- MKM Partners warms up to Darden Restaurants (DRI +1.9%) after digesting the restaurant operator's earnings report.
- The firm upgrades Darden to a Buy rating after having it set at Neutral on what it sees as "solid" FQ4 results. The outlook from Darden management is said to showcase the strength of the model, while also offering some "incremental positive read-throughs" for the industry at large. Importantly, analyst Brett Levy and team think Darden can either manage the elevated cost environment or offset it via levers.
- MKM Partners assigns a price target of $168 to Darden.
- Read the Darden earnings call transcript.
- See a breakdown of the report from analysts.