DRI vs MLCO vs EAT Stock Comparison

Darden Restaurants, Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Brinker International Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DRI Darden Restaurants Inc
$213.25 +6.7% 1M +15.4% 1Y
Market cap
$24.18B
P/E
20.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.37B
Div. yield
–
Full-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
4 wins
EAT Brinker International, Inc
$187.83 -9.4% 1M +47.5% 1Y
Market cap
$8.42B
P/E
17.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.81B
Div. yield
–
Full-Service Restaurants Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Melco Resorts & Entertainment leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Melco Resorts & Entertainment 5, Darden Restaurants 4, Brinker International 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDRIMLCOEATLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $24.18B $1.53B $8.42B DRI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.4x 6.5x 17.3x MLCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.0x 11.1x 13.6x MLCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% +5.2% +7.9% DRI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.8% 5.0% 8.4% DRI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 32.9% 231.9% 59.4% MLCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.1x -2.9x 0.4x MLCO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.4% -53.4% +47.5% EAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.2%/yr -19.1%/yr +34.4%/yr EAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.9% 39.3% 49.5% DRI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 85/100 79/100 MLCO

Percentile Scorecard

DRIMLCOEAT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisDRIMLCOEAT
Valuation 33 #34 of 50 100 #1 of 44 67 #17 of 50
Growth 26 #35 of 47 91 #5 of 43 94 #4 of 47
Profitability 80 #10 of 46 88 #6 of 41 93 #4 of 46
Financial Health 28 #37 of 51 61 #19 of 47 54 #24 of 51
Shareholder Returns 75 #9 of 33 – 88 #5 of 33
Overall 48 85 79
  • DRI ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants
  • MLCO ranked among 48 companies in Gaming and Leisure
  • EAT ranked among 53 companies in Restaurants

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodDRIMLCOEATSPY
1 month +6.7%-18.0%-9.4% -0.8%
3 months +4.5%-31.0%-4.0% +3.5%
6 months +7.3%-30.6%+40.0% +7.0%
Year to date +15.9%-48.7%+30.9% +12.2%
1 year +15.4%-53.4%+47.5% +13.0%
3 years +49.7%-53.8%+473.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +14.4%-22.7%+79.1% +23.1%
5 years +48.6%-65.2%+338.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year +8.2%-19.1%+34.4% +11.0%
10 years +248.7%-77.5%+293.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +13.3%-13.9%+14.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureDRIMLCOEATSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.9%39.3%49.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.2%46.8%46.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.180.680.75 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.55-1.360.96 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.1%-74.1%-50.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.4%-58.7%-26.1% -1.8%
52-week high $227.72$9.39$254.01 $779.14
52-week low $169.21$3.73$102.29 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleDRIMLCOEAT
P/E now vs peer median 20.5xmedian 20.5x 6.6xmedian 17.1x 16.8xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 1.1x 0.3xmedian 1.9x 1.4xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.4xmedian 13.3x 7.5xmedian 10.9x 9.9xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 17.5x 3.1xmedian 11.4x 14.2xmedian 17.5x
P/B now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 3.1x 179.9xmedian 2.5x 17.9xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.37median 1.07 0.19median 0.57 0.25median 1.07

