concerns and the unpredictability of the impact on the United States economy as a result of these factors. Market volatility has contributed to and may continue to contribute to fluctuations in the Company’s stock price. We have equity hedges in place to protect the Company from exposure to market risk related to future payout of equity-based compensation awards. However, 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 and the amounts of those payments are difficult to predict during periods of extreme volatility in the equity markets. These cash payments may ultimately be offset by payments to us from the hedge counterparties or reductions in expected payouts to employees when those equity hedges finally fully settle and the related equity awards pay out.

Failure to protect our service marks or other intellectual property could harm our business.

We regard our 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 ® , The Capital Burger ® , Darden ® and Darden Restaurants ® service marks, and other service marks and trademarks related to our restaurant businesses, as having significant value and being important to our marketing efforts. We rely on a combination of protections provided by contracts, copyrights, patents, trademarks, service marks and other common law rights, such as trade secret and unfair competition laws, to protect our restaurants and services from infringement. We have registered certain trademarks and service marks in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. However, we are aware of names and marks identical or similar to our service marks being used from time to time by other persons. Although our policy is to oppose any such infringement, 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. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every country in which we have or intend to open or franchise a restaurant. Although we believe we have taken appropriate measures to protect our intellectual property, there can be no assurance that these protections will be adequate, and defending or enforcing our service marks and other intellectual property could result in the expenditure of significant resources.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) matters, our reporting of such matters, or sustainability ratings could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

ESG related matters have received increased focus recently from investors, employees, ratings agencies, governmental agencies and other stakeholders. From time to time, we may publish statements relating to our commitment to responsible business, including commitments relating to greenhouse gas emissions. Such statements reflect the Company’s current plans and aspirations at the time they are made, and should not be construed as guarantees or that we will be able to achieve them. Our failure to adequately update, accomplish or accurately track and report on these commitments on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our reputation, financial performance and growth, and expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community, special interest groups and enforcement authorities. In addition, 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. Additionally, we may face increased scrutiny related to any third party sustainability ratings we receive, which could adversely affect our reputation, business, and results of operations.

General Risks

Litigation, including allegations of illegal, unfair or inconsistent employment practices, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is subject to the risk of litigation by employees, guests, suppliers, business partners, shareholders, government agencies or others through private actions, class actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation. 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 including poor food quality, food-borne illness, food tampering, food contamination, and adverse health effects from consumption of various food products or high-calorie foods (including obesity); other personal injury; violation of “dram shop” laws (providing an injured party with recourse against an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated party who then causes injury to himself or a third party); trademark infringement; violation of federal securities laws; or other concerns. The outcome of litigation, particularly class action lawsuits and regulatory actions, is difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits may seek recovery of very

large or indeterminate amounts, and the magnitude of the potential loss relating to such lawsuits may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. The cost to defend litigation may be significant. There may also be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could decrease guest acceptance of our brands, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or we ultimately are found liable. Litigation could impact our operations in other ways as well. Allegations of illegal, unfair or inconsistent employment practices, for example, could adversely affect employee acquisition and retention. As a result, litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Unfavorable publicity, or a failure to respond effectively to adverse publicity, could harm our reputation and adversely impact our guest counts and sales.

The good reputation of our restaurant brands is a key factor in the success of our business. Actual or alleged incidents at any of our restaurants could result in negative publicity that could harm our brands. Even incidents occurring at restaurants operated by our competitors or in the supply chain generally could result in negative publicity that could harm the restaurant industry overall and, indirectly, our own brands. Negative publicity may result from allegations of illegal, unfair or inconsistent employment practices, employee dissatisfaction, guest discrimination, illness, injury, or any of the other matters discussed above that could give rise to litigation. Reputational value is also based on perceptions, and broad access to social media makes it easy for anyone to provide public feedback that can influence perceptions of us, our brands, and our properties, and it may be difficult to control or effectively manage negative publicity, regardless of whether it is accurate. While reputations may take decades to build, negative incidents can quickly erode trust and confidence, particularly if they result in adverse mainstream and social media publicity, governmental investigations, proceedings or penalties, or litigation. Regardless of whether the allegations or complaints are valid, unfavorable publicity relating to a limited number of our restaurants, or to only a single restaurant, could adversely affect public perception of the entire brand. Negative publicity, including through social media, also may result from health concerns including food safety and flu or virus outbreaks, publication of government or industry findings concerning food products, environmental disasters, crime incidents, data security breaches, scandals involving our employees, or operational problems at our restaurants, all of which could make our brands and menu offerings less appealing to our guests and negatively impact our guest counts and sales. Adverse publicity and its effect on overall consumer perceptions of our brands, or our failure to respond effectively to adverse publicity, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Disruptions in the financial and credit markets may adversely impact consumer spending patterns and affect the availability and cost of credit.

Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance our debt and to obtain financing for acquisitions or other general corporate and commercial purposes will depend on our operating and financial performance, which in turn is subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors beyond our control. Turmoil in global credit markets could adversely impact the availability of credit already arranged, and the availability and cost of credit in the future. There can be no assurances that we will be able to arrange credit on terms we believe are acceptable or that permit us to finance our business with historical margins. A lack of credit could have an adverse impact on certain of our suppliers, landlords and other tenants in retail centers in which we are located. If these issues occur, they could negatively affect our financial results. Any new disruptions in the financial markets may also adversely affect the U.S. and world economy, which could negatively impact consumer spending patterns.

Impairment of the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Goodwill represents the difference between the purchase price of acquired companies and the related fair values of net assets acquired. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indication of impairment of goodwill exists. Factors may include, among others: a significant decline in our expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in our stock price and market capitalization; a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated competition; the testing for recoverability of a significant asset group within a reporting unit; and slower growth rates. Any adverse change in these factors could have a significant impact on the recoverability of these assets and negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations. We compute the amount of impairment by comparing the fair value of the reporting unit with the carrying amount of that reporting unit. We are required to record a non-cash impairment charge if the testing performed indicates that goodwill has been impaired.

We evaluate the useful lives of our other intangible assets, primarily the LongHorn Steakhouse ® , Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen ® , The Capital Grille ® , Ruth’s Chris Steak House ® , Yard House ® and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood ® trademarks, to determine if they are definite or indefinite-lived. Reaching a determination on useful life requires significant judgments and assumptions regarding the future effects of obsolescence, demand, competition, other economic factors (such as the stability of the industry, legislative action that results in an uncertain or changing regulatory environment, and expected changes in distribution channels), the level of required maintenance expenditures, and the expected lives of other related groups of assets.

As with goodwill, we test our indefinite-lived intangible assets (primarily trademarks) for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. We cannot accurately predict the amount and timing of any impairments of these or other assets. Should the value of goodwill or other intangible assets become impaired, there could be an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in tax laws and unanticipated tax liabilities could adversely affect our financial results.

We are primarily subject to income and other taxes in the United States. Our effective income tax rate and other taxes in the future could be adversely affected by a number of factors, including changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in tax laws or other legislative changes and the outcome of income tax or other tax audits. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits could be materially different from our historical tax accruals and income tax provisions. The results of a tax audit could have a material effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made. In addition, our effective income tax rate and our results may be impacted by our ability to realize deferred tax benefits and by any increases or decreases of our valuation allowances applied to our existing deferred tax assets.

Failure of our internal controls over financial reporting and future changes in accounting standards may cause adverse unexpected operating results, affect our reported results of operations or otherwise harm our business and financial results.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting is not intended to provide absolute assurance that we would prevent or detect a misstatement of our financial statements or fraud. Our growth and acquisition of other restaurant companies with procedures not identical to our own could place significant additional pressure on our system of internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting could limit our ability to report our financial results accurately and timely or to detect and prevent fraud. A significant financial reporting failure or material weakness in internal control over financial reporting could cause a loss of investor confidence and decline in the market price of our common stock, increase our costs, lead to litigation or result in negative publicity that could damage our reputation.

A change in accounting standards can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions before the change is effective. New pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing accounting rules or the application of current accounting practices may adversely affect our reported financial results. Additionally, our assumptions, estimates and judgments related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results. Generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, including but not limited to, revenue recognition, fair value of investments, impairment of long-lived assets, leases and related economic transactions, derivatives, pension and post-retirement benefits, intangibles, self-insurance, income taxes, property and equipment, unclaimed property laws and litigation, and stock-based compensation are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by us. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by us could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance.

Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This discussion and analysis below for Darden Restaurants, Inc. (Darden, the Company, we, us or our) should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related financial statement notes included in Part II of this report under the caption “Item 8 - Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” We operate on a 52/53-week fiscal year, which ends on the last Sunday in May. Fiscal 2025, which ended May 25, 2025, and fiscal 2024, which ended May 26, 2024, each consisted of 52 weeks. Fiscal 2026, which ends on May 31, 2026, will consist of 53 weeks.

OVERVIEW OF OPERATIONS

Our business operates in the full-service dining segment of the restaurant industry. At May 25, 2025, we owned and operated 2,159 restaurants through subsidiaries in the United States and Canada under the Olive Garden ® , LongHorn Steakhouse ® , Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen ® , Chuy’s ® , Yard House ® , Ruth’s Chris Steak House ® (Ruth’s Chris), The Capital Grille ® , Seasons 52 ® , Eddie V’s Prime Seafood ® (Eddie V’s), Bahama Breeze ® and The Capital Burger ® trademarks. We own and operate all of our restaurants in the United States and Canada, except for 5 restaurants we manage through joint venture or other contractual agreements and 85 franchised restaurants. We also have 69 franchised restaurants in operation located in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

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, $613.7 million in net cash consideration, inclusive of $35.4 million of cash on Chuy’s balance sheet at closing. As a result of the acquisition and related integration efforts, we incurred expenses of $44.6 million ($36.7 million, net of tax) during the twelve months ended May 25, 2025.

