CF Industries Holdings, Inc.

What they do

CF Industries uses the Haber-Bosch process to fix atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen from natural gas, producing anhydrous ammonia (82% nitrogen) as its core product. It upgrades ammonia into granular urea, UAN, and AN for fertilizer, and into DEF, urea liquor, nitric acid, and aqua ammonia for industrial uses. The company operates six U.S. plants, two Canadian plants, and one U.K. plant, plus a North American terminals and distribution network and a 50% interest in an ammonia joint venture in Trinidad and Tobago.

Revenue drivers

• Ammonia — External sales of anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer, emissions control, and industrial applications. 2025 net sales were $2,176 million, up 25% from $1,736 million in 2024, with 4.6 million product tons sold at an average $473 per ton.
• Granular Urea — Granular urea (46% nitrogen), the highest-nitrogen solid fertilizer CF makes, produced at Donaldsonville, Port Neal, and Medicine Hat. 2025 net sales were $1,781 million, up 11% from $1,600 million in 2024.
• Upgraded and Industrial Products — UAN, AN, DEF, urea liquor, nitric acid, and aqua ammonia sold to fertilizer distributors and industrial customers. AN is also used by the commercial explosives industry.
• Low-Carbon Products — Low-carbon ammonia and low-carbon upgraded products, enabled by a July 2025 decarbonization project at Donaldsonville, targeted at power generation and steel production in Japan and customers facing European carbon border fees.

Recent performance

Second-quarter 2026 revenue was $2.22 billion, up from $1.99 billion in the first quarter of 2026, $1.87 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, and $1.66 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Full-year 2025 revenue was $7.08 billion with net income of $1.80 billion and diluted EPS of $8.97, compared with 2024 revenue of $5.94 billion, net income of $1.48 billion, and EPS of $6.74. Operating cash flow was $2.75 billion in 2025 versus $2.27 billion in 2024. In 2025, the Ammonia segment's gross margin rose 38% to $682 million on an 11% increase in average selling prices and 13% higher sales volume, partly offset by $111 million of higher realized natural gas costs.

Strategy

CF is investing to decarbonize its ammonia production network, which it describes as the world's largest, to supply low-carbon hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, and emissions abatement. It completed a decarbonization project at Donaldsonville, Louisiana in July 2025 to produce low-carbon ammonia and is constructing a greenfield low-carbon ammonia plant at its Blue Point complex in Modeste, Louisiana through a joint venture formed April 8, 2025, in which CF consolidates the entity and records its partners' combined 60% equity interest as noncontrolling interests. The outlook cites power generation and steel production in Japan as expected end uses for low-carbon products, along with helping customers reduce European carbon border adjustment costs.

Risks

• Cyclical nitrogen pricing — The industry is cyclical and CF's results are highly dependent on global supply and demand for nitrogen products, with periods of oversupply tending to hurt results.
• New industry capacity — Periods of strong demand and high margins stimulate global capacity additions, including by CF itself, which increase supply availability and pressure selling prices.
• Natural gas costs — Higher realized natural gas costs, including realized derivatives, reduced 2025 Ammonia segment gross margin by $111 million, and gas price volatility in North America and globally is a stated risk.
• Low-carbon project execution — The company cites risks in completing the Blue Point low-carbon ammonia facility and related infrastructure on schedule and on budget, and in funding capital needs that may exceed current estimates.

Outlook

CF's disclosures emphasize execution of low-carbon ammonia projects, including the Blue Point joint venture and further decarbonization across the existing network, funded from operating cash flow and the balance sheet. Management's stated growth case rests on new demand for low-carbon products in applications such as power generation and steel in Japan and on customer responses to European carbon regulations. The company also notes the cyclicality of nitrogen markets and the potential for announced or future tariffs and trade measures to affect material costs and capital projects.