Darden Restaurants Sales Rise Despite Concerns Over Consumer Spending Slowdown

The company credited its sales boost to marketing efforts, including Olive Garden’s ‘buy one, take one’ deal—back for the first time in five years.

6/20/2025|Updated: 6/20/2025

News Analysis

Darden Restaurants’ sales rose in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, overcoming concerns about an impending slowdown in consumer spending due to weak consumer confidence. Sales were robust across all brands on Mother’s Day, thanks to the company’s successful marketing strategy.

Panos Mourdoukoutas

Author

Panos Mourdoukoutas is a professor of economics at Long Island University in New York City. He also teaches security analysis at Columbia University. He’s been published in professional journals and magazines, including Forbes, Investopedia, Barron’s, IBT, and Journal of Financial Research. He’s also the author of many books, including “Business Strategy in a Semiglobal Economy” and “China’s Challenge.”