Fiscal 2025 Financial Highlights

• Total sales increased 6.0 percent to $12.08 billion in fiscal 2025 from $11.39 billion in fiscal 2024 driven by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 2.0 percent and sales from the addition of 103 net company-owned Chuy’s restaurants and 25 other net new restaurants.

• Diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations increased to $8.88 in fiscal 2025 from $8.53 in fiscal 2024, a 4.1 percent increase.

• Net earnings from continuing operations increased to $1.05 billion in fiscal 2025 from $1.03 billion in fiscal 2024, a 2.0 percent increase.

• Net loss from discontinued operations decreased to $1.4 million ($0.02 per diluted share) in fiscal 2025, from $2.9 million ($0.02 per diluted share) in fiscal 2024. When combined with results from continuing operations, our diluted net earnings per share was $8.86 for fiscal 2025 and $8.51 for fiscal 2024.

Outlook

We expect fiscal 2026 sales from continuing operations to increase between 7.0 to 8.0 percent, driven by growth of 2.0 percent related to the fifty-third week in fiscal 2026, same-restaurant sales growth (1) of 2.0 to 3.5 percent, and sales from 60 to 65 new restaurant openings. In fiscal 2026, we expect our annual effective tax rate to be 13 percent, and we expect capital expenditures incurred to build new restaurants, remodel and maintain existing restaurants and technology initiatives to be between $700 million and $750 million.

(1) Annual same-restaurant sales is a 52-week metric and excludes the impact of Chuy’s, which will not have been owned and operated by Darden for a 16-month period prior to the beginning of fiscal 2026, as well as any additional locations not expected to be operated by Darden for the entirety of the fiscal year.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR FISCAL 2025 AND 2024

To facilitate review of our results of operations, the following table sets forth our financial results for the periods indicated. All information is derived from the consolidated statements of earnings for the fiscal years ended May 25, 2025 and May 26, 2024:

Fiscal Year Ended

Percent Change

(in millions)

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

Sales

Costs and expenses:

Food and beverage

Restaurant labor

Restaurant expenses

Pre-opening costs

Marketing expenses

General and administrative expenses

Depreciation and amortization

Impairments and disposal of assets, net

Total operating costs and expenses

Operating income

Interest, net

Earnings before income taxes

Income tax expense (1)

Earnings from continuing operations

Losses from discontinued operations, net of tax

Net earnings

(1) Effective tax rate

NM- Percentage change not considered meaningful.

The following table details the number of company-owned restaurants reported in continuing operations at the end of fiscal 2025, compared with the number open at the end of fiscal 2024:

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

Olive Garden

LongHorn Steakhouse

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen

Chuy’s

Yard House

Ruth’s Chris

The Capital Grille

Seasons 52

Eddie V’s

Bahama Breeze

The Capital Burger

Total

SALES

The following table presents our company-owned restaurant sales, U.S. same-restaurant sales (SRS) and average annual sales per restaurant by segment for the periods indicated:

Sales

Average Annual Sales per Restaurant (2)

Fiscal Year Ended

Percent Change

Fiscal Year Ended

(in millions)

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

SRS (1)

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

Olive Garden

LongHorn Steakhouse

Fine Dining

Other Business

(1) Same-restaurant sales is a year-over-year comparison of each period’s sales volumes for a 52-week year and is limited to restaurants that have been open, and operated by Darden, for at least 16 months.

(2) Average annual sales are calculated as sales divided by total restaurant operating weeks multiplied by 52 weeks; excludes franchise locations.

Olive Garden’s sales increase for fiscal 2025 was primarily driven by a U.S. same-restaurant sales increase combined with revenue from new restaurants. The increase in U.S. same-restaurant sales in fiscal 2025 resulted from a 4.1 percent increase in average check, which includes a 0.7 increase in off-premise catering sales, partially offset by a 2.3 percent decrease in same-restaurant guest counts.

LongHorn Steakhouse’s sales increase for fiscal 2025 was primarily driven by a same-restaurant sales increase combined with revenue from new restaurants. The increase in same-restaurant sales in fiscal 2025 resulted from a 3.1 percent increase in average check and a 1.9 percent increase in same-restaurant guest counts.

Fine Dining’s sales increase for fiscal 2025 was driven by revenue from new restaurants offset by same-restaurant sales decreases. The decrease in same-restaurant sales in fiscal 2025 resulted from a 5.2 percent decrease in same-restaurant guest counts offset by a 2.3 percent increase in average check.

