Is CNQ a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Canadian Natural Resources Limited on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CNQ compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Canadian Natural Resources Limited's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CNQ based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CNQ a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CNQ - Canadian Natural Resources Limited

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $35.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Oil & Gas E&P

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

A- 80.0 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for oil & gas e&p businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

B- 67.8

5yr Avg ROIC 15.3% 81/100
Operating Margin Trend -0.33 pp/yr 38/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 10%

A 92.5

5yr Avg ROE 19.7% 91/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -2.9% 94/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 5%

B 74.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 7.7% 73/100
5yr EPS CAGR 12.3% 83/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 25%

A+ 95.4

5yr FCF Margin 22.6% 93/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.07x 99/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

A 88.8

Net Debt / EBITDA 0.87x 86/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 13.74x 91/100
Altman Z-Score 3.75 91/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

C 54.7

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.51 29/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

3 of 3 gurus held; 1 new buy; 2 trimmed.

Holders: 3 +1
Avg Δ position: -87.1%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 0

Greenblatt new
Wood decreased -91%
Cooperman decreased -83%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (10%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (5%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (25%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.