Nutrien Reports First Quarter 2026 Results

Strong customer demand and solid operational performance in the first quarter

Strategic priorities and capital allocation approach remain unchanged

Full-year guidance ranges reaffirmed

All amounts are in US dollars, except as otherwise noted

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nutrien Ltd. (TSX and NYSE: NTR) announced today its first quarter 2026 results, with net earnings of $139 million ($0.27 diluted net earnings per share). First quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA¹ was $1.11 billion and adjusted net earnings per share¹ was $0.51.

“Nutrien delivered record potash sales volumes and stronger Nitrogen and Retail performance in the first quarter. We increased production from our low-cost North American assets and positioned our supply chain to reliably supply our customers amid tightening global fertilizer supply and demand fundamentals,” commented Ken Seitz, Nutrien’s President and CEO. “We continue to take purposeful steps to simplify the business, strengthen and grow our core asset base and improve capital efficiency, resulting in a more resilient portfolio and delivering structural free cash flow growth.”

Highlights²:

• Retail adjusted EBITDA increased to $108 million in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher crop nutrient sales volumes and stronger proprietary products gross margins in the US and Australia. In the first quarter, we completed a tuck-in acquisition of a high-quality retail business located in the US corn belt.

• Potash adjusted EBITDA increased to $578 million in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher global benchmarks and record sales volumes. We increased potash production and continued to progress mine automation, maintaining our controllable cash cost of product manufactured¹ below $60 per tonne.

• Nitrogen adjusted EBITDA increased to $482 million in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to higher global benchmarks. Our low-cost North American nitrogen plants delivered an ammonia operating rate³ of 92 percent in the first quarter of 2026, consistent with our planned production and reflective of a continued focus on reliability initiatives.

• Returned $409 million to shareholders in the first quarter of 2026 through dividends and share repurchases.

• Progressing as planned with the review of strategic alternatives for our Phosphate business, Trinidad Nitrogen facility and Brazilian Retail business with a focus on enhancing earnings quality and free cash flow.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis

The following management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) is the responsibility of management and is dated as of May 6, 2026. The Board of Directors (“Board”) of Nutrien carries out its responsibility for review of this disclosure principally through its Audit Committee, composed entirely of independent directors. The Audit Committee reviews and, prior to its publication, approves this disclosure pursuant to the authority delegated to it by the Board. The term “Nutrien” refers to Nutrien Ltd. and the terms “we”, “us”, “our”, “Nutrien” and “the Company” refer to Nutrien and, as applicable, Nutrien and its direct and indirect subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. Additional information relating to Nutrien (which, except as otherwise noted, is not incorporated by reference herein), including our annual report dated February 19, 2026 (“2025 Annual Report”), which includes our annual audited consolidated financial statements (“annual financial statements”) and MD&A, and our annual information form dated February 19, 2026, each for the year ended December 31, 2025, can be found on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. No update is provided to the disclosure in our 2025 annual MD&A except for material information since the date of our annual MD&A. The Company is a foreign private issuer under the rules and regulations of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

This MD&A is based on, and should be read in conjunction with, the Company’s unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements as at and for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (“interim financial statements”) based on International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard (“IAS”) 34 “Interim Financial Reporting”, unless otherwise noted. This MD&A contains certain non-GAAP financial measures and ratios and forward-looking statements, which are described in the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and the “Forward-Looking Statements” sections, respectively.

Market Outlook and Guidance

• The conflict in the Middle East and related geopolitical uncertainty has disrupted global fertilizer and energy markets, with the most direct impact on nitrogen and phosphate supply from that region, as well as associated feedstock cost and availability. The outlook below reflects current market conditions and ongoing market dynamics.

Agriculture and Retail Markets

• Higher global grain and oilseed production in 2025 increased stocks-to-use ratios towards historical average levels and led to significant nutrient removal from the soil. Strong demand for food, feed and biofuel is expected to drive continued need for higher global crop production and related crop inputs. Global grain and oilseed prices have strengthened in 2026 due to robust demand and the emergence of regional weather issues that could impact prospective production.

• We have maintained our US crop acreage projections with corn plantings of 94 to 96 million acres and soybean plantings of 84 to 86 million acres in 2026. We have seen healthy crop input demand over the first four months of 2026 in line with our prior expectations, supported by above average planting progress and the need to replenish soil nutrients following last year’s record crop.

• In Australia, favorable weather conditions across key cropping regions and strong livestock prices are supporting sales of retail products and services. In Brazil, safrinha corn planting supported crop input demand in the first quarter and growers prioritized potash purchases.

Crop Nutrient Markets

• Global potash demand remains strong and we have maintained our previous forecast range for global potash shipments of 74 to 77 million tonnes in 2026. We anticipate relatively tight potash fundamentals throughout 2026 with demand trends expected to test existing global operating and supply chain capabilities.

• Global nitrogen market fundamentals have tightened due to trade flow disruptions and elevated natural gas costs and LNG availability have impacted nitrogen production and costs for producers in Asia, Europe and other key regions. The outlook for the remainder of 2026 is expected to be impacted by uneven restoration of trade flows and restart of nitrogen assets, as well as uncertainty regarding Chinese urea exports and Indian urea imports.

• Global phosphate supply and demand has been impacted by trade flow disruptions, lower global operating rates due to elevated feedstock costs that have pressured margins, and continued uncertainty regarding Chinese exports.

