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DAR, Darling Ingredients Inc.

Darling is a partner with Valero Energy Corporation in Diamond Green Diesel, a renewable fuel producer, which converts used cooking oils, animal fats and other feedstocks into valuable renewable fuels/products, such as renewable diesel and SAF.

We are a global developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients, creating a wide range of ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, animal feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy and fertilizer industries.

We are a leading provider of animal by-product processing, used cooking oil and bakery residual recycling and recovery solutions to the U.S. food industry.

Latest annual: FY2026 10-K

DAR · Darling Ingredients Inc.

The business

What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.

Revenue · FY2026

$6.1B

+7.4% YoY · 13% 5-yr CAGR

Vital signs · TTM, with 5-yr average

Revenue $6.3B 5-yr avg $5.7B

Gross margin 25% 5-yr avg 24%

Operating margin 7.5% 5-yr avg 10.9%

ROIC 5% 5-yr avg 8%

Owner-earnings margin 9% 5-yr avg 8%

Free cash flow margin 9% 5-yr avg 8%

The business in brief

read the 10-K →

What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.

What it is: Revenue is Feed Ingredients (65%), Food Ingredients (25%) and Fuel Ingredients (10%).
What moves the needle: Gross margin has run about 23% and operating margin about 8.2% through the cycle, a thin spread that turns the result on volume and the cost of what it sells far more than on the price it sets. On a spread this thin the operating result swings hard on small moves in cost or volume — it has ranged from 4.5% to 16% over the years, so the cost line is where the needle moves. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on customer concentration, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
Is it a good business?: Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median 6%, above 15% in 0 of 9 years). By owner earnings: roughly 5% of revenue reaches owners as cash, consistently. This is price-taker territory, where the balance sheet and the cycle matter more than any multiple; the rest is in the 10-K.

Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.

Where the money comes from

read the 10-K →

Feed Ingredients is 65% of revenue, with Food Ingredients the other meaningful segment at 25%.

Revenue by reportable segment, FY2026

Feed Ingredients65%$4.0B
Food Ingredients25%$1.5B
Fuel Ingredients10%$601M

By geographyNorth America56%Europe29%South America9%China4%Other Geographical Areas1%

From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.

The record

Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.

