Unlimited breadsticks… limited budgets. Olive Garden parent Darden served up 11% sales growth in September, but appetite for its fine-dining chains (like Capital Grille) fell. It’s bad timing because Darden recently bought fancy steakhouse Ruth’s Chris for $715M. Casual chains like Olive Garden and LongHorn enjoyed sales growth, fueled partly by pricier menus — but consumers ordered fewer boozy bevs and cheaper entrées. We’ll see whether diners kept choosing the Tour of Italy over a $55 rib eye when Darden reports Friday.
Knock, knock… Lennar (the No. 2 US homebuilder) drops quarterly #s Thursday. In September, Lennar topped profit expectations as record-low housing inventory helped boost new-home orders by 37%. Deliveries jumped, but revenue fell after the average sale price of its homes dropped to $448K from $491K a year earlier. With mortgage rates at 20+ year highs, homebuilder confidence has fallen to its lowest level since January. While analysts think Lennar could build up a beat when it reports, earnings are expected to dip.