WMB

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB). Shares have added about 5.2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is The Williams Companies due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. The Williams Companies reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. However, the bottom line increased from the year-ago period’s level of 46 cents, driven by better-than-expected performance of its Transmission, Power & Gulf, Northeast G&P and West segments. The Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas storage and transportation company’s revenues of $3 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million. The figure increased by 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues. This can be attributed to higher service revenues and increased product sales. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $1.9 billion in the quarter under review, which was up 6% year over year. Cash flow from operations amounted to $1.4 billion, down 5.1% from the corresponding quarter of 2025. Williams Companies has agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream in a deal worth up to $5.5 billion, strengthening its Haynesville footprint and expanding its integrated natural gas infrastructure to meet rising Gulf Coast LNG, power and industrial demand. Momentum adds more than 4,000 miles of pipelines, 6 Bcf/d gathering capacity and key processing assets, with the deal expected to boost AFFO and EPS. Williams Companies also announced the Delta Aces and Shelby Trough Connector expansions, positioning the company to capture growing natural gas demand and enhance basin connectivity. Transmission, Power & Gulf: The segment reported an adjusted EBITDA of $959 million, up 6.2% from the year-ago quarter’s level. The increase was driven by contributions from projects placed in service, new Gulf volumes and higher storage revenues. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. Northeast G&P: Driven primarily by higher volumes at Ohio Valley Midstream and higher proportional EBITDA from Blue Racer Midstream and Bradford within Appalachia Midstream, this segment registered an adjusted EBITDA of $540 million. This represents a 7.8% increase from $501 million in the year-earlier quarter. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $518 million. West: This segment focuses on the gathering and processing of assets in the Western United States. Adjusted EBITDA for this segment totaled $359 million, up 5.3% from the prior-year quarter’s level of $341 million. Strong results were fueled by Louisiana Energy Gateway, placed into service in third-quarter 2025, as well as higher gathering volumes, including contributions from the 2025 Rimrock and Saber acquisitions. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $389 million. Gas & NGL Marketing Services: The segment posted a negative adjusted EBITDA of $1 million, narrowing down from the year-ago negative EBITDA of $15 million, resulting from higher gas marketing margins due to winter storms. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same was pegged at a negative $7.27 million. Other: This segment posted an adjusted EBITDA of $64 million, representing a 17.9% decrease from $78 million in the year-earlier quarter, caused by unfavorable changes in net realized results from upstream operations, including the impact of the divested South Mansfield interests. However, the figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $57 million. In the reported quarter, total costs and expenses of $1.9 billion increased by about 2% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. Total capital expenditure (capex) was $1.8 billion. As of June 30, 2026, WMB had cash and cash equivalents of $203 million and long-term debt of $28.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 64.7%. Williams Companies raised its 2026 guidance and now expects adjusted EBITDA of $8.3-$8.5 billion, with growth capital expenditures projected at $7.3-$7.9 billion. Factoring in the pro forma contribution from the Momentum Midstream acquisition over the past four quarters, the company expects its 2026 leverage ratio to be approximately 3.75x at the midpoint. The growth capex and debt-to-adjusted EBITDA guidance exclude certain reimbursable long-lead equipment costs. In the past month, investors have witnessed a downward trend in estimates review. Currently, The Williams Companies has a subpar Growth Score of D, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Following the exact same course, the stock has a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Interestingly, The Williams Companies has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. The Williams Companies belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Production and Pipelines industry. Another stock from the same industry, Kinder Morgan (KMI), has gained 2.3% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. Kinder Morgan reported revenues of $4.48 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +10.8%. EPS of $0.37 for the same period compares with $0.28 a year ago. For the current quarter, Kinder Morgan is expected to post earnings of $0.33 per share, indicating a change of +13.8% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Kinder Morgan. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of C. