Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin named Darling Ingredients as his Top Pick for 2020 and raised his price target for the shares to $38 from $28 while keeping a Buy rating. In a research note to investors, Irwin says the blenders tax credit reinstatement should boost profits in both Diamond Green and core rendered fats. The analyst also raised his 2020 EBITDA estimates by $160M after the reinstatement of the BTC on December 20, and now expects EBITDA at DGD to average ~$2.20/gal in 2020, vs. his prior estimate of ~$1.40/gal.

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."