Darden Restaurants — Dec 18, 2025 release

2 Primarily costs related to the closure of 22 underperforming restaurants that were permanently closed during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 3 See the "Non-GAAP Information" below for more details Dividend Declared Darden's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.50 per share on the Company's outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on February 2, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 9, 2026. Share Repurchase Program During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 1.1 million shares of its common stock for a total of $222 million. As of the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the Company had $643 million remaining under the current $1 billion repurchase authorization. Fiscal 2026 Financial Outlook The Company updated its full year financial outlook for fiscal 2026, which includes a 53rd week. This outlook includes the impact of the additional week. We will provide additional details during our investor conference call scheduled for this morning at 8:30 am ET. • Total sales growth of 8.5% to 9.3%, including approximately 2% growth related to the 53rd week • Same-restaurant sales 4 growth of 3.5% to 4.3% • New restaurant openings of 65 to 70 • Total capital spending of $750 to $775 million • Total inflation of approximately 3.5% • An effective tax rate of approximately 13% • Adjusted diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations of $10.50 to $10.70 3 , including: ◦ Approximately $0.20 re