A Speculative Darling?

Cramer wanted to revisit a stock that Becky in Arkansas asked about during the Lightning Round on Monday: Darling International . He wasn’t sure how to judge the under-$10 stock at the time, but after a bit of research it turns out it’s just the type of company he highlights on super speculation Friday.

DAR has two businesses. It converts animal by-products, meat and poultry into oils and proteins used by the agriculture, leather and oleo-chemical industries, and it collects cooking oils from restaurants and recycles them into high-energy animal feed ingredients and industrial oils.

As unglamorous as the business may sound, Cramer says the stock has been on fire. It has more than doubled over the past 12 months. But that’s what worries him. He suggests waiting for a sell-off if you decide to buy in. The lack of analyst coverage (only three so far) means it won’t be topping out any time soon either.

There’s a chance Darling could move into the biodiesel fuel market like Tyson Foods, which just entered into a joint venture with ConocoPhillips to produce renewable diesel through hydrocracking. And therein lies the speculation. If you choose to buy DAR, then this type of growth business is what you’re banking on. Even still, Cramer doesn’t think this company is as risky as other speculative plays because it is making money right now.

Is it a buy, though? Not now, Cramer says. He recommends waiting until after the company reports its second-quarter results, which he thinks could disappoint. If cattle slaughtering is down, that could hurt the biz. And a stock that trades on the AMEX, and just enjoyed a nice run, might suffer quite the sell-off.

Bottom Line: If you like Darling, Cramer suggests you wait until the stock gets pummeled before putting on a position.

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