Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CNX scored 64.7, SM scored 61.5 — CNX leads.
Compare another set
CNX
CNX Resources Corporation
Oil & Gas E&P · Quality-Growth
64.7
$34.03 · $5.0B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
3.2
CNX leads
SM
SM Energy Company
Oil & Gas E&P · Quality-Growth
61.5
$37.00 · $8.8B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestCNX5.5x
Fastest growthSM+65.9%
Strongest balance sheetCNX0.49
Highest qualityCNX73 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCNX-66%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CNX
stronger →← stronger
SM
73
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
73
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
50
74
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
64
CNX is stronger on 1 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CNX
SM
$526mC+
FCF
$743mC+
+48.9%A
Rev
+65.9%A
0.49B
D/E
0.95C+
5.5xA
P/E
6.6xA
1.93C+
PEG
0.62A-
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CNX
SM
66% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
48% below
~-13%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-2%/yr
+138%
1-yr DCF upside
+53%
+194%
5-yr DCF upside
+94%
+303%
10-yr DCF upside
+174%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CNX
Why this score
Diluting shareholders
Cyclical growth
SM
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Cyclical growth
The companies
CNXCNX Resources Corporation
Oil & Gas E&P · $34.03 · beta 0.69
Why now
Oil & Gas E&P · market cap $5.0b. Down 22% from 52-week high of $43.62 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +49% — in hypergrowth territory. 11 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $37.64 (implying +11% upside).
Moat
Net margin 44% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 21% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
Reserve-replacement treadmill — every barrel or ounce extracted has to be replaced through exploration or acquisition; underspending on replacement reserves shows up in production declines 2-3 years out.
SMSM Energy Company
Oil & Gas E&P · $37.00 · beta 0.96
Why now
Oil & Gas E&P · market cap $8.8b. 11% off the 52-week high of $41.56. Revenue growing +66% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.62 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 17 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $44.18 (implying +19% upside).
Moat
Net margin 19% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Commodity exposure — earnings power tracks the price of the underlying commodity, not management execution. A 15-20% move in the commodity reprices the equity well before fundamentals catch up.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CNX and SM diverge
On the headline score the gap is 3.2 points in favor of CNX. The widest single difference is Value, where CNX leads by 9.7 points.
ValueCNX 73.6 · SM 63.9CNX +9.7
QualityCNX 73.5 · SM 73.0level
GrowthCNX 50.0 · SM 50.0level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is CNX or SM the better stock?
CNX scores higher: CNX 64.7, SM 61.5 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do CNX and SM differ most?
The widest gap is value, where CNX leads by 10 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. The other two pillars are close enough to call level, so this is the one place they genuinely separate.
How are CNX and SM scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.