Darden stock price surges 30% as restaurant chain slashes executive pay

Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) have surged more than 30% since the weekend after the restaurant chain announced it is furloughing a portion of its support center employees and slashing executive pay amid the COVID-19 outbreak crisis.

Fundamental analysis: Same-store sales crash

Darden announced it has been forced to take a new $270 million loan to provide further liquidity as the same-store sales slumped 71% across all of its chains, in a week ended April 05. For the entire fourth-quarter, the same-store sales fell nearly 35%.

The loan agreement also includes an option to allow Darden to ask for an increase of up to $100 million in loans at the election of existing or new lenders.

Restaurant chain also said it will furlough some of its restaurant support center staff as a result of the existing crisis, while the remaining staff will face pay cuts. In addition, senior executives of the company will take a 50 percent pay reduction, while CEO Lee will forego his salary until business is stabilized.

Darden owns popular restaurant chains, such as the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen.

Technical analysis: Stock price struggles to recover

Shares of Darden lost nearly 80% of their value in about five weeks in February and March. The stock price has recovered a part of its losses so far, as it has managed to gain around 32% in just two days of trading this week.

Darden stock daily chart (TradingView)

As you can see in the chart, the stock price has already managed to recover nearly 40% of losses. However, the first attempt failed, while the bulls are now trying to set up a base for a new push higher. For the bulls, the $68 mark is the key short-term target.

Summary

Shares of Darden Restaurants gained more than 30% this week after the restaurant chain announced it took a new $270 million loan, furloughed part of its staff, and slashed the pay of its senior executives by 50%.