Other Business’s sales increase for fiscal 2025 was driven by a U.S. same-restaurant sales increase combined with revenue from new restaurants including the acquisition of Chuy’s. The increase in same-restaurant sales in fiscal 2025 resulted from a 2.6 percent increase in average check offset by a 2.4 percent decrease in same-restaurant guest counts.

COSTS AND EXPENSES

The following table sets forth selected operating data as a percent of sales from continuing operations for the periods indicated. This information is derived from the consolidated statements of earnings for the fiscal years ended May 25, 2025 and May 26, 2024.

Fiscal Year Ended

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

Sales

Costs and expenses:

Food and beverage

Restaurant labor

Restaurant expenses

Marketing expenses

Pre-opening costs

General and administrative expenses

Depreciation and amortization

Impairments and disposal of assets, net

Total operating costs and expenses

Operating income

Interest, net

Earnings before income taxes

Income tax expense

Earnings from continuing operations

Total operating costs and expenses from continuing operations were $10.71 billion in fiscal 2025 and $10.08 billion in fiscal 2024.

Fiscal 2025 Compared to Fiscal 2024:

• Food and beverage costs decreased as a percent of sales primarily due to a 0.9 percent impact from pricing leverage and a 0.2 percent impact from cost savings, partially offset by a 0.3 percent impact from mix and other and a 0.2 percent impact from inflation.

• Restaurant labor costs decreased as a percent of sales primarily due to a 0.8 percent impact from sales leverage, a 0.2 percent impact from productivity improvement and a 0.2 percent impact from lower benefits expense, partially offset by a 1.1 percent impact from inflation.

• Restaurant expenses increased as a percent of sales primarily due to a 0.5 percent impact from inflation, a 0.2 percent impact from brand mix, including Chuy’s and a 0.1 percent impact from Uber Direct fees, partially offset by a 0.4 percent impact from sales leverage and a 0.2 percent impact from other expenses.

• Marketing expenses increased as a percent of sales primarily due to increased marketing and media.

• Pre-opening costs remained flat as a percent of sales.

• General and administrative expenses increased as a percent of sales primarily due to a 0.4 percent impact from Chuy’s acquisition and integration costs, 0.1 percent impact from inflation, a 0.1 percent impact from mark to market adjustments and a 0.1 percent impact from restaurant closures, partially offset by a 0.4 percent impact from reduced Ruth’s Chris acquisition and integration costs and by a 0.2 percent impact from sales leverage.

• Depreciation and amortization expenses increased as a percent of sales primarily due to the acquisition of Chuy’s as well as incremental depreciation on brand assets.

• Impairments and disposal of assets, net increased as a percent of sales primarily due to the decision to close twenty-two underperforming restaurant locations during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

INCOME TAXES

The effective income tax rates for fiscal 2025 and 2024 for continuing operations were 11.5 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. During fiscal 2025, we had income tax expense of $136.2 million on earnings before income tax of $1.19 billion

compared to income tax expense of $145.0 million on earnings before income taxes of $1.18 billion in fiscal 2024. This change was primarily driven by federal tax credits.

H.R. 1., also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), was enacted on July 4, 2025. The legislation includes several provisions that may impact the timing and magnitude of certain tax deductions. Key provisions include the permanent extension of several business tax benefits originally introduced under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. We are currently evaluating the provisions of the OBBBA to assess their potential impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

NET EARNINGS AND NET EARNINGS PER SHARE FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS

Net earnings from continuing operations for fiscal 2025 were $1.05 billion ($8.88 per diluted share) compared with net earnings from continuing operations for fiscal 2024 of $1.03 billion ($8.53 per diluted share).

Net earnings from continuing operations for fiscal 2025 increased 2.0 percent and diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations increased 4.1 percent compared with fiscal 2024.

LOSS FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

On an after-tax basis, results from discontinued operations for fiscal 2025 were a net loss of $1.4 million ($0.02 per diluted share) compared with a net loss for fiscal 2024 of $2.9 million ($0.02 per diluted share).

SEGMENT RESULTS

We manage our restaurant brands, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chuy’s, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s, Bahama Breeze and The Capital Burger in the U.S. and Canada as operating segments. We aggregate our operating segments into reportable segments based on a combination of the size, economic characteristics and sub-segment of full-service dining within which each brand operates. Our four reportable segments are: (1) Olive Garden, (2) LongHorn Steakhouse, (3) Fine Dining and (4) Other Business. See Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this report) for further details.

