Which Is a Better Investment, Domino's Pizza, Inc. or Darden Restaurants, Inc. Stock?

By Tudor Pop
July 31, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc.

Domino's Pizza, Inc. operates as a pizza company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Stores, International Franchise, and Supply Chain. It offers pizzas under the Domino's brand name through company-owned and franchised stores. The company also provides bread products, wings, boneless chicken, pastas, oven-baked sandwiches, soft drink products and desserts. In addition, it offers parmesan stuffed crust pizza; spicy chicken bacon ranch specialty pizza; and garlic, and cinnamon bread bites, as well as croissant, chocolate volcano, and chicken burst pizzas. Domino's Pizza, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Darden Restaurants, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Chuy’s, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, Bahama Breeze, The Capital Burger, Darden and Darden Restaurants brand names. Darden Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Orlando, Florida.

Latest Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure and Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants, Inc. Stock News

As of July 30, 2026, Domino's Pizza, Inc. had a $11.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure median of $2.2 million. Domino's Pizza, Inc.’s stock is down 16.6% in 2026, up 4.3% in the previous five trading days and down 25.03% in the past year.

Currently, Domino's Pizza, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 20.0. Domino's Pizza, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $5.0 billion with a 11.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $19.029 per share for the current fiscal year. Domino's Pizza, Inc. currently has a 2.3% dividend yield.

As of July 30, 2026, Darden Restaurants, Inc. had a $23.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 87th percentile of all stocks. Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s stock is up 10.6% in 2026, up 3.7% in the previous five trading days and up 2.09% in the past year.

Currently, Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 19.8. Darden Restaurants, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $13.2 billion with a 9.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 13.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $11.273 per share for the current fiscal year. Darden Restaurants, Inc. currently has a 3.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ C
Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Domino's Pizza, Inc. has a Value Score of 45, which is Average. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a Value Score of 34, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ A
Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Domino's Pizza, Inc. has a Quality Score of 99, which is Very Strong. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a Quality Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ D
Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Domino's Pizza, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 27, which is Weak. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 43, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Momentum and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Domino's Pizza, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 45, Momentum Score of 27 and Quality Score of 99.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 34, Momentum Score of 43 and Quality Score of 82.

Comparing Domino's Pizza, Inc., Darden Restaurants and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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