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Permian Resources Corporation PR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 69 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents by 23.2%. The bottom line also increased significantly from the year-ago quarter’s adjusted earnings of 27 cents. This outperformance was primarily driven by higher oil and NGL price realizations. The company’s oil and gas sales of $1.86 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64 billion by 13.3%. Revenues also increased from the year-ago quarter’s $1.2 billion, aided by a higher year-over-year contribution from oil sales, NGL sales and purchased gas sales during the quarter. Permian Resources Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Permian Resources Corporation Quote On Aug. 5, 2026, the Midland, TX-based exploration and production company declared a quarterly base dividend of 16 cents per Class A common share, translating to an annualized dividend of 64 cents. The payout is scheduled for Sept. 30 for its shareholders on record as of Sept. 16. Permian Resources reported total average production of 376.4 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d), comprising 53% oil and 76% liquids, in the second quarter, down from 385.1 MBoe/d in the year-ago period. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 395,272 Boe/d. Crude oil production averaged 198.1 thousand barrels per day (MBbls/d), up from 176.5 MBbls/d in the prior-year quarter. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 194.8 MBbls/d. Oil production increased, driven primarily by successful ground-game initiatives, which boosted the average working interest in second-quarter completions by 7% above the company’s initial expectations. Production also benefited from a more than 50% quarter-over-quarter increase in high-return workover projects. NGL production came in at 86.2 MBbls/d, down 11.9% year over year. It also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.2%. Meanwhile, natural gas production totaled 552.9 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), down 16.8% year over year, and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.1%. Permian Resources’ average realized oil price was $97.81 per barrel in the second quarter, compared with $62.71 in the year-ago quarter. Moreover, the figure beat the consensus mark of $94 per barrel. The realized NGL price was $23.28 per barrel, up from $17.75 a year ago, and beat the consensus mark of $22.16 per barrel. The company’s realized natural gas price was negative $2.40 per Mcf, in contrast to a positive 50 cents in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for the same was pegged at a negative of $2.41 per Mcf. Including hedges and purchased gas sales, the realized natural gas price was 38 cents per Mcf, compared with 76 cents a year ago. Total operating expenses in the quarter rose to $929.9 million from $900.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Lease operating expenses totaled $189.9 million, up from $187.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Severance and ad valorem taxes rose to $143.7 million from $94.9 million a year earlier and the Exploration and other expenses also rose to $9.8 million from $5.1 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per-unit basis, Lease operating expenses increased to $5.55 per Boe from $5.36 a year ago. PR generated $1.5 billion of net cash provided by operating activities in the second quarter, compared with $1 billion in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating cash flow totaled $1.3 billion, while adjusted free cash flow came in at $750.7 million. Cash capital expenditures were $521.4 million, up from the prior-year period’s capital expenditures of $505 million. The company’s capital-efficient operating model supported strong free cash flow generation despite continued investment in development and bolt-on acquisitions. As of June 30, 2026, PR had $131.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. The company had a long-term debt of approximately $3 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 20%. Permian Resources has raised its 2026 oil production target to 199 MBbls/d, up 10 MBbls/d from its initial February guidance. The increase reflects higher working interest from successful ground-game activities, greater workover activity and production from the Ward County bolt-on acquisition. The company expects average working interest to exceed 80% for the full year, while second-half oil production is projected to exceed 200 MBbls/d. To support the higher production outlook, Permian Resources increased its 2026 cash capital expenditure guidance to $1.9-$2 billion, including about $25 million related to the Ward County acquisition. The revised full-year plan calls for total production of 400,000-430,000 Boe/d, oil production of 197,000-201,000 Bbls/d and approximately 250 gross operated TILs, with average lateral lengths of about 11,000 feet. Controllable cash costs are expected at $7.15-$8.15 per Boe, including lease operating expenses of about $5.45, gathering, processing and transportation costs of approximately $1.40, and cash G&A of around 80 cents per Boe. Overall, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s updated plan reflects higher production and capital spending while maintaining a focus on capital efficiency and operational growth. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. While we have discussed PR’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space. Expand Energy Corporation EXE reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.33, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $1.10 per share, fueled by strong production and lower operating expenses. Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $1.8 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 billion. The top line was also below the year-ago figure of $2 billion. As of June 30, 2026, the company had $663 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $3.7 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 16%. NOV Inc. NOV reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. The bottom line also increased 6.9% from the year-ago quarter’s 29 cents, driven by outperformance of the Energy Equipment segment. The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $39 million. However, NOV’s revenues fell 2.