The record, 2016–2026

realized figures from each filing · older years to the left

2016’16	2017’17	2018’18	2019’19	2021’21	2022’22	2023’23	2024’24	2026’26	TTMTTMApr 2026
										Income statement
$3.4B	$3.7B	$3.4B	$3.4B	$3.6B	$6.5B	$6.8B	$5.7B	$6.1B	$6.3B	RevenueRevenue
22%	21%	22%	23%	25%	23%	24%	22%	24%	25%	Gross marginGross mgn
9%	9%	9%	11%	11%	7%	8%	9%	9%	9%	SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev
$155M	$169M	$255M	$476M	$431M	$1.0B	$950M	$468M	$273M	$472M	Operating incomeOp. inc.
4.6%	4.6%	7.5%	14.1%	12.1%	15.8%	14.0%	8.2%	4.5%	7.5%	Operating marginOp. mgn
$102M	$128M	$101M	$313M	$297M	$738M	$648M	$279M	$63M	$223M	Net incomeNet inc.
13%	—	11%	16%	15%	17%	8%	—	—	12%	Effective tax rateTax rate
										Cash flow & returns
$391M	$410M	$399M	$363M	$625M	$814M	$899M	$839M	$1.1B	$964M	Operating cash flowOp. cash
$290M	$302M	$321M	$326M	$350M	$395M	$502M	$504M	$509M	$516M	DepreciationDeprec.
($12M)	($38M)	($43M)	($296M)	($46M)	($344M)	($284M)	$36M	$467M	$192M	Working capital & otherWC & other
$244M	$274M	$322M	$359M	$280M	$391M	$555M	$332M	$380M	$380M	CapexCapex
7.2%	7.5%	9.5%	10.7%	7.8%	6.0%	8.2%	5.8%	6.2%	6.0%	Capex / revenueCapex/rev
$147M	$136M	$77M	$3M	$345M	$422M	$344M	$507M	$679M	$583M	Owner earningsOwner earn.
4.3%	3.7%	2.3%	0.1%	9.6%	6.5%	5.1%	8.9%	11.1%	9.2%	Owner earnings marginOE mgn
$147M	$136M	$77M	$3M	$345M	$422M	$344M	$507M	$679M	$583M	Free cash flowFCF
4.3%	3.7%	2.3%	0.1%	9.6%	6.5%	5.1%	8.9%	11.1%	9.2%	Free cash flow marginFCF mgn
$9M	$12M	$108M	$1M	$30M	$1.8B	$1.1B	$117M	$0	$11M	AcquisitionsAcquis.
$5M	$0	$0	$19M	$55M	$126M	$53M	$34M	$35M	—	BuybacksBuybacks
4%	4%	6%	10%	8%	12%	10%	6%	3%	5%	ROICROIC
5%	6%	4%	12%	10%	19%	14%	6%	1%	5%	Return on equityROE
5%	6%	4%	12%	10%	19%	14%	6%	1%	5%	Retained to equityRetained/eq
										Balance sheet
$157M	$107M	$107M	$73M	$82M	$127M	$127M	$76M	$89M	$116M	Cash & investmentsCash+inv
$388M	$392M	$386M	$406M	$405M	$469M	—	—	—	$736M	ReceivablesReceiv.
$331M	$358M	$341M	$363M	$406M	$674M	$759M	$577M	$528M	$578M	InventoryInvent.
$181M	$217M	$219M	$239M	$255M	$472M	$426M	$349M	$371M	$356M	Accounts payablePayables
$538M	$533M	$507M	$530M	$556M	$670M	$333M	$228M	$157M	$957M	Operating working capitalOper. WC
$893M	$956M	$898M	$917M	$987M	$1.6B	$1.9B	$1.4B	$1.6B	$1.6B	Current assetsCur. assets
$452M	$559M	$540M	$688M	$675M	$1.1B	$998M	$1.0B	$1.0B	$1.0B	Current liabilitiesCur. liab.
2.0×	1.7×	1.7×	1.3×	1.5×	1.5×	1.9×	1.4×	1.5×	1.6×	Current ratioCurr. ratio
$1.2B	$1.3B	$20M	$1.2B	$1.3B	$2.0B	$2.5B	$2.3B	$2.5B	$2.5B	GoodwillGoodwill
$4.7B	$5.0B	$4.9B	$5.3B	$5.6B	$9.2B	$11.1B	$10.1B	$10.3B	$10.6B	Total assetsAssets
$2.0B	$1.7B	$1.7B	$1.7B	$1.5B	$3.4B	$4.4B	$4.1B	$4.0B	$4.1B	Total debtDebt
$1.8B	$1.6B	$1.6B	$1.6B	$1.4B	$3.3B	$4.3B	$4.0B	$3.9B	$4.0B	Net debt / (cash)Net debt
1.6×	1.9×	3.0×	6.0×	5.9×	16.6×	3.7×	1.8×	1.2×	2.2×	Interest coverageInt. cov.
$2.0B	$2.2B	$2.3B	$2.6B	$2.9B	$3.8B	$4.6B	$4.4B	$4.7B	$4.9B	Shareholders’ equityEquity
0.3%	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	Stock comp / revenueSBC/rev
—	—	$461K	—	$32M	$3M	—	—	$19M	$19M	Goodwill written downGW imp.
										Per share
165M	167M	168M	168M	167M	164M	162M	161M	160M	161M	Shares out (diluted)Shares
$20.53	$21.97	$20.18	$19.98	$21.36	$39.80	$41.80	$35.41	$38.31	$39.16	Revenue / shareRev/sh
$0.62	$0.77	$0.60	$1.86	$1.78	$4.49	$3.99	$1.73	$0.39	$1.39	EPS (diluted)EPS
$0.89	$0.82	$0.46	$0.02	$2.06	$2.57	$2.12	$3.14	$4.24	$3.62	Owner earnings / shareOE/sh
$0.89	$0.82	$0.46	$0.02	$2.06	$2.57	$2.12	$3.14	$4.24	$3.62	Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh
$1.47	$1.64	$1.92	$2.14	$1.68	$2.38	$3.42	$2.06	$2.38	$2.36	Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh
$11.94	$13.46	$13.54	$15.24	$17.30	$23.21	$28.36	$27.12	$29.58	$30.28	Book value / shareBVPS

