Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CALM scored 26.0, DAR scored 63.6 — DAR leads.
Compare another set
CALM
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.
Farm Products · Quality-Growth
26
$64.35 · $3.0B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
37.6
DAR leads
DAR
Darling Ingredients Inc.
Packaged Foods · Quality-Growth
63.6
$60.26 · $9.5B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestDAR16.2x
Fastest growthDAR+7.4%
Strongest balance sheetCALM0.00
Highest qualityDAR63 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueDAR-30%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CALM
stronger →← stronger
DAR
55
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
63
13
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
60
25
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
68
DAR is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CALM
DAR
$329mC
FCF
$881mC+
-31.7%F
Rev
+7.4%B
0.00A
D/E
0.79B
52.3xD
P/E
16.2xB+
—
PEG
4.31D
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CALM
DAR
24% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
30% below
~-8%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-3%/yr
+48%
1-yr DCF upside
+37%
+32%
5-yr DCF upside
+44%
+13%
10-yr DCF upside
+53%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CALM
Why this score
Buying back stock
Cut its dividend
DAR
No notable signals flagged.
The companies
CALMCal-Maine Foods, Inc.
Farm Products · $64.35 · beta 0.23
Why now
Farm Products · market cap $3.0b. Down 33% from 52-week high of $95.57 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue -32% — in contraction; any catalyst that reverses this triggers re-rating. 3 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $68.33 (implying +6% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income, mostly because of depreciation and amortization ($124m) — non-cash charges that hold down reported earnings while cash generation stays strong.
Risk
Trailing P/E 52.3x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. Revenue contracting -32% — the operational turn is not yet visible in the top line. Down 33% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
DARDarling Ingredients Inc.
Packaged Foods · $60.26 · beta 1.05
Why now
Packaged Foods · market cap $9.5b. 14% off the 52-week high of $69.98. 12 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $81.58 (implying +35% upside).
Moat
ROE 12% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 147% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CALM and DAR diverge
On the headline score the gap is 37.6 points in favor of DAR. The widest single difference is Growth, where DAR leads by 47.5 points.
GrowthCALM 12.7 · DAR 60.2DAR +47.5
ValueCALM 24.9 · DAR 67.9DAR +43.0
QualityCALM 55.3 · DAR 63.0DAR +7.7
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is DAR or CALM the better stock?
DAR scores higher: DAR 63.6, CALM 26.0 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do DAR and CALM differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where DAR leads by 48 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. DAR leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are DAR and CALM scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.