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.2 billion due to lower year-over-year revenues from the Energy Products and Services segment. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.3%. The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. However, the bottom line increased from the year-ago period’s level of 46 cents, driven by better-than-expected performance of its Transmission, Power & Gulf, Northeast G&P and West segments. The Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas storage and transportation company’s revenues of $3 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million. The figure increased by 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues. This can be attributed to higher service revenues and increased product sales. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $203 million and long-term debt of $28.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 64.7%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Permian Resources Corporation (PR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report NOV Inc. (NOV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Expand Energy Corporation (EXE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

U.S. energy operator APA Corporation APA reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.89 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85. The bottom line rose from the year-ago adjusted profit of 87 cents. The outperformance was primarily driven by higher realized oil prices and lower year-over-year expenses. Revenues of $2.4 billion were down 8.2% from the year-ago quarter’s sales and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.5%, caused by a decrease in natural gas revenues. APA Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | APA Corporation Quote Meanwhile, APA continues to reward its shareholders, having paid out $189 million through dividends and share repurchases during the second quarter of 2026. Production of oil and natural gas averaged 409,959 BOE/d, which comprised 69% liquids. The figure was down 11.8% from the year-ago quarter but surpassed our expectation of 404,982 BOE/d. U.S. output (accounting for 64% of the total) fell 9.2% year over year to 263,187 BOE/d, but production from the company’s international operations decreased 16.2% to 146,772 BOE/d. APA’s oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) production was 284,605 barrels per day (Bbl/d). Natural gas output totaled 752,125 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d). The average realized crude oil price during the second quarter was $98.24 per barrel, up almost 50% from the year-ago realization of $65.58. The number also significantly surpassed our projection of $76.35. The average realized natural gas price fell to 60 cents per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) from $2.28 in the year-ago period and missed our estimate of $2.03. APA’s second-quarter lease operating expenses totaled $353 million, down 3.8% from $367 million in the year-ago period. Moreover, proceeds from purchased oil/gas of $122 million meant that total operating expenses decreased nearly 29.2% from the corresponding period of 2025 to $1.1 billion. The number was below our model projection of $1.4 billion. During the quarter under review, APA generated $1.7 billion of cash from operating activities while it incurred $546 million in upstream capital expenditures. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company registered a free cash flow of $738 million compared to $134 million a year ago. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. As of June 30, APA had $444 million in cash and cash equivalents and $3.7 billion in long-term debt, representing a debt-to-capitalization of 34.8%. For full-year 2026, APA has raised its U.S. oil production guidance to 123,000 barrels per day while keeping its U.S. capital spending plan unchanged at $1.3 billion. Total upstream capital investment is projected at $2.07 billion, with exploration spending slightly lower due to the timing shift of exploration activities at Suriname Block 58. Meanwhile, lease operating expense guidance has been reduced by $25 million to $1.5 billion, reflecting continued cost-saving initiatives. While we have discussed APA’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space. Expand Energy Corporation EXE reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.33, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $1.10 per share, fueled by strong production and lower operating expenses. Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $1.8 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 billion. The top line was also below the year-ago figure of $2 billion. As of June 30, 2026, the company had $663 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $3.7 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 16%. NOV Inc. NOV reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. The bottom line also increased 6.9% from the year-ago quarter’s 29 cents, driven by outperformance of the Energy Equipment segment. The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $39 million. However, NOV’s revenues fell 2.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.2 billion due to lower year-over-year revenues from the Energy Products and Services segment. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.3%. The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. However, the bottom line increased from the year-ago period’s level of 46 cents, driven by better-than-expected performance of its Transmission, Power & Gulf, Northeast G&P and West segments. The Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas storage and transportation company’s revenues of $3 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million. The figure increased by 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues. This can be attributed to higher service revenues and increased product sales. