Should You Buy Core Natural Resources Inc (CNR) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Hold
Latest Price
95.860
1 Day change
2.08%
52 Week Range
103.500
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/28
Not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor who is impatient. The chart shows short-term downside pressure (price at/just below near-term support with a worsening MACD), hedge funds have been selling aggressively, and the latest quarter shows major profitability deterioration despite big revenue growth. Options positioning is bullish (call-heavy), but it looks more like speculative sentiment than confirmation of improving fundamentals. If you want long-term exposure, this is better treated as a “watch/hold-off” until momentum stabilizes above ~97.8 and profitability trends improve (or after the 2026-02-24 earnings event clarifies direction).
Technical Analysis
Trend/price action: Current price 93.44 (-3.66% today), sitting essentially on S1 support (93.56) and below the pivot (97.815). A clean break below S1 puts the next support at S2 ~90.93.
Momentum: MACD histogram -0.634 and negatively expanding = bearish momentum accelerating. RSI(6) 32.69 = near-oversold/weak (not yet a strong reversal signal).
Moving averages: Bullish stack (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) suggests the longer trend may still be constructive, but near-term momentum is currently overriding it.
Levels: Resistance near pivot 97.82, then 102.07 and 104.70. Support 93.56 then 90.93.
Pattern-based odds provided: ~40% chance of -3.4% next day, -2.37% next week, +4.1% next month → near-term skew negative.
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
- [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today.
- [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock recently.
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment: Put/call ratios are very low (OI PCR 0.27; Volume PCR 0.35) = call-heavy/bullish positioning.
Activity/volatility: IV is elevated (30D IV 52.04; IV percentile 81.13) with today’s volume far above average (today vs 30D avg ~15.79) and open interest elevated (today vs OI avg ~108%). This combination often signals the market is pricing a larger move; bullish skew exists, but elevated IV can also reflect uncertainty/risk around upcoming events.
Takeaway: Options traders are leaning bullish, but the underlying spot trend today is weak; this is supportive but not decisive for a long-term beginner entry.
Technical Summary
Sell
3
Buy
8
Positive Catalysts
Call-heavy options positioning (bullish skew).
Longer-trend moving averages remain bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), suggesting the larger trend could still be intact if support holds.
Upcoming earnings event (QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-24 pre-market) can serve as a catalyst if margins/EPS recover or guidance improves.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
Latest reported quarter (2025/Q
shows severe profitability deterioration: net income -66.96% YoY, EPS -81.06% YoY, gross margin down sharply — suggests costs/pressure or integration issues despite revenue growth.
Financial Performance
Latest quarter provided: 2025/Q3.
Growth: Revenue rose to 1,002,543,000 (+81.15% YoY), indicating strong top-line expansion.
Profitability: Net income fell to 31,598,000 (-66.96% YoY) and EPS fell to 0.61 (-81.06% YoY). Gross margin dropped to 2.4 (-90.88% YoY). The core issue is that revenue growth is not translating into earnings—this weakens the long-term quality of the growth until margins stabilize/recover.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
The analyst items provided appear to reference other companies/tickers (e.g., Construction Partners, Centuri, CN) rather than CNR, so there is no reliable, stock-specific trend in rating/price target changes to summarize for this asset from the data given.
Wall Street pros (in general, based on what would matter here): a bullish case would hinge on revenue scale and potential margin normalization.
Wall Street cons (supported by the provided financials/flows): collapsing margins/EPS and heavy hedge-fund selling would likely keep pros cautious until profitability and guidance improve.
Influential/insider/politician activity: Insiders are neutral (no significant trend). No recent Congress trading data available, and no politician/influencer trades were provided.
Wall Street analysts forecast CNR stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CNR is 117.4 USD with a low forecast of 100 USD and a high forecast of 158 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
5 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CNR stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CNR is 117.4 USD with a low forecast of 100 USD and a high forecast of 158 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
5 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 93.910
Low
100
Averages
117.4
High
158
Current: 93.910
Low
100
Averages
117.4
High
158
B. Riley
Rohit Seth
Neutral
initiated
$117
AI Analysis
2026-01-16
Reason
B. Riley
Rohit Seth
Price Target
$117
AI Analysis
2026-01-16
initiated
Neutral
Reason
B. Riley analyst Rohit Seth last night initiated coverage of Construction Partners with a Neutral rating and $117 price target. Construction Partners is a "best-in-class roll-up," executing a proven playbook in the "structurally attractive" hot-mix asphalt industry, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm says at $117, the stock already embeds full achievement of the company's 2030 targets.
Wells Fargo
Joseph O'Dea
Overweight
maintain
$25 -> $30
2026-01-07
Reason
Wells Fargo
Joseph O'Dea
Price Target
$25 -> $30
2026-01-07
maintain
Overweight
Reason
Wells Fargo analyst Joseph O'Dea raised the firm's price target on Centuri to $30 from $25 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Discussing the Electrical Equipment & Multi-Industry space, the firm says it expects largely underwhelming initial 2026 guidance ranges in a prudent approach to expectation setting.
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