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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Burlington Stores vs Darden Restaurants: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Darden Restaurants holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across stability and profitability. Burlington Stores does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. In the market, Burlington Stores carries the stronger setup — intact trend against Darden Restaurants's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Darden Restaurants, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-07-05

The clearest separation starts in stability, but profitability adds another real layer to the result. Darden Restaurants, Inc. leads by 29 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.80
Similar
Peer-set rank: #5
within Burlington Stores, Inc.'s functional peer set

These two companies are linked by measured long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

A solid similarity means the pair shares a clearly comparable long-term financial profile, even if individual dimensions still differ.

Most of the shared profile comes through revenue stability and capital structure.

Similarity drivers
revenue stabilitycapital structure
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
BURL
Burlington Stores, Inc.
35
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
DRI
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
64
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: BURL vs DRI Profitability 7 36 Stability 23 67 Valuation 57 83 Growth 57 76 BURL DRI
Gap Ranking
#1 Stability +44
#2 Profitability +29
#3 Valuation +26
#4 Growth +19
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for BURL and DRI Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer BURLDRI Relative valuation Structural strength

Darden Restaurants, Inc. looks stronger on relative valuation, while the broader price setup remains mixed.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where BURL and DRI each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY BURL Elevated · below norm 0th 50th 100th 0 pct gap DRI Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 93rd 92nd
BURL (93rd percentile) and DRI (92nd percentile) both sit in the upper portion of their own 5-year ranges. The historical entry context is broadly similar for both. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Stability
Darden Restaurants, Inc. ranks near the top of the group on stability; Burlington Stores, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Profitability
Both sit in the weaker half on profitability, with Darden Restaurants, Inc. still coming out ahead.
Stability — Dominant Gap
BURL
23
DRI
67
Gap+44in favour of DRI

The stability gap is very wide, with the stronger side looking materially steadier through time.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

On the market side, Burlington Stores carries the stronger trend while Darden Restaurants's trend has broken — the market setup does not confirm the structural advantage.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both stability and profitability, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the BURL vs DRI comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar stability-and-profitability comparisons

Explore how BURL and DRI each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.