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $203 million and long-term debt of $28.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 64.7%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report APA Corporation (APA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report NOV Inc. (NOV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Expand Energy Corporation (EXE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Transocean Ltd. RIG reported a second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 cent. The bottom line also improved from the year-ago quarter’s breakeven adjusted earnings. The outperformance was supported by exceptional performance of the Harsh environment floaters that delivered higher revenues, stronger fleet utilization, improved revenue efficiency and higher average daily revenues. The Switzerland-based offshore drilling contractor’s contract drilling revenues of $966 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $939 million by 2.9%. This was backed by higher-than-expected revenues from harsh environment floaters, which beat the consensus mark of $274.3 million. However, the top line decreased 2.2% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of $988 million due to lower revenues from the Ultra-deepwater floaters. Transocean Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Transocean Ltd. Quote Adjusted EBITDA was $312 million, down from $344 million in the year-ago period and $440 million in the first quarter of 2026. However, the figure beat our model estimate of $260.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 32.2% compared with 34.9% in the year-ago quarter and 40.7% in the prior quarter. Ultra-deepwater floaters accounted for about 64.5% of total contract drilling revenues, while harsh environment floaters contributed the remaining 35.5%. Transocean’s ultra-deepwater floaters generated revenues of $623 million in the reported quarter, down from $699 million in the year-ago period and $748 million in the prior quarter. Moreover, the figure missed our model estimate of $665 million. Harsh environment floaters contributed $343 million, compared with $289 million in the year-ago quarter and $333 million in the first quarter of 2026. Moreover, the figure beat our model estimate of $274.3 million. Revenue efficiency was 97%, down from 97.3% in the previous quarter but up from 96.6% in the year-ago period. Ultra-deepwater revenue efficiency reduced to 95.7% from 96.7% a year ago, while harsh environment revenue efficiency came in at 99.5%, improving both sequentially and year over year. Average daily revenues increased to $472,500 from $458,600 in the year-ago quarter but decreased from $475,600 in the prior quarter. The figure beat our estimate of $443,900. Average daily revenues from ultra-deepwater floaters decreased to $455,500 from $457,200 a year ago. However, the figure beat our estimate of $446,800. The metric for harsh environment floaters increased to $510,000 from $462,400 in the prior-year quarter. The figure also beat our estimate of $437,200. Fleet utilization improved to 78.2% from 67.3% in the year-ago period. Ultra-deepwater utilization was 72.6%, while harsh environment utilization reached 94.2%. As of Aug. 5, 2026, Transocean’s total backlog was approximately $6.7 billion. Since its May 2026 fleet status report, the company added five new fixtures, representing nearly $292 million of incremental backlog at a weighted average day rate of about $461,000. The company reported costs and expenses of $812 million, which were 1.3% lower than the year-ago quarter’s level of $823 million. Additionally, depreciation and amortization costs decreased to $148 million from $175 million a year ago. The oil and gas drilling company spent $24 million on capital investments in the second quarter. Cash used in operating activities was $236 million. Cash and cash equivalents were $509 million as of June 30, 2026. Long-term debt amounted to $4.7 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 36.1% as of the same period. For the third quarter of 2026, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company expects contract drilling revenues in the range of $920-$960 million. Fleet-wide revenue efficiency is projected at 96.5%. Operating and maintenance expenses are expected to be between $595 million and $625 million, while general and administrative expenses are projected at $45 million. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The company expects $113 million in interest expense, while interest income is projected to be $5 million to $10 million. Capital expenditures are estimated at $40 million to $50 million and cash taxes paid are expected to be between $25 million and $30 million during the same period. For the full-year 2026, RIG expects contract drilling revenues to be between $3900 million and $3975 million. Operating and maintenance expenses are projected between $2325 million and $2400 million, while general and administrative expenses are anticipated in the $170-$180 million range. Capital expenditures are expected to be around $150 million, while year-end liquidity is projected between $1.25 billion and $1.35 billion. Full-year cash taxes paid are expected to range from $55 million to $60 million. While we have discussed RIG’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space. Expand Energy Corporation EXE reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.33, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $1.10 per share, fueled by strong production and lower operating expenses. Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $1.8 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 billion. The top line was also below the year-ago figure of $2 billion. As of June 30, 2026, the company had $663 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $3.7 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 16%. NOV Inc. NOV reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. The bottom line also increased 6.9% from the year-ago quarter’s 29 cents, driven by outperformance of the Energy Equipment segment. The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $39 million. However, NOV’s revenues fell 2.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.2 billion due to lower year-over-year revenues from the Energy Products and Services segment. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.3%. The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. However, the bottom line increased from the year-ago period’s level of 46 cents, driven by better-than-expected performance of its Transmission, Power & Gulf, Northeast G&P and West segments. The Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas storage and transportation company’s revenues of $3 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million. The figure increased by 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues. This can be attributed to higher service revenues and increased product sales. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $203 million and long-term debt of $28.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 64.7%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Transocean Ltd. (RIG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report NOV Inc. (NOV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Expand Energy Corporation (EXE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, Aug. 3, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Director of Investor Relations - Caroline Sardella President and Chief Executive Officer - Chad Zamarin Chief Financial Officer - John Porter Chief Operating Officer - Larry Larsen Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development - Rob Wingo Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Williams Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Mrs. Caroline Sardella, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Caroline Sardella: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us and for your interest in Williams. Yesterday afternoon, we released our earnings press release and the presentation that our President and CEO, Chad Zamarin; and our Chief Financial Officer, John Porter will speak to you this morning. Also joining us on the call today are Larry Larsen, our Chief Operating Officer; and Rob Wingo, our Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development. In our presentation materials, you'll find a disclaimer related to forward-looking statements. This disclaimer is important and integral to our remarks, so please review it. Also included in the presentation materials are non-GAAP measures that we reconciled with generally accepted accounting principles. These reconciliation schedules appear at the back of today's presentation materials. So with that, I'll turn it over to Chad. Chad Zamarin: Thanks, Caroline. This was another quarter of accomplishment for Williams with strong execution and meaningful growth across our business. I want to start by recognizing an awesome milestone for our Power Innovation business. Last week, we achieved in-service for Phase 1 of Socrates, delivering a utility scale 200 megawatts of power to our customer in under 18 months since commercialization. This is how America wins the race for the next generation of technology. A huge shout out to the Williams team and the incredible group of engineering, equipment and construction partners that have worked to make this possible. We remain on track to deliver the next phase of Socrates before year-end with many more projects to come thereafter. With the first phase of Socrates completed on time and within budget, we have proven our ability to deliver and we are well positioned to advance the commercialization and scaling of future Power Innovation projects. On Transco, we signed customer agreements for the Leidy Access and Garden Connector projects, two pipeline expansions that serve residential, commercial and power demand in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We also further upsized our Transco Power Express project, which now represents an 800 million cubic feet per day expansion of Transco to serve load growth, power demand and data center growth in Virginia. Additionally, the team commercialized an extension of Line 200, which you'll recall is the 3.1 Bcf per day transmission pipeline that Williams is building from Gillis to serve the Woodside LNG terminal. The extension of Line 200 includes a new lateral to serve growing power demand in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area and is a nice upside to the Woodside partnership. In the second quarter, we also executed on 2 strategic transactions, including a Power Innovation financing joint venture with Blackstone and the strategic acquisition of Momentum Midstream. I'll let John provide more color in a minute, but I want to highlight that our financing JV creates a flexible source of low-cost equity that will enable us to continue the rapid growth and ongoing commercialization of near-term Power Innovation projects. I want to congratulate the Williams and Blackstone teams as well as key partners, Apollo and KKR for achieving a great outcome and for supporting this exciting business. And as noted in our earnings release, we announced the highly strategic acquisition of Momentum Midstream. This bolt-on acquisition complements our Haynesville