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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Darling Ingredients vs The Kroger Co.: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The Kroger Co holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across stability and valuation. Darling Ingredients does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. In the market, Darling Ingredients carries the stronger setup — intact trend against The Kroger Co's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with The Kroger Co, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-04-26

The lead is spread across stability and valuation, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. The Kroger Co. leads by 25 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.71
Similar
Peer-set rank: #10
within Darling Ingredients Inc.'s functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

This level of similarity signals a strong structural match, even though some dimensions still separate the two companies.

The strongest overlap appears in revenue growth trajectory and margin trend.

Similarity drivers
revenue growth trajectorymargin trend
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
DAR
Darling Ingredients Inc.
18
Peer-Score
Signal qualityHigh
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
KR
The Kroger Co.
43
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: DAR vs KR Profitability 7 16 Stability 16 77 Valuation 9 44 Growth 50 48 DAR KR
Gap Ranking
#1 Stability +61
#2 Valuation +35
#3 Profitability +9
#4 Growth +2
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for DAR and KR Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer DARKR Relative valuation Structural strength

The Kroger Co. looks stronger both structurally and on relative valuation.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Stability
The Kroger Co. ranks near the top of the group on stability; Darling Ingredients Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Valuation
The Kroger Co. holds the stronger peer position on valuation.
Stability — Dominant Gap
DAR
16
KR
77
Gap+61in favour of KR

The clearest distance comes from a steadier profile over time.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Darling Ingredients Inc. still carries lower volatility exposure — that difference is real enough to prevent the comparison from becoming one-sided.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both stability and valuation, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the DAR vs KR comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Similar stability-and-valuation comparisons

Explore how DAR and KR each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.