CVR Energy Inc. (CVI) Stock Price & How to Invest

CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI) runs two very different businesses. Its Petroleum segment operates the Coffeyville, Kansas and Wynnewood, Oklahoma refineries in the mid-continent, together processing on the order of 200,000 barrels per day, while its Nitrogen Fertilizer segment (held through the CVR Partners units) makes ammonia and UAN at Coffeyville and East Dubuque, Illinois using pet coke and natural gas feedstocks. A former Renewables segment produced renewable diesel at Wynnewood, but management reverted that unit to conventional hydrocarbon service in December 2025 after the economics turned unfavorable, keeping the option to switch back if incentives improve. Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises controls roughly 71 percent of the shares, so CVI trades as much on Icahn strategy as on refining fundamentals.

The investment picture is cyclical and lumpy. Full-year 2025 produced only modest net income even as EBITDA improved year over year, and the first quarter of 2026 swung to a sizable loss on a large commodity-derivative hit, higher Renewable Fuel Standard compliance costs and rising interest expense. The nitrogen fertilizer business has been the steadier earner while refining whipsaws with crack spreads, RIN costs and Small Refinery Exemption outcomes. Management reinstated a quarterly cash dividend in early 2026 after suspending it during the 2025 downturn, signaling improved confidence, but debt of roughly 1.8 billion dollars and commodity exposure keep the profile volatile.

CVI is highly cyclical and financially leveraged, with roughly 1.8 billion dollars of debt and a debt-to-equity ratio well above peers, so downturns hit both earnings and the balance sheet. Refining margins, RIN and RFS compliance costs, and derivative positions can produce large swings, including the sizable quarterly losses seen in early 2026. Icahn's roughly 71 percent stake means minority holders have limited influence and are exposed to controlling-shareholder decisions. The dividend was cut once in 2025 and could be reduced again if margins weaken. Refinery outages, turnarounds and commodity-price volatility add further operational and earnings uncertainty.

5 analysts publish price targets on CVI, averaging $29.40 against a $35.62 price as of August 2026, or -17.5%. The published targets run from $25.00 to $35.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 0 buy, 2 hold, 4 sell. Over the last six months there have been 5 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full CVI forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on CVR Energy Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Refining margin and crack-spread leverage. CVI's Petroleum segment earnings rise and fall with mid-continent crack spreads and crude differentials. The most optimistic published target, $35.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. CVI is highly cyclical and financially leveraged, with roughly 1.8 billion dollars of debt and a debt-to-equity ratio well above peers, so downturns hit both earnings and the balance sheet. The most pessimistic target, $25.00, is roughly what CVI is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on CVI, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see CVR Energy Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$3.0 billion
• Revenue (TTM): ~$7 billion
• FY2025 net income: ~$27 million (~$0.27 EPS)
• FY2025 EBITDA: ~$591 million
• Q1 2026 net loss: ~$192 million (~-$1.91 EPS)
• EV / EBITDA: ~7x
• Dividend (reinstated): ~$0.40 annual (~1.4% yield)

CVI carries around 100 million shares and roughly 1.8 billion dollars of total debt, so enterprise value is well above market cap and EV/EBITDA (around 7x) is a more meaningful gauge than the distorted P/E during loss quarters. Full-year 2025 was barely profitable while EBITDA improved, and the first quarter of 2026 swung to a large loss on derivative and compliance costs. Figures are approximate and refining earnings can change sharply quarter to quarter.

Other names that sit close to CVI: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get CVI exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so CVI sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where CVI fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

CVI is a leveraged, Icahn-controlled bet on refining margins and fertilizer prices that pays you to wait when cycles cooperate and burns cash when they do not.

Whether CVI is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is CVI a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the CVI stock forecast.

For income investors, whether CVI pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does CVI pay a dividend? And to weigh CVI against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: CVI vs VLO and CVI vs MPC.