Six pet food industry companies listed on the NYSE outperformed the S&P 500's 20.48% return in 2026, led by Darling Ingredients with 119% returns, followed by SLB, Ralliant, Spectrum Brands, ADM, and Sonoco Products. These companies span pet food ingredients, processing equipment, products, and packaging.
- Darling Ingredients led with a 119% return, more than five times the S&P 500's 20.48% gain
- Six companies beat the benchmark: SLB (61.9%), Ralliant (60.9%), Spectrum Brands (57%), ADM (36.5%), and Sonoco Products (23.4%)
- Seven other pet food-connected NYSE companies trailed the market, showing pet food exposure alone doesn't guarantee outperformance
- Winners provide diverse pet food ecosystem services including ingredients, processing equipment, products, and packaging
- Data captured intraday August 19, 2026, using AI analysis and verified against multiple market-data sources
An AI-powered review of Petfood Industry’s Top Companies 2026 database and Suppliers Directory found 13 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, including public parent companies of businesses.
Six produced a higher share-price return than the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, or SPY, which gained 20.48% over the 52 weeks ending Aug. 19, 2026.
Darling Ingredients led the group by a wide margin, followed by SLB, Ralliant, Spectrum Brands, ADM and Sonoco Products.
Tim Wall | ChatGPT
These are price returns, excluding dividends, captured intraday on Aug. 19, 2026. Every ticker and return was checked against a second S&P Global-derived market-data source; small provider and timing differences did not change which six companies beat SPY’s 20.48% benchmark. This review was conducted using AI and may have errors.
Pet food industry companies beating the S&P500
Darling Ingredients led with a 119% return, followed by SLB at 61.9%, Ralliant at 60.9% and Spectrum Brands at 57%. ADM gained 36.5%, while Sonoco Products narrowly beat the benchmark with a 23.4% return. Their pet food exposure spans ingredients, processing equipment, pet products and packaging.
Darling Ingredients
Darling Ingredients transforms residual materials from animal agriculture and food production into feed and food ingredients, fertilizers and renewable fuels. Its pet-food portfolio includes proteins, fats and collagens intended to support nutrition, palatability and manufacturing consistency.
SLB
SLB is principally an energy-technology company, but its connection to the supplier directory comes through SWECO, a business unit of M-I LLC within the M-I SWACO organization acquired by SLB. SWECO manufactures separators, sifters, centrifuges, screens and other industrial separation equipment applicable to food-processing operations.
Ralliant
Ralliant designs precision instruments and engineered products for test, measurement, sensing and safety applications. Anderson-Negele, the company named in the supplier PDF, is Ralliant’s hygienic-sensor business serving sanitary food and life-science processes.
Spectrum Brands Holdings
Spectrum Brands is a diversified consumer-products company whose Global Pet Care division supplies products for dogs, cats, birds, fish and small animals.
ADM
ADM is a global agricultural processing and nutrition company offering ingredients, formulation services and finished-product manufacturing through its pet nutrition business. Petfood Industry’s Top Companies 2026 ranking reported approximately $443.7 million in revenue for ADM Animal Nutrition.
Sonoco Products
Sonoco is a global packaging company serving food, beverage, healthcare, household and pet-care markets. Its pet-specific products include two- and three-piece steel cans designed to protect wet pet food from light, moisture and air.
Pet food industry companies trailing the S&P500
Seven NYSE-listed companies connected to the pet food industry trailed the S&P 500’s 20.5% gain during the 52-week period. Sensient Technologies came closest, returning 15%, followed by J.M. Smucker at 7.3% and Colgate-Palmolive at 7.2%. Ecolab declined 1.1%, while McCormick & Company fell 18.9%, General Mills dropped 21.7% and Post Holdings lost 26.6%. Their pet food connections range from direct brands, including Hill’s Pet Nutrition and General Mills’ Blue Buffalo, to ingredient, sanitation and processing suppliers such as Sensient Colors, Ecolab, McCormick/FONA and Michael Foods. The results show that pet food exposure alone did not insulate these diversified companies from broader operational, consumer-market and company-specific pressures.
Parent company notes
The report uses the current ultimate public parent when an attachment names a subsidiary or operating business. It applies a strict NYSE criterion, excluding Nasdaq and NYSE American: for example, Linde is now Nasdaq-listed, Better Choice became NYSE American-listed SRx Health Solutions, and Coperion’s former NYSE parent Hillenbrand ceased trading after its February 2026 acquisition.
