Key Highlights

  • GAAP diluted EPS of USD 1.67 rose from USD 0.12 a year earlier but trailed the USD 1.70 consensus estimate.
  • Total net sales of USD 1.79 billion rose 14.5% year over year and matched the USD 1.79 billion consensus estimate.
  • Combined adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to USD 514.3 million from USD 244.9 million in the third quarter of 2025.
  • Net debt fell by roughly USD 420 million, and USD 75.9 million of common stock was repurchased in the quarter.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) reported third-quarter 2026 net income attributable to the company of USD 267.0 million, or USD 1.67 per diluted share, compared with USD 19.4 million, or USD 0.12 per share, a year earlier. The result was a few cents under a consensus estimate of USD 1.70. Total net sales were USD 1,791.1 million, up from USD 1,564.0 million and in line with a consensus estimate of USD 1.79 billion.

The jump in earnings came largely from the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture, whose equity income was USD 165.6 million versus a loss of USD 45.8 million a year ago. A USD 63.5 million gain on the sale of businesses also contributed, while income tax expense rose to USD 76.8 million. Operating income reached USD 333.3 million compared with USD 71.7 million.

Segment Performance and Diamond Green Diesel

Feed Ingredients net sales rose to USD 1,206.7 million and segment adjusted EBITDA reached USD 247.7 million, up from USD 174.0 million. Food Ingredients sales were USD 415.8 million with adjusted EBITDA of USD 73.8 million versus USD 71.6 million. Fuel Ingredients added USD 23.7 million of segment adjusted EBITDA plus USD 204.2 million as Darling's share of Diamond Green Diesel adjusted EBITDA, which was a loss of USD 2.9 million a year earlier.

Diamond Green Diesel sold or shipped 314.9 million gallons of renewable fuels, with stand-alone adjusted EBITDA of USD 1.30 per gallon. Darling received USD 171.0 million of cash from the venture, made up of USD 33.4 million in dividends and USD 137.6 million from production tax credit sales. Chairman and CEO Randall Stuewe said the core business delivered resilient cash flow and that the strength positions the company for 2027.

Balance Sheet, Guidance and Open Items

Cash stood at USD 121.7 million with USD 1.7 billion available under the revolving credit agreement. Total debt was USD 3.5 billion, and the preliminary bank covenant leverage ratio was 1.7X. Repurchases totaled USD 149.4 million through the third quarter, and capital expenditures were USD 343.5 million year to date against a full-year estimate of about USD 450.0 million.

The company targets year-end net debt at or below USD 3.0 billion and a leverage ratio below 1.5X. It reaffirmed 2026 combined adjusted EBITDA guidance of USD 2.2 billion to USD 2.3 billion. The presentation said third-quarter fuel results were affected by the timing of a sustainable aviation fuel shipment, a short hydrogen outage and feedstock lag, items it described as reversing in the fourth quarter, with production estimated near 325 million gallons.

Measures to Follow

Four items frame the next report. The first is Diamond Green Diesel volume, estimated near 325 million gallons in the fourth quarter after 314.9 million gallons in the third. The second is the year-end deleveraging target of net debt at or below USD 3.0 billion and leverage under 1.5X, versus 1.7X now. The third is the full-year combined adjusted EBITDA range of USD 2.2 billion to USD 2.3 billion, set against roughly USD 1.7 billion earned in nine months. The fourth is a proposed joint venture with Tessenderlo in the Food segment, which the presentation said continues to move through the regulatory process.