Sifting through countless of stocks in the Food Products industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Tyson Foods, Inc. or Darling Ingredients Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.
Read on to learn how Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc.
Tyson Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The company processes live fed cattle and hogs; fabricates dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, as well as case ready beef and pork, and fully cooked meats; raises and processes chickens into fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken products, including breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties, and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts; and supplies poultry breeding stock. It also manufactures and markets frozen and refrigerated food products, including ready-to-eat sandwiches, flame-grilled hamburgers, Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, flour and corn tortilla products, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks, and processed meats under the Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, Gallo Salame, ibp, and State Fair brands. The company sells its products through its sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies, and domestic distributors who serve restaurants and food service operations, such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals, and other vendors, as well as through independent brokers and trading companies. Tyson Foods, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas.
Darling Ingredients Inc. develops, produces, and sells sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America, and internationally. The Feed Ingredients segment collects and processes animal by-products into non-food grade oils and protein meals; bakery residuals into cookie meal used in poultry and swine rations; used cooking oil into non-food grade fats; and porcine and bovine blood into blood plasma powder and hemoglobin. This segment is also involved in the processing of selected portions of slaughtered animals into pet food, as well as of cattle hides and hog skins; production of organic fertilizers; rearing and processing of black soldier fly larvae into specialty proteins and fats for use in animal feed and pet food; and grease trap collection services to food service establishments. Its Food Ingredients segment engages in the purchase and processing of beef and pork bone chips, beef hides, and pig and fish skins into collagen; collection and processing of porcine and bovine intestines into natural casings; extraction and processing of porcine mucosa into crude heparin; collection and refining of animal fat into food grade fat; and processing of bones to bone chips and bone ash. The Fuel Ingredients segment is involved in the conversion of organic sludge and food waste into biogas; collection and conversion of fallen stock and certain animal by-products into low-grade energy sources; and processing of manure into natural bio-phosphate. It also provides environmental services, including disposal services; and yellow grease, fuel feedstock, and agriculture-based biofuels. The company sells its products under the Rendac, Sonac, FASA, Ecoson, Rousselot, Gelnex, and CTH brands. The company was formerly known as Darling International Inc. and changed its name to Darling Ingredients Inc. in May 2014. Darling Ingredients Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Latest Food Products and Tyson Foods, Inc., Darling Ingredients Inc. Stock News
As of May 7, 2026, Tyson Foods, Inc. had a $23.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Food Products median of $1.8 million. Tyson Foods, Inc.’s stock is up 16.6% in 2026, up 7.3% in the previous five trading days and up 21.87% in the past year.
Currently, Tyson Foods, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 53.7. Tyson Foods, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $55.7 billion with a 0.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.057 per share for the current fiscal year. Tyson Foods, Inc. currently has a 3.0% dividend yield.
As of May 7, 2026, Darling Ingredients Inc. had a $9.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 77th percentile of all stocks. Darling Ingredients Inc.’s stock is up 74.8% in 2026, down 1.3% in the previous five trading days and up 89.33% in the past year.
Currently, Darling Ingredients Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 159.7. Darling Ingredients Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.1 billion with a 3.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 20.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.578 per share for the current fiscal year. Darling Ingredients Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.
How We Compare Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. Stock Grades
Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.
AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
Learn more about A+ Investor here!
Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions
Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. Growth Grades
| Company | Ticker | Growth |
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | TSN | B |
| Darling Ingredients Inc. | DAR | A |
The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.
In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.
The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.
Tyson Foods, Inc. has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong.
Darling Ingredients Inc. has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.
The Growth Grade Winner: Darling Ingredients Inc.
As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Darling Ingredients Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Tyson Foods, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Darling Ingredients Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc.’s Quality Grades
| Company | Ticker | Quality |
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | TSN | B |
| Darling Ingredients Inc. | DAR | B |
Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.
The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.
Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.
Tyson Foods, Inc. has a Quality Score of 70, which is Strong.
Darling Ingredients Inc. has a Quality Score of 71, which is Strong.
The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!
Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.
Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades
| Company | Ticker | Earnings Estimate |
| Tyson Foods, Inc. | TSN | C |
| Darling Ingredients Inc. | DAR | A |
Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).
Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.
Tyson Foods, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 58, which is Neutral.
Darling Ingredients Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 81, which is Very Positive.
The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Darling Ingredients Inc.
As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Darling Ingredients Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Tyson Foods, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Darling Ingredients Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions
Other Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. Grades
In addition to Estimate Revisions, Quality and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.
Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.
Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.
These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, Tyson Foods, Inc. or Darling Ingredients Inc. Stock?
Overall, Tyson Foods, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 73, Estimate Revisions Score of 58 and Quality Score of 70.
Darling Ingredients Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 83, Estimate Revisions Score of 81 and Quality Score of 71.
Comparing Tyson Foods, Inc. and Darling Ingredients Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.
Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.
A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.
AAII Disclaimer
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
Included With AAII Platinum
at only 23.3%
Since Inception. Data as of 12/31/2024.
769.3% Stock Superstars Portfolio Total Return Since Inception
U.S. Index ETF (IYY)
SSR Group 3 O'Shaughnessy portfolio has a 411.2% gain since inception performance compared to IYY at only 119.1%% Performance as of 11/29/24.
FREE REPORT
BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $2
Get access to powerful investment discovery tools and a wealth of investment education to help you achieve your financial goals.