A Fund’s Bold Bet on a Waning Giant

On a Friday when the market’s attention wavered, a San Francisco-based fund named No Street GP LP made a quiet move: it swallowed 2.25 million shares of Darling Ingredients, a company whose stock had already been gnawed down by 15% over the past year. The sum-$69.5 million-was a wager, not on growth, but on the hope that the carcass of a once-mighty enterprise might still yield a meal.

What Happened

The fund’s latest maneuver, revealed in an SEC filing, was less a triumph than a gamble. Darling, a company that once promised to turn waste into wealth, now resembles a factory where the machinery creaks and the workers shuffle in silence. The fund’s stake-4.6% of its $1.5 billion portfolio-was a calculated risk, a bet that the market’s appetite for “sustainable” ventures might yet revive the corpse of a struggling industrial giant.

What Else to Know

The fund’s other holdings tell a story of contradictions: bets on tech darlings like AppLovin and Uber, their valuations inflated by the same speculative fever that now clings to Darling. Yet here, in the shadow of the S&P 500’s steady climb, the fund’s choice to anchor itself in a company whose shares have lagged by 30 percentage points feels less like strategy and more like desperation.

  • NASDAQ:APP: $147.3 million (9.8% of AUM)
  • NYSE:CVNA: $111.5 million (7.4% of AUM)
  • NYSE:UBER: $107.8 million (7.2% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:WIX: $97.7 million (6.5% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:COOP: $94.9 million (6.3% of AUM)

At $34.75 a share, Darling’s stock is a relic of a bygone era, its value eroded by time and the relentless march of progress. The numbers-revenue of $5.8 billion, net income of $107.8 million-sound impressive, but they are the echoes of a machine that has long since stopped humming.

Company Overview

Metric Value
Price (as of market close Friday) $34.75
Market capitalization $5.5 billion
Revenue (TTM) $5.8 billion
Net income (TTM) $107.8 million

Company Snapshot

Darling Ingredients, once a beacon of innovation, now operates like a factory where the workers are ghosts. Its promise to transform animal by-products into “high-value products” feels like a joke told to the desperate. The company’s “diversified revenue streams” are a euphemism for a patchwork of half-measures, stitched together by the same forces that have left its stock in tatters.

Foolish Take

No Street GP LP’s investment is a curious blend of folly and calculation. To chase a stock that has been battered by time and market forces is to play a game where the rules are written by the victors. The fund’s recent history-purchasing Wix after its collapse, exiting Crocs in a panic-suggests a pattern of betting on the wreckage of others. Darling, with its 15% decline and lagging performance, is the latest in a long line of casualties.

The company’s third-quarter results, while slightly improved, are a flicker of light in a dark room. Net sales rose, but so did the weight of its debts. The “tax-credit monetizations” sound like a desperate attempt to stave off collapse, while the “policy tailwinds” in its joint venture are little more than a hopeful whisper. For the workers who once believed in Darling’s vision, the stock’s decline is not just a financial loss-it is a personal defeat.

The fund’s faith in Darling’s “operational resilience” is a testament to the absurdity of the system. In a world where investors chase the ghost of growth, the true victims are those who labor beneath the surface, their lives shaped by the whims of numbers and spreadsheets.

Glossary

13F reportable assets: The U.S. equity holdings that institutional investment managers must disclose quarterly to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed by a fund or firm on behalf of clients.

Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held in a portfolio by an investor or fund.

Top holdings: The largest investments in a fund’s portfolio, typically ranked by market value.

Trailing twelve months (TTM): The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Forward price-to-earnings ratio: A valuation metric comparing a company’s current share price to its forecasted earnings per share.

Enterprise value to EBITDA: A ratio comparing a company’s total value (including debt) to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

Vertically integrated model: A business structure where a company controls multiple stages of production or supply within its industry.

Bio-nutrients: Organic materials derived from biological sources, used to enhance food, feed, or agricultural products.

Bio-based solutions: Products or processes derived from renewable biological resources rather than fossil fuels.

Specialty ingredients: Unique or high-value components used in manufacturing food, feed, or industrial products.

Operational resilience: The ability of a company to maintain business functions during disruptions or market volatility.

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2025-11-15 19:22