The Gory Details on Darling International's Double Miss

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Darling International (NYS: DAR) reported earnings on May 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Darling International missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared with the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted and GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Darling International reported revenue of $387.1 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected a top line of $410.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 12% lower than the prior-year quarter's $439.9 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.24. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.30 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.24 for Q1 were 44% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.43 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 28.6%, 290 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 13.6%, 640 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.4%, 320 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $438.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.36.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.73 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.37.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,099 members out of 1,126 rating the stock outperform, and 27 members rating it underperform. Among 262 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 257 give Darling International a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Darling International is outperform, with an average price target of $19.56.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings. He is the co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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