Financial and Operational Guidance

• We have maintained all 2026 full year financial and operational guidance ranges.

• Retail adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.75 to $1.95 billion represents structural growth in our downstream business consistent with historical rates.

• Potash sales volume guidance of 14.1 to 14.8 million tonnes is consistent with our global shipment expectation.

• Nitrogen sales volume guidance of 9.2 to 9.7 million tonnes is supported by planned reliability improvements and debottlenecks.

• Phosphate sales volume guidance of 2.4 to 2.6 million tonnes reflect the benefits of reliability improvement initiatives completed in 2025.

• Total capital expenditures guidance of $2.0 to $2.1 billion is consistent with 2025 as we continue to optimize capital to sustain safe and reliable operations and to progress a set of targeted growth investments. The total includes approximately $400 million in investing capital expenditures focused on proprietary products, network optimization and digital capabilities in Retail, low-cost brownfield expansions and product optimization projects in Nitrogen, and mine automation in Potash.

All guidance numbers, including those noted above, are outlined in the table below. Refer to page 33 of our 2025 Annual Report for anticipated fertilizer pricing and natural gas price sensitivities relating to adjusted EBITDA (consolidated) and adjusted net earnings per share.

Consolidated Results

Net earnings and adjusted EBITDA increased in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to higher fertilizer global benchmarks, increased Retail earnings and record Potash sales volumes compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Segment Results

Our discussion of segment results set out on the following pages is a comparison of the results for the three months ended March 31, 2026 to the results for the three months ended March 31, 2025, unless otherwise noted.

Retail

• Retail adjusted EBITDA increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher crop nutrient sales volumes and stronger proprietary products gross margins in the US and Australia. Expenses increased due to selling expenses related to higher sales volumes.

• Crop nutrients sales and gross margin increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher sales volumes from our core geographies, including an earlier start to field activity in the US relative to the same period in 2025.

• Crop protection products sales and gross margin increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher sales of proprietary products, supported by earlier field activity in the US relative to the same period in 2025.

• Seed sales and gross margin increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher sales volumes, including higher-margin canola seed.

• Services and other sales and gross margin increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to a strong livestock market in Australia.

Potash

• Potash adjusted EBITDA increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher global benchmarks and record sales volumes. We increased potash production and continued to progress mine automation, maintaining our controllable cash cost of product manufactured¹ below $60 per tonne.

• Sales volumes in the first quarter of 2026 were the highest on record, supported by low inventory levels and favorable potash affordability in key offshore markets.

• Net selling price per tonne increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher global benchmark prices.

• Cost of goods sold per tonne increased in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to higher depreciation. Controllable cash cost of product manufactured per tonne decreased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher potash production.

Nitrogen

• Nitrogen adjusted EBITDA increased in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to higher global benchmarks. Our low-cost North American nitrogen plants delivered an ammonia operating rate² of 92 percent in the first quarter of 2026, consistent with our planned production and reflective of a continued focus on reliability initiatives.

• Sales volumes decreased in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting no production from the Trinidad and New Madrid facilities⁴, partially offset by higher solutions, nitrates and sulfates sales volumes supported by reliability and debottleneck initiatives.

• Net selling price per tonne was higher in the first quarter of 2026 for all major nitrogen products due to stronger global benchmark prices.

• Cost of goods sold per tonne was flat in the first quarter of 2026, as lower overall natural gas costs were offset by higher depreciation and other variable costs. The lower overall natural gas cost reflects a higher proportion of production from our low-cost North American nitrogen plants compared to the same period of 2025.

Phosphate

• Phosphate adjusted EBITDA decreased in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher sulfur input costs, partially offset by higher global benchmarks and sales volumes compared to the same period of 2025.

• Sales volumes were higher in the first quarter of 2026 due to higher production volumes from reliability improvements compared to the same period of 2025.

• Net selling price per tonne increased in the first quarter of 2026 due to stronger global benchmark prices.

• Cost of goods sold per tonne increased in the first quarter of 2026 primarily due to higher sulfur input costs, more than offsetting higher production volumes that improved cost absorption and lowered depreciation per tonne compared to the same period of 2025.

Corporate and Others and Eliminations

• Share-based compensation expense was higher in the first quarter of 2026 due to an increase in the fair value of our share-based awards. The fair value of our share-based awards takes into consideration several factors, such as our share price movement, our performance relative to our peer group and our return on invested capital.

Finance Costs, Income Taxes and Other Comprehensive (Loss) Income

• Income tax expense increased in the first quarter of 2026 mainly due to higher earnings. The actual effective tax rate including discrete items decreased due to a change in the proportion of earnings (loss) between tax jurisdictions.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources and uses of liquidity

We continued to manage our capital in accordance with our capital allocation strategy. We believe that our internally generated cash flow, supplemented by available borrowings under new or existing financing sources, if necessary, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated capital expenditures, planned growth and development activities, and other cash requirements for the foreseeable future. Refer to the “Capital Structure and Management” section for details on our existing long-term debt and credit facilities.

Sources and uses of cash

For Further Information:

Investor Contact:
Jeff Holzman
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and FP&A
(306) 933-8545 – investors@nutrien.com

Media Contact:
Simon Scott
Vice President, Global Communications
(403) 225-7213 – media@nutrien.com