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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Darden Restaurants vs O'Reilly Automotive: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

O'Reilly Automotive holds the cleaner structural position, with profitability as the main driver and stability adding further support. Darden Restaurants still leads on growth and valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. The market setup is currently leaning toward Darden Restaurants, which does not confirm the structural lead. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with O'Reilly Automotive, 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 S&P 500 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-08-16

Most of the lead runs through profitability, while stability helps make the separation broader. The overall score gap is 11 points in favour of O'Reilly Automotive, Inc..

Trajectory Similarity
0.79
Similar
Peer-set rank: #11
within Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

This level of similarity signals a strong structural match, even though some dimensions still separate the two companies.

The clearest structural overlap shows up in revenue stability and margin consistency.

Similarity drivers
revenue stabilitymargin consistency
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
DRI
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
60
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500
vs
ORLY
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.
71
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500

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: DRI vs ORLY Profitability 38 89 Stability 62 85 Valuation 76 57 Growth 68 50 DRI ORLY
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +51
#2 Stability +23
#3 Valuation +19
#4 Growth +18
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for DRI and ORLY Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer DRIORLY Relative valuation Structural strength

O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. occupies the cheaper side of the setup map, although Darden Restaurants, Inc. still holds the stronger structural profile.

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

Entry today — historical context

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

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY DRI Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 19 pct gap ORLY Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 99th 80th
Today ORLY sits in the upper portion of its own 5-year history (80th percentile), while DRI sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, ORLY is at a historically more favourable entry position than DRI. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

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

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. ranks near the top of the group on profitability; Darden Restaurants, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Stability
On stability, the same pattern holds: both are strong, but O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. still leads clearly.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
DRI
38
ORLY
89
Gap+51in favour of ORLY

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 6-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Absolute pricing still looks more supportive for Darden Restaurants, with a forward P/E that is 6.7 turns lower there.

What this means for the comparison

Profitability is the clearest driver of the lead, with stability adding further support — though growth still provides a real counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

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

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Similar profitability-driven comparisons

Explore how DRI and ORLY 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.