Baird analyst Ben Kallo said key drivers are in place to support substantial EBITDA growth in 2018 and beyond for Darling Ingredients. The analyst also cited key regulatory drivers as well and said others could fall into place, which will boost the company's growth profile. Kallo reiterated his Outperform rating and $20 price target on Darling Ingredients and said it remains a top pick.

Reports Q1 revenue $1.4B, consensus $1.48B. "For several years, we have enjoyed tailwinds from a demand-driven global economy and strong global commodity and specialty ingredient prices. We are now adapting to the new reality of abundant global supplies. This is a cycle we have seen many times, and we are making the necessary adjustments in our procurement process and lowering our operating costs where feasible to gain back our margin leverage," said Randall C. Stuewe, Darling Ingredients chairman and CEO. "Globally we are seeing very nice progress and improvement in April for our core specialty ingredient business, and DGD has finally worked through its higher-priced feedstock pipeline. We anticipate an improved performance for the rest of the year."