Our management uses segment profit as the measure for assessing performance of our segments. The following table presents segment profit margin for the periods indicated:

Fiscal Year Ended

Change

Segment

May 25, 2025

May 26, 2024

Olive Garden

LongHorn Steakhouse

Fine Dining

Other Business

The increases in the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse segment profit margins for fiscal 2025 were both driven primarily by positive same-restaurant sales and lower food and beverage costs, partially offset by higher restaurant expenses and marketing costs. The decrease in the Fine Dining segment profit margin for fiscal 2025 was driven primarily by negative same-restaurant sales and higher restaurant labor and restaurant expenses, partially offset by lower food and beverage costs. The increase in the Other Business segment profit margin for fiscal 2025 was driven primarily by positive same-restaurant sales and lower food and beverage costs, partially offset by increased restaurant expenses and marketing costs.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR FISCAL 2024 COMPARED TO FISCAL 2023

For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended May 26, 2024 and May 28, 2023, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 26, 2024, filed with the SEC on July 19, 2024.

SEASONALITY

Our sales volumes have historically fluctuated seasonally. Our average sales per restaurant are highest in the winter and spring, followed by the fall and summer. Holidays, changes in the economy, severe weather and similar conditions may impact sales volumes seasonally in some operating regions. Because of the historical seasonality of our business and these other factors, results for any fiscal quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year.

IMPACT OF INFLATION

We attempt to minimize the annual effects of inflation through appropriate planning, operating practices and menu price increases. We recently operated in a period of higher than usual inflation, led by food and beverage cost and labor inflation. Food and beverage inflation is principally due to increased costs incurred by our vendors related to higher labor, transportation, packaging, and raw materials costs. Some of the impacts of inflation have been offset by menu price increases and other adjustments made during the year. Whether we are able and/or choose to continue to offset the effects of inflation will determine to what extent, if any, inflation affects our restaurant profitability in future periods.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of sales and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this report). Judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of those policies may result in materially different amounts being reported under different conditions or using different assumptions. We consider the following estimates to be most critical in understanding the judgments that are involved in preparing our consolidated financial statements.

Leases

We evaluate our leases at their inception to estimate their expected term, which commences on the date when we have the right to control the use of the leased property and includes the non-cancelable base term plus all option periods we are reasonably certain to exercise. Our judgment in determining the appropriate expected term and discount rate for each lease affects our evaluation of:

• The classification and accounting for leases as operating versus finance;

• The rent holidays and escalation in payments that are included in the calculation of the lease liability and related right-of-use asset; and

• The term over which leasehold improvements for each restaurant facility are amortized.

These judgments may produce materially different amounts of lease liabilities and right-of-use assets recognized on our consolidated balance sheets, as well as depreciation, amortization, interest and rent expense recognized in our consolidated statements of earnings if different discount rates and expected lease terms were used.

Valuation of Long-Lived Assets

Land, buildings and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets and certain other assets, including definite-lived intangible assets, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indicator of impairment has occurred. Such indicators may include, among others: a significant decline in our expected future cash flows; changes in expected useful life; unanticipated competition; slower growth rates, ongoing maintenance and improvements of the assets, or changes in the usage or operating performance. Any adverse change in these factors could have a significant impact on the recoverability of these assets and could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. Based on a review of operating results for each of our restaurants, given the current operating environment, the amount of net book value associated with lower performing restaurants that would be deemed at risk for impairment is not material to our consolidated financial statements.

Valuation and Recoverability of Goodwill and Trademarks

We have eleven reporting units, eight of which have goodwill and nine of which have trademarks. Goodwill and trademarks are not subject to amortization and have been assigned to reporting units for purposes of impairment testing. The reporting units are our restaurant brands. A significant amount of judgment is involved in determining if an indicator of impairment has occurred. Such indicators may include, among others: a significant decline in our expected future cash flows; a sustained, significant decline in our stock price and market capitalization; a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate; unanticipated competition; the testing for recoverability of a significant asset group within a reporting unit; and slower growth rates. Any adverse change in these factors could have a significant impact on the recoverability of these assets and could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. We review our goodwill and trademarks for impairment annually, as of the first day of our fourth fiscal quarter, or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist.

During fiscal 2025, we elected to perform a qualitative assessment for our annual review of goodwill and trademarks to determine whether or not indicators of impairment exist. In considering the qualitative approach related to goodwill, we evaluated factors including, but not limited to, macro-economic conditions, market and industry conditions, commodity cost fluctuations, competitive environment, share price performance, results of prior impairment tests, operational stability, the overall financial performance of the reporting units and the impacts of discount rates. As it relates to trademarks, we evaluate similar factors from the goodwill assessment, in addition to impacts of royalty rates. As a result of the qualitative assessment, no indicators of impairment were identified, and no additional indicators of impairment were identified through the end of our fourth fiscal quarter that would require us to test further for impairment.

We evaluate the useful lives of our other intangible assets to determine if they are definite or indefinite-lived. A determination on useful life requires significant judgments and assumptions regarding the future effects of obsolescence, demand, competition, other economic factors (such as the stability of the industry, legislative action that results in an uncertain or changing regulatory environment and expected changes in distribution channels), the level of required maintenance expenditures and the expected lives of other related groups of assets.

