Darden Lifts Growth Outlook; Thor Ind Net Plunges, Red Hat Drops

Mukesh Buch
20 Sep, 2018
New York City

Darden Restaurants net jumped and lifted fiscal outlook. Herman Miller beat earnings estimates. Red Hat net plunged 10% but revenues surged. Thor Industries tumbled on weaker-than-expected results.

[R]12:05 PM New York City, New York – Darden Restaurants net jumped and lifted fiscal outlook. Herman Miller beat earnings estimates. Red Hat net plunged 10% but revenues surged. Thor Industries tumbled on weaker-than-expected results.[/R]

Tollbooth Index dropped 41.44 or 0.3% to 16,511.21 but for the year-to-date soared 19.9%.

Earnings Review

Darden Restaurants, Inc ((DRI)) fell 40 cents to $117.49 after the specialty restaurant operator reported revenues in the first-quarter ending on August 26 jumped 6.5% from a year ago to $2.1 billion.

Same restaurant sales in the quarter advanced 3.3%

Net income in the quarter surged 39.7% to $166.2 million or $1.34 per diluted share from $119 million or 93 cents in the same quarter last year.

Darden lifted fiscal 2019 total sales growth forecast to between 5% and 5.5% from the earlier estimate of 4% to 5% and diluted earnings per share in the range of $5.52 to $5.65 from the earlier estimate of $5.40 to $5.56

Same restaurant sales growth are now projected to be in a range of 2% to 2.5% from the earlier estimate of 1% to 2%.

Herman Miller Inc ((MLHR)) soared 5.1% or $1.90 to $39.15 after the office equipment and home furniture provider said revenues in the first-quarter ending on September 1 advanced 7.6% from a year ago to $624.6 million.

Same restaurant sales in the quarter advanced 3.3%

Net income in the quarter jumped 8.2% to $35.8 million or 60 cents per diluted share from $33.1 million or 55 cents in the same quarter last year.

The office equipment provider said new orders in the quarter jumped 6% to $630.6 million and backlog increased 4.3% to $346.4 million from a year ago period.

Herman Miller forecasted fiscal second-quarter revenues in the range of $635 million to $655 million and diluted earnings per share between 70 cents and 74 cents.

Red Hat Inc ((RHT)) declined 5.8% or $8.31 to $134.85 after the open-source software provider reported revenues in the second-quarter ending in August soared 14% from a year ago to $823 million.

Net income in the quarter plunged 10.3% to $87 million or 46 cents per diluted share from $97 million or 53 cents in the same quarter last year.

Red Hat forecasted fiscal 2019 revenues in the range of $3.36 billion to $3.40 billion and operating margin of about 16.4% and diluted earnings per share between $3.45 and $3.49.

Thor Industries Inc ((THO)) tumbled 13.6% or $14.35 to $91.29 after the recreational vehicles maker said net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in July dropped 3.1% from a year ago to $1.9 billion.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 26.2% to $88.2 million or $1.67 per diluted share from $119.5 million or $2.26 in the same quarter last year.

The recreational vehicles maker said revenues in the Towable segment were flat and revenues in the motorized segment plunged 13.2% and gross profit margin declined to 13% from 15.6% in a year ago period.