Agribusiness Earnings Highlights and Analysis: Nutrien, Bayer Crop Science Legal Outcomes, John Deere, ICL, Valmont Industries, CNH and CF Industries

Index

1. Nutrien

2. Bayer Crop Science Legal Outcomes

3. John Deere

4. CNH

5. ICL

6. Valmont Industries

7. CF Industries

About Upstream Ag Professional Agribusiness Breakdowns

Each quarter in Upstream Ag Professional, I analyze publicly traded agribusiness results to highlight key takeaways that matter for those working in the agriculture industry.

By breaking down earnings results and executive commentary, I provide the strategic insights agribusiness professionals need to stay ahead of their competitors, their suppliers and ultimately their customers.

The below is just one portion. More deep dives on the most influential agribusinesses, their market positioning, and strategic initiatives will be published as results become available.

If you want to satiate your curiosity and be the best-informed in the industry, you’re in the right place.

1. Nutrien FY 2025 Results - Nutrien

Nutrien reported what CEO Ken Seitz called a “defining year:”

The most interesting aspects though are some of the strategic restructuring occurring.

Overall Numbers

FY 2025 net earnings of $2.3B, adjusted EBITDA of $6.05B (up 13% YoY), on consolidated sales of $26.9B.

Q4 specifically delivered $580M in net earnings and $1.28B adjusted EBITDA, up 21% from Q4 2024.

The full-year improvement was across all segments, including higher fertilizer net selling prices, record fertilizer sales volumes, and growing Retail earnings all contributed.

Nutrien generated ~$900M in gross proceeds from asset divestitures since Q4 2024, including the $595M sale of its 50% stake in Profertil (booking a $301M gain).

They continue to review strategic alternatives for the entire Phosphate business, which signals a potential exit from the segment that generated just $382M in adjusted EBITDA on $1.7B in net sales (a margin profile that looks very small next to Potash or Nitrogen). They also shut down the Trinidad nitrogen facility in October 2025 and ceased production at New Madrid at year-end. Those two plants combined moved ~1.6M tonnes of nitrogen but contributed "marginal free cash flow."

Surrounding the phosphorous business, Ken Seitz stated that they are preparing for the the market testing process to gauge interest in the Phosphate assets and that they “have had significant inbound interest” surrounding those assets.

Capital Allocation

Nutrien is pruning low-return assets to concentrate capital on what actually generates cash.

The Phosphate segment's gross margin of just $68/tonne on a manufactured product basis doesn't compete with Potash ($141/tonne) or Nitrogen ($146/tonne).

It’s interesting too if we think back to Mosaic’s 2025 Investor Day, it was highlighted that just 55% Mosaic’s capital delivered 95% of the returns, primarily in potash, performance products (eg: MicroEssentials), and wholesale — an intense power law that means 45% of their capital deployed returned a mere 5% of NPV.

Nutrien is actively trying to ensure that if they are deploying capital, it is delivering the highest return, which was not seemingly occurring within Mosaic.

Retail

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