At a glance
Knife River Corporation is worth $3.08B, about 20 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 8.5% to $3.15B in fiscal 2025, with 5.0% kept as profit; over 4 years it has grown 9.0% a year. It pays no dividend. The stock returned −11.3% over the past year with dividends reinvested, against +11.5% for the S&P 500.
The business in plain English
Knife River digs up and supplies the raw ingredients of roads and buildings. Its core product is aggregates: crushed stone, sand and gravel. At the end of 2025 it held 1.3 billion tons of aggregate reserves and served customers across 14 states. It is vertically integrated, meaning it uses its own rock in its own products and jobs. About 35% of its 2025 aggregates went into its own ready-mix concrete (mixed at a plant and trucked to the site), asphalt and contracting work.
Revenue was about $3.1 billion in 2025. Construction materials, including aggregates, concrete and asphalt, brought in 63% of segment revenue. Contracting services, such as asphalt paving, large civil projects and site grading, brought in 37%. Materials go to governments, developers and other private customers. Contracting is mostly public work: 81% was for the public sector, largely highways, local roads and bridges.
There are four segments. West (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) produced 37% of segment revenue, Central (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas) 32%, and Mountain (Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) 20%. Energy Services, which supplies liquid asphalt for road building, produced 11%. Knife River is based in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was spun off from MDU Resources in May 2023 and grows partly through acquisitions, including Strata Corporation, acquired for $454.0 million in March 2025.
Price history
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KNF -11.3% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Contracting services publicsector | $1.12B | 35.8% |
| Ready-mix concrete | $779.4M | 24.8% |
| Asphalt | $421.0M | 13.4% |
| Liquid asphalt | $296.0M | 9.4% |
| Other | $279.8M | 8.9% |
| Contracting services privatesector | $259.0M | 8.2% |
By business segment
| West | $1.21B | 38.5% |
| Central | $1.00B | 31.9% |
| Mountain | $644.0M | 20.5% |
| Energy Services | $338.0M | 10.7% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $938.6M, up 12.6% from a year earlier, and net income was $43.9M (-13.3%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $3.15B (+8.5% year over year; +9.0% a year from FY2021 to FY2025) with a 5% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2021–FY2025) | +9.0% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 9.1% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | -2.2% weak |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 9.6% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 4.3% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-1.58B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $2.23B | $129.8M | $7.0M |
| FY2022 | $2.53B | $116.2M | $29.3M |
| FY2023 | $2.83B | $182.9M | $211.4M |
| FY2024 | $2.90B | $201.7M | $149.9M |
| FY2025 | $3.15B | $157.1M | $-69.6M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.08B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 19.7 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Knife River’s market value went from $3.74B at the end of 2023 to $3.08B on Oct 28, 2026, down 18%; since the end of 2025 it is down 23%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.08B | -22.8% |
| 2025 | $3.99B | -30.7% |
| 2024 | $5.75B | +53.7% |
| 2023 | $3.74B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KNF price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -22.9% | -11.3% | +4.2% | — | — |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -22.9% |
| 2025 | -30.8% |
| 2024 | +53.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Before this security existed |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (22 read): 0 open-market purchases and 0 sales ($0.00).
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | 10.8% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Capital World Investors | 5.7% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.25% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.05% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in KNF
| CSD Invesco S&P Spin-Off ETF | 4.45% |
| PKB Invesco Building & Construction ETF | 2.75% |
| GSC Goldman Sachs Small Cap Core Equity ETF | 1.63% |
| FSCC Federated Hermes MDT Small Cap Core ETF | 1.09% |
| TAX Cambria Tax Aware ETF | 1.03% |
| MMSC First Trust Multi-Manager Small Cap Opportunities ETF | 0.86% |
| BUYO KraneShares Man Buyout Beta Index ETF | 0.82% |
| RFG Invesco S&P MidCap 400® Pure Growth ETF | 0.8% |
What could go wrong
- Heavy reliance on public road spending. In 2025, 81% of contracting work came from governments. The top 15 customers made up about 21% of 2025 revenue, and nine of them were state transportation departments. Spending cuts or delays would hurt.
