Darling Ingredients reported a sharp increase in third-quarter profit and adjusted earnings, alongside higher sales. The company also said it received substantial cash distributions from its Diamond Green Diesel venture, cut net debt by about $420 million and repurchased $75.9 million of its own shares.
Key details
- Third-quarter profit rose to $267.0 million, or $1.67 per diluted share, from $19.4 million, or $0.12 per share, a year earlier.
- Sales increased to $1.8 billion from $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
- Combined Adjusted EBITDA was $514.3 million, compared with $244.9 million a year earlier.
- Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) made $171.0 million in cash distributions to Darling. DGD sold or shipped 314.9 million gallons of renewable fuels in the three months ended September 30. Darling said DGD’s stand-alone Adjusted EBITDA was $1.30 per gallon for that period.
- Darling reduced net debt by approximately $420 million and repurchased $75.9 million of common stock during the quarter.
- For the first nine months of 2026, net income attributable to Darling was $788.6 million, or $4.91 per diluted share, versus $5.9 million, or $0.04 per share, in the same period of 2025. Sales for the nine months rose to $5.1 billion from $4.4 billion.
- DGD sold or shipped 936.1 million gallons of renewable fuels in the first nine months of 2026.
- Darling planned to discuss the results on a conference call and webcast on October 29, supported by a slide presentation on its investor-relations website. Its materials use non-GAAP measures, with reconciliations to GAAP measures included in the release and presentation.
Plain-English implications
The reported quarter combined higher sales and earnings with debt reduction and share repurchases. DGD’s cash distributions were a significant source of cash during the period, while the company’s reported net-debt reduction and buybacks show how it used that financial capacity.