Darden Restaurants vs Yum! Brands
Darden Restaurants reported revenue of $13.2 billion in fiscal 2026, 1.6 times Yum! Brands' $8.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Darden Restaurants' revenue grew 9.4% in its latest year, and Yum! Brands' grew 8.8%. Darden Restaurants had an operating margin of 12.0%, against 31.3% at Yum! Brands. Free cash flow was $1.1 billion at Darden Restaurants and $1.6 billion at Yum! Brands. Their fiscal years end in different months (May 31 and December 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Darden Restaurants | Yum! Brands | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2026, May 31, 2026 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $13.2B | $8.2B |
| Revenue growth | 9.4% | 8.8% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 12.9% | 7.8% |
| Gross margin | 20.3% | 69.8% |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | 31.3% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | 19.0% |
| Free cash flow | $1.1B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow margin | 8.5% | 19.9% |
| Return on capital | 24.8% | 54.8% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.5x | 4.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.4B | $1.3B |
| Change in diluted share count | −1.8% | −1.4% |
| Last close | $213.25 | $149.47 |
| P/E at the last close | 20.8× | 18.8× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $24.0 million | sold $13.2 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Darden RestaurantsYum! Brands
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
Darden RestaurantsYum! Brands
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
Darden RestaurantsYum! Brands
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Darden Restaurants and Yum! Brands pages.