Per-share growththe realized rate an owner's share compounded

	10-yr	5-yr
Revenue / share	+6.4%/yr	+12.4%/yr
Owner earnings / share	+16.9%/yr	+15.5%/yr
EPS	−4.5%/yr	−26.1%/yr
Capital spending / share	+4.9%/yr	+7.2%/yr
Book value / share	+9.5%/yr	+11.3%/yr

The record, charted

FY2016–2026

Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked.

Share count

160Mpeak FY2019

ROIC

3%low FY2026

Gross margin

24%low FY2017

Net debt ÷ owner earnings

5.7×peak FY2019

Owner earnings vs. net income

Owner earningsNet income

The accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.

$679Mowner earningsvs.$63Mnet incomelow FY2019

Where the cash went

ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetainedBeyond op. cash

Each year's outlays against its operating cash: the mix, and how it drifts. The hatched cap is spending beyond that year's operating cash — financed from the balance sheet or borrowing, not operations.

FY2016FY2026

Owner-earnings bridge

FY2021–FY2026cash-flow statement, SEC EDGAR →

Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.

In fiscal 2026 the business turned $63M of profit into $679M of owner earnings: more cash than the profit line showed, after the non-cash charges and the capital it put back in.

Reported net income$63M

Owner earnings$679M · 11% of revenue

	FY2026	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021
Reported net income	$63M	$279M	$648M	$738M	$297M
Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back	+$509M	+$504M	+$502M	+$395M	+$350M
Stock-based compensationreal costnon-cash, but a real cost	+$22M	+$21M	+$33M	+$25M	+$23M
Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items	+$467M	+$36M	−$284M	−$344M	−$46M
Cash from operations	$1.1B	$839M	$899M	$814M	$625M
Capital expenditurecash put back in to keep running and to grow	−$380M	−$332M	−$555M	−$391M	−$280M
Owner earnings	$679M	$507M	$344M	$422M	$345M
Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue	11%	9%	5%	6%	10%

Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the capital it must spend to hold its position . The cash-flow statement also adds stock comp back as non-cash, but it is a real cost paid in shares; counted as the expense it is (less $22M), owner earnings is nearer $657M.

Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.

III

Quality & stewardship

Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.

Owner’s Scorecard

FY2026 10-K · source on SEC EDGAR →

Will it survive?

Can it pay its interest? 1.2×

Thin

Operating income $273M ÷ interest expense $222M

What this means
Operating profit covers interest, but with little room. A bad year, a refinancing at higher rates, or a revenue wobble closes the gap fast.
How heavy is the debt, net of cash? $3.9B · 14.1× operating profit

Heavy net debt

Cash $89M − debt $4.0B

What this means
Netting $89M of cash and short-term investments against $4.0B of debt leaves $3.9B owed, about 14.1× a year's operating profit (14.5× on the gross debt, before the cash). Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
How long is cash tied up? 40d

Tight

DSO 28 + DIO 41 − DPO 29 days

What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Lower is better; a long cycle means growth itself eats cash.

Is it a good business?

Return on invested capital 6%

Below average through the cycle

9-yr median, range 3%–12%; 3% latest = NOPAT $273M ÷ invested capital $8.6B

Industry peers: median 9%

What this means
The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 9 years (it ran 3% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.
Owner-earnings margin 5%

Solid through the cycle

9-yr median margin, range 0%–11%; latest $679M = operating cash $1.1B − maintenance capex $380M

Industry peers: median 7%

What this means
What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's 11% of revenue this year, a 5% median across 9 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $22M of SBC) leaves $657M.
Are earnings backed by cash? 16.87×

Cash-backed

Cash from ops $1.1B ÷ net income $63M

What this means
How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.

