What Drove Darden’s Earnings per Share in Fiscal 3Q18

In fiscal 3Q!8, Darden Restaurants (DRI) posted adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $1.71, which represents growth of 29.5% from $1.32 in fiscal 3Q17. Darden’s EPS growth was driven by revenue growth, a lower effective tax rate, and share repurchases. The application of the new tax rate for fiscal 1Q18 and fiscal 2Q18 lowered the tax rate by 7.0%, the resolution of other tax matters lowered the tax rate by 4.0%, and the hedging of deferred compensation also lowered the tax rate by approximately 4.0%.