DARLING INGREDIENTS INC. vs HERSHEY CO, two Food & Beverage stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where DAR and HSY diverge most: on implied growth (priced in), DAR reads +20.4% and HSY reads +0.3%; on return on equity, DAR reads 4.5% and HSY reads 32.6%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's DAR price has a different growth bar priced in than HSY (+20.4% implied for DAR vs +0.3% for HSY); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What DAR's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). What HSY's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | DAR | HSY |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $60.72 | $174.94 |
| Market cap | $9.8B | $38.8B |
| Sector | Food & Beverage | Food & Beverage |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +20.4% | +0.3% |
| P/E | 44.0 | — |
| P/B | 1.98 | 8.49 |
| P/S | 1.55 | 3.19 |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.0 | 16.5 |
| Revenue growth | +11.2% | +7.7% |
| Gross margin | 26.1% | 45.3% |
| Operating margin | 14.6% | 23.1% |
| Net margin | 3.5% | 12.2% |
| Return on equity | 4.5% | 32.6% |
| Return on assets | 2.1% | 10.7% |
| Return on invested capital | 4.1% | 16.4% |
| FCF yield | 9.9% | 5.8% |
| Debt / equity | 0.83 | 1.25 |
| Current ratio | 1.58 | 1.18 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.31 | 4.13 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.