Darden pasta promotion launching one month earlier, says Raymond James

Raymond James analyst Brian Vaccaro points out that Darden’s Olive Garden will offer its “Never Ending Pasta” promotion one month earlier than last year. The earlier launch appears to be in response to the more intense value and promotional industry environment where Raymond James has seen effective value “hooks” drive strong share gains at certain brands, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm points says third-party traffic data suggest Olive Garden’s fiscal Q1 comparable sales could be tracking below consensus expectations. However, segment trends appear to have improved in the first two weeks of August, and the pasta promotion should provide a boost to Olive Garden comp e sales in the coming weeks, adds Raymond James. It keeps an Outperform rating on the shares with a $160 price target.