- Quarry permits are hard to win. New quarry sites can take years to develop, and community opposition and regulations can block new or expanded sites. Because rock is costly to haul, poorly located reserves may not be worth mining.
- Short building season in northern states. Most production and sales in the northern US happen between May and October. Cold, wet weather or severe storms can delay work, so quarterly results swing and a bad season can hurt the full year.
- Growth depends on acquisitions. Knife River has acquired over 90 businesses since 1992, including Strata for $454.0 million in 2025. Overpaying, poor integration or losing key staff could hurt returns, and competing bidders can push prices up.
- A large debt load. As of June 30, 2026, debt was about $1.62 billion, against $40.7 million of cash and investments. The company may borrow more, and higher rates or a credit-rating cut could raise costs.
- Swings in energy, labor and input costs. Prices for energy, labor and other inputs can swing sharply, and supply-chain disruptions or import tariffs add pressure. In 2025, operating profit was only about 9.1 cents per dollar of sales.
Recent events
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
Knife River does not pay a dividend. It paid no dividends and repurchased no shares in fiscal years 2021 through 2025, and its 10-K says it cannot guarantee any future dividend. For an income investor, any return comes only from changes in the share price, so taking income from it would mean cashing in shares. The company has put money into acquisitions such as Strata instead. Its free cash flow (cash from operations minus capital spending) was negative $69.6 million in 2025.
The stock began trading after the May 2023 spin-off. That means it has no public record through the 2008 financial crisis, the 2020 COVID crash or the 2022 bear market. It has still been a bumpy ride. The shares rose 53.6% in 2024, fell 30.8% in 2025 and were down 22.9% year to date as of October 28, 2026. Their largest peak-to-trough drop since listing was 55.3%. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Knife River make money?
Knife River makes money by producing construction materials and by doing construction work. In 2025, materials such as aggregates (crushed stone, sand and gravel), ready-mix concrete, asphalt and liquid asphalt made up 63% of segment revenue. Contracting services, such as paving, large civil projects and site grading, made up 37%. Of that contracting work, 81% was for the public sector, mostly highways, local roads and bridges. Total revenue was about $3.1 billion.
Does Knife River pay a dividend?
No. Knife River paid no dividends and repurchased no shares in fiscal years 2021 through 2025, and its 10-K says it cannot guarantee whether or when it will pay dividends. Any return comes only from changes in the share price, so taking income from it would mean cashing in shares. The company has spent on growth instead. It completed 11 acquisitions between 2023 and its February 2026 annual report, including Strata Corporation for $454.0 million.
When did Knife River spin off from MDU Resources?
Knife River was spun off from MDU Resources on May 31, 2023. In a spin-off, a parent company hands shares of a business to its own shareholders, which creates a separate public company. The separation was tax-free for US federal income tax purposes. The shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNF. As a result, the stock had only about 3.4 years of trading history as of October 28, 2026.
How has Knife River stock performed?
Knife River stock has been volatile. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was down 22.9% year to date and 11.3% over one year, but up 13.7% in total since trading began in 2023. It gained 53.6% in 2024 and lost 30.8% in 2025. Profits also slipped: net income fell 22.1% to $157.1 million in 2025, even though revenue grew 8.5%. The shares traded at about 19.7 times 2025 earnings, a measure called the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.
How much debt does Knife River have?
Knife River had about $1.62 billion of total debt as of June 30, 2026. That compares with $40.7 million of cash and investments and about $1.61 billion of shareholders' equity. Its 10-K calls the debt substantial and says the company may borrow more. Rising interest rates or a credit-rating cut could raise its borrowing costs. Free cash flow, the cash left after day-to-day operations and capital spending, was negative $69.6 million in 2025, after positive $149.9 million in 2024.