Unearned Revenues

Unearned revenues primarily represent our liability for gift cards that have been sold but not yet redeemed. The estimated value of gift cards expected to remain unused is recognized over the expected period of redemption as the remaining gift card values are redeemed, generally over a period of 12 years. Utilizing this method, we estimate both the amount of breakage and the time period of redemption. If actual redemption patterns vary from our estimates, actual gift card breakage income may differ from the amounts recorded. We update our estimates of our redemption period and our breakage rate periodically and apply that rate to gift card redemptions on a prospective basis. Changing our breakage-rate estimates by 50 basis points would have resulted in an adjustment in our breakage income of approximately $3.5 million for fiscal 2025.

Income Taxes

We estimate certain components of our provision for income taxes. These estimates include, among other items, depreciation and amortization expense allowable for tax purposes, allowable tax credits for items such as taxes paid on reported employee tip income, effective rates for state and local income taxes and the tax deductibility of certain other items. We adjust our annual effective income tax rate as additional information on outcomes or events becomes available.

Assessment of uncertain tax positions requires judgments relating to the amounts, timing and likelihood of resolution. As described in Note 13 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this report), the $21.4 million balance of unrecognized tax benefits at May 25, 2025, includes $1.3 million related to tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts could change during the next 12 months based on the outcome of examinations. All of such $1.3 million relates to items that would impact our effective income tax rate.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Typically, cash flows generated from operating activities are our principal source of liquidity, which we use to finance capital expenditures for new restaurants and to remodel and maintain existing restaurants, to pay dividends to our shareholders and to repurchase shares of our common stock. Since substantially all of our sales are for cash and cash equivalents, and accounts payable are generally paid in 5 to 90 days, we are typically able to carry current liabilities in excess of current assets.

We currently manage our business and financial ratios to target an investment-grade bond rating, which has historically allowed flexible access to financing at reasonable costs. Our publicly issued long-term debt currently carries the following ratings:

• Moody’s Investors Service “Baa2”;

• Standard & Poor’s “BBB”; and

• Fitch “BBB”.

Our commercial paper has ratings of:

• Moody’s Investors Service “P-2”;

• Standard & Poor’s “A-2”; and

• Fitch “F-2”.

These ratings are as of the date of the filing of this report and have been obtained with the understanding that Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch will continue to monitor our credit and make future adjustments to these ratings to the extent warranted. The ratings are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold our securities, may be changed, superseded or withdrawn at any time and should be evaluated independently of any other rating.

On October 23, 2023, we entered into a $1.25 billion Revolving Credit Agreement (Revolving Credit Agreement) with Bank of America, N.A. (BOA), as administrative agent, and the lenders and other agents party thereto. The Revolving Credit Agreement is a senior unsecured credit commitment to the Company and contains customary representations and affirmative and negative covenants (including limitations on liens and subsidiary debt and a maximum consolidated lease adjusted total debt to total capitalization ratio of 0.75 to 1.00) and events of default usual for credit facilities of this type. As of May 25, 2025, we had no outstanding balances and were in compliance with all covenants under the Revolving Credit Agreement. As of May 25, 2025, $0.2 million of letters of credit were outstanding, which was backed by this facility. After consideration of letters of credit backed by the Revolving Credit Agreement, as of May 25, 2025, we had $1.25 billion of credit available under the Revolving Credit Agreement.

Loans under the Revolving Credit Agreement bear interest at a rate of (a) Term SOFR (which is defined, for the applicable interest period, as the Term SOFR Screen Rate two U.S. Government Securities Business Days prior to the commencement of such interest period with a term equivalent to such interest period) plus a Term SOFR adjustment of 0.10 percent plus the relevant margin determined by reference to a ratings-based pricing grid (Applicable Margin), or (b) the base rate (which is defined as the highest of the BOA prime rate, the Federal Funds rate plus 0.500 percent, and the Term SOFR plus 1.00 percent) plus the relevant Applicable Margin. Assuming a “BBB” equivalent credit rating level, the Applicable Margin under the Revolving Credit Agreement is 1.000 percent for Term SOFR loans and 0.000 percent for base rate loans.

On September 16, 2024, we entered into Amendment No. 1 (Amendment) to the Revolving Credit Agreement, which replaced the prior financial covenant (which provided for a maximum consolidated total debt to total capitalization ratio) with a new financial covenant requiring us to maintain, measured as of the end of each fiscal quarter, a maximum consolidated leverage ratio of 3.50 to 1.00 (which may be temporarily increased to 4.00 to 1.00 upon the election as a result of a covered acquisition, subject to customary limitations set forth in the Revolving Credit Agreement). All other material terms and conditions of the Revolving Credit Agreement were unchanged.