How is the cash used?

Where do the earnings go? 5%

Reinvests most of it

Dividends + buybacks $35M ÷ Owner Earnings $679M

What this means
Of $679M Owner Earnings, $35M (5%) went back to shareholders, $0 dividends, $35M buybacks. Net of $22M stock comp, the real buyback was about $13M. Returning most of it is the mark of a mature business with little left to reinvest at a high return; reinvesting most could mean a long runway, or empire-building. The split doesn't say which; the return earned on it (see ROIC) does.
Investing or harvesting? 0.75×

Harvesting

Capex $380M ÷ depreciation $509M

What this means
Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.

Graham’s defensive tests · 3 of 6 met

Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.

Adequate size Pass

Revenue ≥ $2B · $6.1B

What this means
Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.
Strong liquidity Near

Current ratio ≥ 2× · 1.50×

What this means
Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.
Conservative debt Miss

Debt ≤ working capital · $4.0B vs $519M WC

What this means
Graham's rule that borrowings not exceed net current assets. Capital-heavy and buyback-heavy firms routinely fail it, read it next to interest coverage, not alone.
Earnings stability Pass

A profit every year (9-yr record) · no losses

What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
Dividend record Miss

Uninterrupted dividends · none paid

What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
Earnings growth Pass

Earnings +33% over the record · +198%

What this means
At least a third more earnings than a decade ago, averaging three years at each end. Net income (not per-share), so stock splits don't distort it, buybacks and dilution show up in the share-count line instead.
Moderate price —

P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price

What this means
Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $2.08/share (latest year $0.40), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $29.81/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.

Durability & moat, 2016–2026

Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.

Profitable years 9 of 9

What this means
Never lost money over the record, the earnings stability Graham insisted on.
Return on capital ≥ 15% 0 of 9 yrs

What this means
A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.
Operating margin 6% → 9% (3-yr avg ends)

In the filing’s words The filing ties gains to its own pricing, but names price competition too — pricing power that is real yet contested, not unopposed. The margin shows who is winning.

What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about 6% early to 9% lately, median 8% — pricing power intact or improving.
Reinvestment, incremental ROIC 8%

What this means
Reinvested capital came back at only a modest incremental return — near the cost of capital, where extra growth adds little per dollar. The record shows whether it is a soft stretch or a thinning moat.
Owner earnings growth +15%/yr

What this means
Owner earnings grew about 15% a year over the record.
Worst year 2026 · 4.5% op. margin

What this means
Stayed profitable even in its hardest year, the resilience that survives recessions.
Share count −0.3%/yr

What this means
Roughly flat share count, little dilution, little buyback.

Does AI threaten the moat?

Low contestability

The moat is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded, the kind AI cuts costs within but does not contest.

In its own filing A competitive risk, new this year

Its FY2026 10-K names artificial intelligence as a competitive threat, in language that was not in the prior year's filing.

“Furthermore, use of third-party AI platforms and models creates operational dependencies and potential risks to our business and results of operations in the event of service disruptions.”

AI is unlikely to contest a moat that is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded; here it reads more as a cost tool than a threat.

Read from the filing's own risk factors, paired with the industry's structure under its SIC code; the durability is read above, the price below.

All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.

Current Position

as of the latest quarter, Apr 4, 2026

Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.

Current assets$1.6B

Cash & short-term investments$116M
Receivables$736M
Inventory$578M
Other current assets$217M

Current liabilities$1.0B

Debt due within a year$27M
Accounts payable$356M
Other current liabilities$656M

Current ratio1.58×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×

Quick ratio1.03×stricter: inventory excluded

Cash ratio0.11×strictest: cash alone against what's due

Working capital$606Mthe cushion left after near-term bills

Debt due this year vs. cash$27M due · $116M cash covered by cash on hand, no refinancing forced · both figures from the Apr 4, 2026 balance sheet

Revenue, latest quarter vs. a year ago+12.3%the freshest read on whether the business is still growing

Current ratio, recent quarters1.6× → 1.6×

Deeper floors

Tangible book value$1.6Bequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles

Net current asset value($4.1B)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities

Debt incl. operating leases$2.1B$221M of it operating leases

From the company's latest filing.

