What happened

Shares of animal by-products refiner Darling Ingredients (NYSE: DAR) rocketed up 19.3% in October, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

That handily outpaced the S&P 500, which was down 2.7% for the month. Year to date, Darling's shares have been on a tear, up 67.4%.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Darling's outperformance seems to have been the result of two beneficial news stories.

The first was election news, which indicated more and more strongly throughout the month that Joe Biden would win the presidency, with a high likelihood that Democrats would also control the U.S. Senate and House in 2021. Full Democratic control of the federal government was seen as a likely win for green energy, including biodiesel. Darling has been ramping up its biodiesel business through its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with refiner Valero.

In addition to election news, a pair of market research reports from Market Study Report that dropped in early October were beneficial to Darling. These predicted that the renewable diesel market was set to "grow significantly" through 2025 and that the nutritional-ingredients market would similarly "record substantial growth" over the same time period.

Now what

On November 4, Darling released its Q3 2020 earnings, which -- for the third quarter in a row -- outperformed expectations. The company is set to complete a major expansion of its Diamond Green Diesel refining facility next year, and its core markets are also expected to recover as the global pandemic wanes. Now looks like an excellent time to buy.

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John Bromels owns shares of Darling Ingredients. The Motley Fool recommends Darling Ingredients. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.