Darden Chairman Resigns, Walgreens Profit Tumbles

Mukesh Buch
05 Apr, 2016
New York City

Darden Restaurants net plunged 21% but revenues jumped 7% and chairman of the board resigned. Greenbrier net declined 11% and lifted fiscal revenue forecast. International Speedway net surged 32%. Walgreens Boots Alliance net tumbled 54.5% but sales soared 14%.

[R]1:00 PM New York – Darden Restaurants net plunged 21% but revenues jumped 7% and chairman of the board resigned. Greenbrier net declined 11% and lifted fiscal revenue forecast. International Speedway net surged 32%. Walgreens Boots Alliance net tumbled 54.5% but sales soared 14%.[/R]

Tollbooth Index slumped 100.89 or 0.9% to 10,692.43.

Earnings Review

Darden Restaurants, Inc ((DRI)) dropped 3.6% or $2.40 to $64.94 after the restaurant chain operator reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in February jumped 6.9% from a year ago to $1.85 billion.

Same-restaurant sales in the quarter soared 6.2%.

Net income in the quarter plunged to 20.9% to $105.8 million or 82 cents per diluted share compared to profit of $133.8 million or $1.05 per share from the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted diluted net earnings per share in the fiscal 2016 in the range of $3.48 to $3.52, an increase between 36% and 38% from fiscal 2015.

Separately, the restaurant operator said Jeffrey C. Smith has resigned from its board from April 4 and will be replaced as chairman by Chuck Stonsteby.

Greenbrier Companies Inc ((GBX)) jumped 4.2% or $1.11 to $27.67 after the railroad freight car equipment maker stated revenues in the second-quarter ending in February advanced 6.2% from a year ago to $669.1 million.

Net income in the quarter declined 10.9% to $44.9 million or $1.41 per diluted share compared to $50.4 million or $1.57 per share from the same quarter last year.

Greenbrier estimated earnings per share in the fiscal year between $5.70 and $6.10 and revenue forecast of about $2.8 billion from the consensus revenue estimated to $2.75 billion.

International Speedway Corp ((ISCA)) slumped 2.2% or 80 cents to $35.46 after the motorsports event organiser said revenues in the first-quarter ending in February increased 4.5% from a year ago to $142.6 million.

Net income in the quarter surged 32% to $19.8 million or 43 cents per diluted share compared to $14.9 million or 32 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc ((WBA)) declined 3.1% or $2.68 to $83.65 after the drug store retailer reported net sales in the second-quarter ending in February soared 13.6% from a year ago to $30.2 billion.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 54.5% to $930 million or 85 cents per diluted share compared to $2.04 billion or $1.93 per share from the same quarter last year.