CF Industries Q3 profit rises to $436 million on higher ammonia prices

CF Industries (CF) said on Nov. 4 that its third-quarter net earnings rose to $436 million, or $2.87 per diluted share, from $353 million, or $2.19 per share, a year earlier. Revenue was $1.86 billion, above the $1.84 billion consensus estimate.

The company's ammonia production network is the world's largest, it said, with manufacturing complexes in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

For the first nine months of 2026, net earnings were $1.78 billion, or $11.60 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA was $3.01 billion. The nine-month figures include a gain of approximately $170 million from a litigation settlement.

Third-quarter results

Here's how the company did:

• Net earnings per diluted share: $2.87 vs. $2.19 a year earlier
• Net sales: $1.86 billion vs. $1.66 billion a year earlier
• Adjusted EBITDA: $833 million vs. $667 million a year earlier
• EBITDA: $822 million vs. $671 million a year earlier

Sales volumes were 7% higher than a year earlier, driven by higher UAN, urea and other sales, partly offset by lower AN and ammonia sales. Average selling prices rose for ammonia, AN and other products, while urea and UAN prices fell.

Cost of sales rose on higher purchased product, freight, distribution and maintenance costs, including the extended outage at the Yazoo City Complex. Lower realized natural gas costs partly offset the increase. The company's natural gas cost in cost of sales was $2.88 per MMBtu, against $2.96 a year earlier.

President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Bohn said "The CF Industries team executed exceptionally well in the third quarter of 2026, delivering strong safety performance while operating our network at high rates to meet substantial deferred customer demand."

Revenue has risen in each of the last three quarters, from $1.66 billion in the third quarter of 2025 to $2.22 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to its SEC filings.

Capital returns

The company repurchased 3.0 million shares for $367 million in the third quarter, and 5.2 million shares for $612 million in the first nine months. About $1.11 billion remains under its $2 billion repurchase program, which expires in December 2029.

The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share on Oct. 7. It is payable on Nov. 30 to stockholders of record as of Nov. 16.

Cash and cash equivalents were $2.82 billion at Sept. 30, of which $496 million was held by the Blue Point One joint venture.

Outlook and Blue Point One

The company expects gross ammonia production of about 9.5 million tons for 2026, including the impact of the ongoing Yazoo City outage. It projects full-year capital expenditures of about $1.3 billion.

Construction of the Blue Point One ammonia plant and common facilities began in August. The company projects the plant will cost about $3.7 billion, including $500 million budgeted for contingency, with ammonia production expected to commence in 2029.

The company expects the Yazoo City Complex to resume operations in the first half of 2027. It said a substantial portion of restoration costs is expected to be covered by insurance.