The Revolving Credit Agreement matures on October 23, 2028, and the proceeds may be used for working capital and capital expenditures, the refinancing of certain indebtedness, certain acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

On September 16, 2024, we entered into a senior unsecured $600 million 2-year Term Loan Credit Agreement (Term Loan Agreement) with BOA, as administrative agent, the lenders and other agents party thereto, the material terms of which were consistent with the Revolving Credit Agreement. The intended use of the proceeds was to finance our acquisition of Chuy’s and we subsequently terminated the Term Loan Agreement on October 3, 2024, in connection with the closing of our senior notes issuance discussed below. We did not draw any funds, and there were never any outstanding borrowings under the Term Loan Agreement.

On October 3, 2024, we issued and sold $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.350 percent Senior Notes due 2027 (2027 Notes) and $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.550 percent Senior Notes due 2029 (2029 Notes and, together with the 2027 Notes, the Notes), pursuant to the provisions of the Underwriting Agreement, dated September 30, 2024, among the Company and BofA Securities, Inc., Truist Securities, Inc., U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. The Notes were issued under the Company’s Indenture, dated as of January 1, 1996, between the Company and Computershare Trust Company, National Association (as successor to Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, successor to Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, National Association, formerly known as Norwest Bank Minnesota, National Association), as trustee (Base Trustee), as amended and supplemented by the Second Supplemental Indenture, dated as of October 4, 2023, among the Company, the Base Trustee and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as a successor trustee with respect to the Notes. We used the proceeds from our issuance of the Notes to finance our acquisition of Chuy’s and for general corporate purposes.

The 2027 Notes will mature on October 15, 2027, and the 2029 Notes will mature on October 15, 2029. Interest on the Notes will be paid semi-annually in arrears on April 15 and October 15 of each year, commencing on April 15, 2025, to holders of record on the preceding March 31 or September 30, as the case may be.

As of May 25, 2025, our outstanding long-term debt consisted principally of:

• $500.0 million of unsecured 3.850 percent senior notes due in May 2027;

• $400.0 million of unsecured 4.350 percent senior notes due in October 2027;

• $350.0 millions of unsecured 4.550 percent senior notes due in October 2029;

• $500.0 million of unsecured 6.300 percent senior notes due October 2033;

• $96.3 million of unsecured 6.000 percent senior notes due in August 2035;

• $42.8 million of unsecured 6.800 percent senior notes due in October 2037; and

• $300.0 million of unsecured 4.550 percent senior notes due in February 2048.

The interest rate on our $42.8 million 6.800 percent senior notes due October 2037 is subject to adjustment from time to time if the debt rating assigned to such series of notes is downgraded below a certain rating level (or subsequently upgraded). The maximum adjustment is 2.000 percent above the initial interest rate and the interest rate cannot be reduced below the initial interest rate. As of May 25, 2025, no such adjustments have been made to this rate.

Through our shelf registration statement on file with the SEC, depending on conditions prevailing in the public capital markets, we may from time to time issue equity securities or unsecured debt securities in one or more series, which may consist of notes, debentures or other evidences of indebtedness in one or more offerings.

From time to time, we or our affiliates, may repurchase our outstanding debt in privately negotiated transactions, open-market transactions or otherwise. Such repurchases, if any, will depend on prevailing market conditions, our liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors. The amounts involved may be material.

From time to time, we enter into interest rate derivative instruments to manage interest rate risk inherent in our operations. See Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this report).

A summary of our contractual obligations and commercial commitments at May 25, 2025, is as follows:

(in millions)

Payments Due by Period

Contractual Obligations

Total

Less Than

1 Year

Years

Years

More Than

5 Years

Long-term debt (1)

Leases (2)

Purchase obligations (3)

Benefit obligations (4)

Unrecognized income tax benefits (5)

Total contractual obligations

(in millions)

Amount of Commitment Expiration per Period

Other Commercial Commitments

Total

Amounts

Committed

Less Than

1 Year

Years

Years

More Than

5 Years

Standby letters of credit (6)

Guarantees (7)

Total commercial commitments

(1) Includes interest payments associated with existing long-term debt. Excludes discount and issuance costs of $20.2 million.

(2) Includes non-cancelable future operating lease and finance lease commitments.

(3) Includes commitments for food and beverage items and supplies, capital projects, information technology and other miscellaneous items.

(4) Primarily represents our non-qualified deferred compensation plan through fiscal 2035.

(5) Includes interest on unrecognized income tax benefits of $2.3 million, $0.3 million of which relates to contingencies expected to be resolved within one year.

(6) Includes letters of credit for $80.0 million of workers’ compensation and general liabilities accrued in our consolidated financial statements and letters of credit for $16.7 million of surety bonds related to other payments.