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsDRIMLCOEAT
Revenue $13.37B $4.69B $5.81B
Gross profit $4.46B $4.54B $4.32B
Operating income $1.56B $477.81M $619.90M
Net income $1.18B $196.16M $487.00M
Free cash flow $1.03B $506.29M $557.50M
R&D – $4.78M –
EPS (diluted) $10.33 $0.59 $10.87
Cash & equivalents $220.50M $454.26M $110.00M
Total debt $2.62B $14.51M $448.00M
Shares (diluted) 114.40M 400.63M 44.80M
Enterprise value $23.27B -$1.40B $8.21B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricDRIMLCOEAT
P/E 20.5x 6.6x 16.8x
P/FCF 23.5x 3.1x 14.2x
P/Operating cash flow 13.5x 2.0x 10.0x
P/S 1.8x 0.3x 1.4x
P/B 11.7x 179.9x 17.9x
P/Tangible book 33.4x -9.0x 18.5x
EV/EBITDA 12.4x 7.5x 9.9x
EV/EBIT 17.0x 2.4x 13.3x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 0.2x 1.4x
EV/FCF 25.8x 2.2x 14.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.8x 1.4x 10.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.37 0.19 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDRIMLCOEAT
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% 5.2% 7.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 35.8% 12.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -32.7% 5.4% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -7.5% 35.9% 13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.1% 24.6% 21.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 53.5% 62.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.5% 914.5% 27.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 32.2% 68.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.5% 347.7% 30.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 34.2% 68.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.7% 3.7% 16.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 84.2% 45.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4.4% -3.5% 34.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 38.1% 98.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDRIMLCOEAT
Gross margin 33.4% 96.6% 74.4%
EBITDA margin 16.0% 3.3% 14.4%
Operating margin 11.7% 10.2% 10.7%
Pretax margin 10.2% 4.0% 10.0%
Net margin 8.8% 5.0% 8.4%
FCF margin 7.7% 10.8% 9.6%
Operating cash flow margin 13.4% 16.9% 13.6%
Return on equity 55.3% 1,233% 114.6%
Return on assets 9.1% 3.2% 17.4%
Return on invested capital 32.9% 231.9% 59.4%
Return on capital employed 15.9% 9.4% 29.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.8x 2.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 4.0x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDRIMLCOEAT
Debt / assets 19.8% 0.2% 15.9%
Debt / equity 1.3x 1.7x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x -2.9x 0.4x
Debt / FCF 2.5x 0.0x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 84.4% 99.9% 84.2%
Equity / assets 15.6% 0.1% 15.8%
Interest coverage – 1.4x 15.3x
Current ratio 0.3x 1.0x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.1x 1.0x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.47 0.73 4.97

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDRIMLCOEAT
Dividend yield 2.9% – –
Net buyback yield 2.8% – 5.6%
Shareholder yield 5.7% 0.0% 5.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusDRIMLCOEAT
Forward P/E 18.0xFY2026 11.1xFY2026 13.6xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $11.87FY2026 $0.35FY2026 $13.84FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +11.6%FY2026 -23.9%FY2026 +28.9%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +57.1% -0.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $14.53BFY2026 $5.39BFY2026 $5.99BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +10.0%FY2026 +4.4%FY2026 +3.1%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% -8.0% +12.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDRIMLCOEAT
Held by institutions 97.6% 25.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,083 165 507
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.9% -6.1% -1.4%
Institutions buying 578 84 279
Institutions selling 325 49 160
Buyers to sellers 1.78 1.71 1.74

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

DRIMLCOEAT
DRI 1.00 0.10 0.49
MLCO 0.10 1.00 0.21
EAT 0.49 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DRI, MLCO and EAT?

Darden Restaurants (DRI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Darden Restaurants (DRI) $24.18B, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) $1.53B, Brinker International (EAT) $8.42B.

Which stock is cheaper, DRI, MLCO and EAT?

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Darden Restaurants (DRI) 20.4x, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) 6.5x, Brinker International (EAT) 17.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) is cheapest (Darden Restaurants (DRI) 18.0x, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) 11.1x, Brinker International (EAT) 13.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Darden Restaurants (DRI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Darden Restaurants (DRI) +8.1%, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) +5.2%, Brinker International (EAT) +7.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Darden Restaurants (DRI) has the highest net margin (Darden Restaurants (DRI) 8.8%, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) 5.0%, Brinker International (EAT) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) leads (Darden Restaurants (DRI) 32.9%, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) 231.9%, Brinker International (EAT) 59.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Brinker International (EAT) returned the most: Darden Restaurants (DRI) +15.4%, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) -53.4%, Brinker International (EAT) +47.5%. Over five years, Brinker International (EAT) compounded fastest (Darden Restaurants (DRI) +8.2%/yr, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) -19.1%/yr, Brinker International (EAT) +34.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Darden Restaurants (DRI) has been the steadiest (Darden Restaurants (DRI) 27.9%, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) 39.3%, Brinker International (EAT) 49.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DRI, MLCO and EAT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.