Darden reported an earnings miss driven by weak Olive Garden sales, but remains a top pick in the sector.

Yes, it failed to meet expectations in terms of both revenue and net profit. Earnings came in at $2.05 per share on an adjusted basis, which was weaker than Wall Street analysts had expected.

Revenue also came in weaker than expected, at $3.2 billion. Analysts had expected $3.21 billion. There has been an increase in sales, but again it is weaker than expected.

Same-restaurant sales. I'm very used to saying same-store sales . That percentage increased by 3.1%. It is also weaker than expected here. Longhorn is the most prominent element here, and we will focus on the positive aspects first.

Sales at the same restaurant jumped by 6.2%. But it is smaller than "Olive Garden". So that's the challenge there.

Now, we have seen growth in sales at the same restaurant in "Olive Garden", but only by 1.1% . The reason this is so crucial is that Olive Garden is Darden's biggest brand.

When you think about the brands within its portfolio, you have Longhorn, Olive Garden, Capitol Grill, and Yard House, but Olive Garden is the one with the widest reach. So, although there is growth, it is not at the same level that we have been used to seeing there.

This is a worrying matter that is clearly of concern to investors, as stocks fell by about 2.25% this morning. It has a disproportionately large impact on its overall results due to the size of the brand within its portfolio here.

As for upscale restaurants such as "Capitol Grill" and "Rooth's Chris", they saw a growth in same-restaurant sales of 1.6%. Overall, other brands achieved stronger growth.

They need to bring Olive Garden back to the forefront to maintain momentum there .

I feel that this name is at least one of the best in the group.