(7) Consists solely of guarantees associated with leased properties that have been assigned to third parties and are primarily related to the disposition of Red Lobster in fiscal 2015.

Per the Amendment, our adjusted debt to EBITDAR ratio must be 3.50 to 1.00 or lower in order to be in compliance with our financial covenants. As of May 25, 2025, our adjusted debt to EBITDAR ratio was 2.1. For fiscal 2025, the lease-debt equivalent includes 6.00 times the total annual minimum rent for consolidated lease obligations of $498.1 million. The calculation of adjusted debt to EBITDAR ratio is shown in the following table:

(in millions, except ratios)

May 25, 2025

Long-term debt, excluding unamortized discount and issuance costs and fair value hedge

Lease-debt equivalent

Guarantees

Adjusted Debt

Calculation of EBITDAR

Earnings from continuing operations

Depreciation and amortization

Interest, net

Income tax expense

Impairments and disposal of assets, net

Transaction and integration costs

Non-cash stock based compensation

Minimum rent

Adjusted EBITDAR

Adjusted Debt/ EBITDAR Ratio

Prior to the Amendment, the ratio was calculated as adjusted debt to adjusted total capital and the maximum permitted was 75 percent. As of May 26, 2024, our adjusted debt to adjusted capital ratio was 66 percent. For fiscal 2024, the lease-debt equivalent includes 6.00 times the total annual minimum rent for consolidated lease obligations of $464.4 million. The composition of our capital structure is shown in the following table:

(in millions, except ratios)

May 26, 2024

Capital Structure

Short-term debt

Long-term debt, excluding unamortized discount and issuance costs and fair value hedge

Total debt

Stockholders’ equity

Total capital

Calculation of Adjusted Capital

Total debt

Lease-debt equivalent

Guarantees

Adjusted debt

Stockholders’ equity

Adjusted total capital

Capital Structure Ratios

Debt to total capital ratio

Adjusted debt to adjusted total capital ratio

Based on these ratios, we believe our financial condition is strong. We include the lease-debt equivalent and contractual lease guarantees in our ratios reported to shareholders, as we believe its inclusion better represents the optimal capital structure that we target from period to period and because it is consistent with the calculation of the covenant under our Revolving Credit Agreement.

Net cash flows provided by operating activities from continuing operations were $1.71 billion and $1.62 billion in fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively. Net cash flows provided by operating activities include net earnings from continuing operations of $1.05 billion in fiscal 2025 and $1.03 billion in fiscal 2024. Net cash flows provided by operating activities from continuing operations increased in fiscal 2025 primarily due to higher net earnings from continuing operations.

Net cash flows used in investing activities from continuing operations were $1.3 billion in fiscal 2025 and 2024. Capital expenditures incurred principally for building new restaurants, remodeling existing restaurants, replacing equipment, and technology initiatives were $644.6 million in fiscal 2025, compared to $601.2 million in fiscal 2024. Net cash used in the acquisition of Chuy’s was $613.7 million during fiscal 2025. Net cash used in the acquisition of Ruth’s Chris was $701.1 million during fiscal 2024.

Net cash flows used in financing activities from continuing operations were $385.8 million and $483.4 million in fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively. Net cash flows used in financing activities in fiscal 2025 included dividend payments of $658.5 million, share repurchases of $418.2 million and repayment of commercial paper of $86.8 million, partially offset by net proceeds from the issuance of long-debt of $750.0 million and proceeds from the exercise of employee stock options. Net cash flows used in financing activities in fiscal 2024 included dividend payments of $628.4 million and share repurchases of $453.9 million, partially offset by the issuance of commercial paper of $86.8 million, net proceeds from the 2033 Notes of $500.0 million and proceeds from the exercise of employee stock options. Dividends declared by our Board of Directors totaled $5.60 and $5.24 per share for fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively.

We are not aware of any trends or events that would materially affect our capital requirements or liquidity. We believe that our internal cash-generating capabilities, the potential issuance of equity or unsecured debt securities under our shelf registration statement and short-term commercial paper or drawings under our Revolving Credit Agreement should be sufficient to finance our capital expenditures, debt maturities and other operating activities through fiscal 2026.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

We are not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements that have, or are reasonably likely to have, a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, sales or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

FINANCIAL CONDITION

Our total current assets were $937.7 million at May 25, 2025, compared with $822.8 million at May 26, 2024. The increase was primarily due to an increase in cash and cash equivalents driven by cash from operations.

Our total current liabilities were $2.25 billion at May 25, 2025 and $2.19 billion at May 26, 2024. The increase was primarily due to increases in accounts payable as well as an increase in other current liabilities associated with our non-qualified deferred compensation plan, operating and financing leases and sales tax liability.

APPLICATION OF NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

See Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this report) for a discussion of recently issued accounting standards.