How the cash was used, 2016–2026

Over the record, the business generated $5.8B of operating cash; how management split it reads as a reinvestor, most operating cash is plowed back into the business.

Reinvested$3.1B · 54%
Buybacks$327M · 6%
Retained (debt / cash)$2.3B · 40%

Returned to owners$327M
12% of the owner earnings the business produced over the span, $0 as dividends and $327M as buybacks.
Source of fundingOperating cash
Operating cash covered reinvestment and returns; over the span debt rose $2.2B and cash and short-term investments fell $41M.
Average price paid for buybacks—
Buybacks ran $327M over the span, but the filings don't tag the share count needed to deduce the average price paid.
Net change in share count−2.5%
The diluted count fell from 165M to 161M, so the buybacks outran the stock issued to staff.
Dividend record—
No dividend line was reported in the filing data over the span; the record here neither confirms nor rules out a payout.
Return on what it retained17%
Of the earnings it kept rather than paid out ($2.3B over the span), annual owner earnings (first three years vs last three) grew $390M, so each retained $1 added about 0.17 of yearly owner earnings. Buffett's test, run on owner earnings instead of market value.

Buybacks are gross of stock issued to staff; the share-count line above is the net of that, the figure that decides whether owners gained. The average price paid blends a year of purchases (and any accelerated repurchase), so it is close, not exact. The record of where the cash went and on what terms.

Acquisitions & goodwill

from the balance sheet & the 9-year cash-flow record

Goodwill grows only when a company acquires and falls only when it concedes it overpaid. The size of that bet, the cash put into buying rather than building, and how much has already been written off.

Goodwill & intangibles$3.3B32% of all assets; the premium carried on the balance sheet for businesses acquired

Against book equity52%goodwill is this share of book equity; the rest is the company’s own retained and paid-in capital

Cash spent acquiring$3.1Bover 9 years buying other businesses, against $3.1B of capital spent building

$54M written down across 4 years (2018, 2021, 2022, 2026): goodwill the company has already conceded it overpaid for, charged against earnings. A write-down costs no cash (the cash went out when the deal was signed), but it is management marking its own past judgment to market.

Goodwill, acquired intangibles and equity from the latest balance sheet; acquisition spend and write-downs summed across the 9-year record, from the company's own filings.

Management, ownership & pay

read the proxy →

From the proxy: how much of the business the people running it own, and how they are paid, beside what the business earned for its owners in the same years.

Fiscal year	Chief executive	Pay, as filed	“Actually paid”	Owner earnings
2021	Mr. Stuewe	$8.0M	$20.2M	$345M
2022	Mr. Stuewe	$8.7M	$7.2M	$422M
2023	Mr. Stuewe	$9.3M	$5.8M	$344M
2024	Mr. Stuewe	$8.2M	$2.2M	$507M
2026	Mr. Stuewe	$9.4M	$12.1M	$679M

Both pay figures are the company’s own, from the pay-versus-performance table its proxy statement files. “As filed” is the Summary Compensation Table total: salary, bonus, and equity awards at their value on the day of grant. “Actually paid” is the SEC’s prescribed recalculation, which re-marks those equity awards to what they became as they vested; it can swing far above or below the filed figure in either direction, and negative years occur. Owner earnings are the whole business's, from the record above, for the same fiscal years.

Insider ownership1.9%
The stake all directors and executive officers hold together, per the 2026 proxy: skin in the game, the first thing Munger reads.
Stock-based compensation$22M
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 0% of revenue, equal to 8% of operating profit. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. One trap: the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.