gathering and Transco Gulf Coast pipeline footprints, and strengthens our position in the most important natural gas growth basin tied to the fastest-growing and largest natural gas demand corridor. As a result of 1 financial quarter of assumed ownership of Momentum and improved performance across our base business, we are raising full year 2026 EBITDA guidance by $200 million at the midpoint and we are increasing our long-term EBITDA growth rate target to 11-plus percent compound annual growth through 2030 versus our previously announced 10-plus percent compound annual growth target. Just as important, we are preserving near-term investment capacity with forecasted leverage of 3.75x debt-to-EBITDA, which preserves our ability to execute on additional near-term power and pipeline projects. So Williams really is firing on all cylinders. I'll now turn the call over to John to talk about our Power Innovation financing JV and to provide an overview of our quarterly financial results. After John is done, I'll come back to provide additional color on the Momentum acquisition, and I'll highlight 2 exciting pipeline expansion projects that we are announcing alongside the acquisition. John? John Porter: Thanks, Chad. I'm happy to spend a moment on the Power Innovation joint venture. It's an important example of how we are enhancing shareholder value with our unique growth opportunities. I also think it's important to emphasize that as attractive as this joint venture is, we would not have done it at all if not for the expectations we have in driving substantial additional growth in our Power Innovation business. So let's talk about the value this joint venture creates. First, our high-quality Power Innovation business attracted a highly efficient source of equity capital while preserving Williams operatorship, key decision-making authority and upside participation. The joint venture provides $5.34 billion of committed capital, including $4.4 billion for 49% of the expected total growth capital expenditures plus $900 million of additional consideration to Williams. Importantly, that capital comes at an attractive capped 6.35% cost of equity, which is a very efficient way to fund these near-term Power Innovation projects without diluting the value of the platform we are building. Second, that $900 million of additional consideration significantly enhances our compelling project returns across the 5 Power Innovation projects currently underway. Lots of different ways to illustrate how this joint venture enhances our project returns but the effect on the multiple on invested capital over the primary term of the underlying contracts is pretty striking. Specifically, if you look at the ratio of the total cash flow Williams will see from these 5 projects, to the total invested capital, that ratio improves about 56% with the joint venture. And again, that is only over the primary term of the contracts and doesn't include any of the upside we expect to develop both within the primary term and well beyond. Additionally, the joint venture includes an attractive buyout option at the remaining partner investment balance beginning in 2033. And then back to where I started, the full equity treatment creates immediate balance sheet capacity for the expected continued growth in our Power Innovation business. I'll walk you through that capacity when I cover our updated '26 guidance later in the presentation. So with that, let's move now to a quick look at our second quarter financial performance. We've continued our strong start to '26, with second quarter '26 EBITDA up 6% over '25 and now up 10% year-to-date, bridging from last year's $1.8 billion to this year's $1.92 billion. Our overall financial performance continues to be led by our Transmission and Gulf businesses, which improved $56 million or about 6%. Growth in this segment was led by our Gulf businesses, which grew 23%, reflecting the combined effects of our recent Gulf expansion projects. And we also saw a 23% increase from our natural gas storage businesses and we had growth from expansion projects at Transco and MountainWest pipeline. Our Northeast G&P business grew $39 million or 8%, primarily due to growth in the rich gas areas. The West grew $18 million or about 5%, led by our Haynesville investments, including our Louisiana Energy Gateway Pipeline. Our Sequent Marketing business did a bit better than last year, although second quarters present seasonally lower opportunities for this business. And finally, our Other segment, which includes our upstream businesses was down about $14 million, primarily due to our divestiture of the upstream Haynesville assets, which closed in January of '26. So again, continuing our strong start to '26 with second quarter EBITDA up 6% over '25 and now up 10% year-to-date. Now I'll turn it back over to Chad to discuss our strategic acquisition of Momentum Midstream. Chad Zamarin: Thanks, John. Looking at Slide 6, I want to start by highlighting the importance of the Haynesville basin as it will be the single most important U.S. supply basin in answering the near-term call for natural gas especially in order to supply the growth of LNG exports along our Gulf Coast Transco footprint. Over the next decade, the Haynesville is expected to grow by over 10 Bcf per day, and LNG exports are expected to double from where they are today. The combined Williams and Momentum assets will form the backbone that connects our country's fastest-growing supply basin with our fastest-growing demand corridor. With this combination, we solidify our position as the largest gatherer of Haynesville gas connected to Transco, the largest gas transmission pipeline system along the Gulf Coast corridor coupled with our leading Gulf Coast natural gas storage system and our relationship with every LNG export