Darden Restaurants' Q1 earnings came up short of expectations, but bulls are cheering the Olive Garden parent's new food delivery partnership with Uber.

Darden Restaurants (DRI) is headed for its best day since 2021 after announcing a delivery partnership with Uber (UBER)

Darden Restaurants Inc.’s stock rose 7% Thursday, after the parent to Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and other restaurant chains’ fiscal first-quarter earnings fell short of estimates, but it backed guidance for the full year.

Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and other chains, said Olive Garden will be the first of its brands to offer third-party delivery starting later this year. Individual orders will be picked up and delivered by Uber Direct,

News of a deal with Uber Technologies is lifting shares of Darden Restaurants even though the company reported a drop in same-store sales, among other disappointing financial results. For its first fiscal quarter,

Darden Restaurants DRI and Uber Technologies UBER have announced a strategic multi-year partnership to launch on-demand delivery services. The initiative will begin with Olive Garden, Darden's flagship brand,

Darden Restaurants has reached an exclusive multi-year alliance with Uber Technologies to offer on-demand delivery for its Olive Garden brand. The service, leveraging Uber Direct's national delivery network,

Darden and Uber’s multi-year deal will allow Olive Garden to leverage Uber’s delivery technology to bring its breadsticks and pastas to the doorsteps of customers. The deal is a reversal of Darden’s long standing resistance to working with third-party delivery apps.