Jim Cramer Talked About 8 Tech and Consumer Sector Stocks

5. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is one of the tech and consumer sector stocks that Jim Cramer talked about. Cramer called it one of the “retail winners,” as he stated:

“Retail’s such a huge portion of this economy, it can mask the questionable kinds of transactions we’ve been seeing at the highest level of tech. Consider the retail winners today. There’s Darden, that’s the owner of Olive Garden. It vaulted nearly 2%. Yes, the numbers from Olive Garden look great.”

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) owns and operates full-service restaurants under brands such as Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, LongHorn Steakhouse, and others. LRT Capital Management stated the following regarding Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:

“Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) stands as the preeminent operator in the full-service dining industry, managing a portfolio of some of the most recognizable and successful brands in American casual and fine dining. The company’s collection of differentiated restaurant concepts, led by the iconic Olive Garden, has established Darden as a category-defining enterprise. Through a disciplined focus on operational excellence, leveraging immense scale, and a prudent capital allocation strategy, Darden has built a formidable competitive moat and a durable platform for compounding shareholder value.

The cornerstone of Darden’s competitive advantage is its unmatched scale. As one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant companies, it possesses significant cost advantages across its supply chain, enabling it to procure high-quality ingredients at costs that smaller competitors and independent restaurants cannot match. This scale also provides substantial leverage in marketing, real estate, and technology, allowing for sophisticated data analytics that inform everything from menu optimization to site selection. This data driven approach results in a superior guest experience and operational efficiencies that consistently drive industry-leading performance. The strength of its individual brands, particularly the cash-flow-generating powerhouse Olive Garden, provides a stable foundation that funds investment across the entire portfolio…” (Click here to read the full text)