Inverting the record

Invert: instead of why Darling Ingredients Inc. is a good business, the question is what would make owning it a mistake, and whether those marks are in the record. Disconfirming tests across 2016–2026.

1 of the 6 tests turned up something to look into; the other 5 came back clean.

Look hereAre "one-time" charges a yearly habit?5 of 9 years
Management took an impairment or write-down in 5 of the last 9 years, $187M in all. Taken across the majority of the record, the "one-time" label is wearing thin — ask whether these are past deals coming due rather than genuinely isolated events. Read it beside the goodwill the company still carries.

And these came back clean

Is it less profitable than it was?
Did the share count rise anyway?
Did debt outgrow the business?
Did reported profit become cash?
Did receivables and inventory outpace sales?

Each test is read from the filings and is noisy alone; a flag can mark a cyclical trough or a year of heavy investment as easily as a problem. The filing says which.

What an owner would ask, FY2026

read the 10-K →

How much of the revenue rides on one buyer?
≈$2.5B · 40% of revenue on the largest customers (TTM)
“In fiscal year 2025, the Company's top ten customers for finished products accounted for approximately 40% of product sales.”verify →

The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.

Peers, Agricultural Products

The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each figure is a through-cycle median, so a peak or trough year can’t distort it; the group median at the foot is the line to read each against.

Company	Revenue	Gross margin	Op. margin	ROIC	Owner earn. margin
POSTPost Holdings	$8.2B	29%	9.8%	5%	7%
COKECoca-Cola Consolidated	$7.2B	35%	7.9%	32%	6%
INGRIngredion	$7.2B	22%	11.5%	13%	9%
MKCMcCormick & Company Incorporated	$6.8B	39%	15.7%	9%	12%
PRMBPrimo Brands	$6.7B	30%	6.7%	3%	4%
LWLamb Weston	$6.5B	25%	16.4%	16%	10%
DARDarling Ingredients Inc.	$6.1B	23%	8.2%	6%	5%
FLOFlowers Foods	$5.3B	74%	5.9%	8%	6%
Group median	—	29%	9.0%	9%	7%

The price

What a price has to assume.

What the price implies

reverse-DCF

Type today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what Darling Ingredients Inc. has delivered.

Darling Ingredients Inc.’s latest year runs above its own through-cycle margin — the reported figure may flatter a peak. So the tool opens on the through-cycle base, Graham’s averaging cutting both ways; clear the toggle below to read the latest year exactly as reported.

Today’s price $

Through the cycle, Darling Ingredients Inc. earns about $311M on its 5.1% median owner-earnings margin. This year’s 11.1% margin runs above that; the reported figure may flatter a peak you'd be paying on. Normalize, below, values the price on that through-cycle figure rather than the latest year. It comes pre-checked here for that reason, the same rule that already normalizes a trough; clear it to price the year as filed.

Base Normalize · through-cycle ($311M) Net of stock comp (−$33M)

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The assumptions Required return 9% Years of high growth 10 Terminal growth 2.5%

9.0% = the 4.55% 10-year Treasury (Jul 15, 2026) + 4.45 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.

Enter a price above to run it.

Implied by the price—

Owner-earnings growth · ’21→’26+9%/yr

Owner-earnings growth · ’16→’26+15%/yr

Owner-earnings yield—

P/E (3-yr earnings ’23–’26)—

P/B—

Graham’s price gate—

Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.

Against a high-grade bond: Graham’s yardstick bond yield%

Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.55%, as of Jul 15, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.

Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.

Owner earnings $583M on 159M shares outstanding, per the 10-Q cover, as of 2026-05-04; net debt $4.0B. The base opens on the through-cycle figure (the latest year sits above the record’s own median, and Graham’s averaging cuts both ways); clear Normalize to use the year as filed. Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.

Weigh DAR against another business →

The owners of DAR: the meeting and the votes →

Cite: Owner Scorecard, "Darling Ingredients Inc. (DAR), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/DAR, data as of 2026-07-09.

Manual order: ← DAN its page in the Manual DASH →

Industry order: ← CHSCP the Agricultural Products chapter DOLE →