CLMT vs VLO: How Calumet and Valero Energy Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: VLO is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CLMT and VLO share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CLMT and VLO exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Calumet runs three reportable businesses. Specialty Products and Solutions is the historic core: solvents, waxes, white oils, petrolatums, gels, esters and customised lubricating oils sold into industrial, personal care and packaging end markets, made mostly at the Shreveport, Louisiana complex plus a handful of smaller plants. Performance Brands is the smaller but far higher margin piece, blending and packaging finished products under the Royal Purple, Bel-Ray and TruFuel names. Montana/Renewables covers the Great Falls, Montana site, where renewable feedstocks are converted into renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable hydrogen, renewable naphtha and renewable propane, alongside a specialty asphalt operation. For roughly two decades this was Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership that sent unitholders a K-1 and, until 2016, a quarterly distribution. It converted to a Delaware corporation, Calumet, Inc., in July 2024. That swap removed the K-1, made the shares eligible for index funds and institutions that cannot hold partnership units, and turned CLMT into an ordinary Nasdaq-listed common stock.

Full CLMT guide

Valero Energy is the largest independent petroleum refiner in the world, operating 15 refineries across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom with a combined throughput capacity of roughly 3.2 million barrels per day. Unlike an integrated major, Valero does not produce much of its own crude oil, so it makes money on the spread between the cost of crude and the price of refined products like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel (the refining margin, or crack spread). It reports three segments: Refining, which is the core profit engine; Renewable Diesel, run through the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with Darling Ingredients; and Ethanol, from a network of corn ethanol plants.

Full VLO guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CLMT drivers: Sustainable aviation fuel volumes stepping up; Renewable fuel policy and credit economics.
• VLO drivers: Scale in refining and record throughput; Heavy capital returns to shareholders.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Leverage is the first thing to look at: roughly $2.3 billion of debt against a company that has not produced consistent GAAP profits. For VLO, valero's earnings are highly cyclical and depend on refining crack spreads, which can collapse quickly when product demand weakens or new refining capacity comes online, as shown by the net loss it reported in the first quarter of 2025.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CLMT if you believe its drivers more; VLO if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CLMT and VLO guides.

CLMT. Standard earnings multiples do not compute here because trailing net income is negative, so the market prices CLMT on enterprise value against a forward EBITDA that assumes the new SAF capacity runs and the credit environment holds. Enterprise value is roughly $5.7 billion once the debt is added, against 2025 Adjusted EBITDA with Tax Attributes of about $293 million, a multiple that only looks reasonable if 2027 earnings power is materially higher. Note that the company's headline profitability metric includes tax credits, which is not the same thing as operating cash flow.

VLO. Valero swung from a Q1 2025 net loss to about $1.3 billion of net income in Q1 2026 as refining margins recovered, and full-year 2025 net income was roughly $2.3 billion (about $3.3 billion adjusted). At a share price near $290 and a market cap around $86 billion, the stock trades near 20 times trailing earnings, though refiner multiples are noisy because earnings gyrate with the margin cycle.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CLMT shows revenue (ttm) ~$4.2 billion, net income (ttm) ~-$189 million (~-$2.17 per share), adjusted ebitda with tax attributes (fy2025) ~$293 million, market cap ~$3.5 billion (~87 million shares); VLO shows revenue (ttm) ~$130 billion, net income (fy2025) ~$2.3 billion ($7.57 EPS), adjusted eps (fy2025) ~$10.61, q1 2026 net income ~$1.3 billion ($4.22 EPS).

CLMT and VLO are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CLMT and VLO exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.