facility along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, including our partnership with Woodside LNG, Williams provides the most integrated set of capabilities to connect U.S. natural gas supply to premium, domestic and international markets. You can see on Slide 7 that the Momentum acquisition significantly expands our East Texas and Louisiana footprint into areas that are rapidly emerging as the next horizon of U.S. natural gas supply growth. The Momentum footprint extends our reach into the rapidly growing Shelby Trough in Western Haynesville, where we see incredibly deep upstream inventory, a strong foundation of high-quality dedicated customers and a large opportunity for new customer growth. We add to our Haynesville footprint roughly 6 Bcf per day of gathering capacity and over 4 Bcf per day of take-or-pay pipeline capacity. With a balanced mix of gathering and take-or-pay earnings that fits squarely within the fairway of our existing core business mix, the $5.5 billion acquisition is being funded by $3.5 billion in cash and debt and $2 billion of equity. We are forecasting an accretive transaction at an attractive acquisition multiple of approximately 8.5x, which we expect will quickly compress over time as both growth and synergies are realized. The combination of Williams and Momentum is exciting for the existing assets we bring together and even more exciting for the new opportunities that we unlock to even better serve customers along the Gulf Coast. So alongside the acquisition, we are announcing 2 strategic expansion projects. The first project, Shelby Connector, is a large diameter pipeline expansion from the footprint of the Momentum gathering system connecting into the Williams Louisiana Energy Gateway or LEG system. And the second project, Delta Access, is a large-scale transmission project from the combined Momentum and Williams systems to LNG and power customers along the Transco corridor. On Slide 8, we highlight the strategic expansion projects. The Shelby Connector represents an expansion of our LEG system to reach into the footprint of the Momentum system with initial customer committed capacity of up to 750 million cubic feet per day, with an expected in-service date in the first half of 2028. We have the potential to further expand the Shelby Connector by doubling the pipeline capacity to up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day. This project connects the Shelby Trough, which is expected to be one of the most rapid growth areas for natural gas supply over the next decade through our LEG system and into Transco at Gillis, Louisiana. And from Gillis, we are adding the Delta Access pipeline project, a fully contracted transmission pipeline along the Transco corridor with initial capacity of 2.25 Bcf per day, and an in-service date of early 2029. Delta Access is expandable to up to 3.5 Bcf per day and is underpinned by capacity commitments from customers representing both LNG and power demand along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. So to recap, the Momentum acquisition is an accretive bolt-on transaction at an attractive multiple that will compress over time due to attractive growth and highly strategic synergies. And the combined Williams and Momentum platform will serve as a springboard for high-return expansion projects in the most important Gulf Coast supply basin as well as along the Transco pipeline and Gulf Coast natural gas storage corridor. Before we close, I'll pass it back to John to discuss our enhanced growth outlook. John Porter: Thanks, Chad. Our strong first half financial performance and execution on the Socrates project gives us confidence in updating the full year outlook. For full year '26 adjusted EBITDA, our existing businesses continue tracking toward the upper half of the guidance framework we discussed earlier in the year. On top of that, the accretive Momentum acquisition adds incremental EBITDA, taking the full year outlook to $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion. We've also provided revised guidance for EPS and AFFO, reflecting the effects of the Power Innovation JV and accretion from the Momentum transaction. On leverage, we expect year-end leverage to be around 3.9x, but importantly, that only includes an assumed 3 months of contributions from Momentum. On a full year run rate basis, leverage would be around 3.75x. So that's really the right way to think about the amount of additional capacity we now have to add additional Power Innovation projects through the remainder of the year. 3.75x leverage opens up in excess of another $2 billion of incremental capacity versus our internal 4x leverage ceiling. And that's without considering bringing in any partners on future power innovation opportunities, which will remain an attractive and relatively easy thing to do. Most importantly, though, as we previously discussed, the balance sheet leverage tightness is primarily an issue for '26 and '27 before the historic earnings growth we expect in '28 and beyond. Finally, we've also updated our growth CapEx guidance primarily to reflect initial spending on the projects that we announced today. Overall, we're encouraged by the performance of our base business and excited about the Momentum acquisition, the ongoing strong execution across our project portfolio, and the continued commercialization of new business, and we feel well positioned with our flexibility to fund additional Power Innovation opportunities in the near term. Turning now to our latest thoughts on progress toward our long-term growth targets that we presented back in February. As you'll recall, our initial announcement in February was a 10%-plus CAGR for EBITDA and EPS for 2025 through 2030. And at that time, we said our current book of contracted business supported around an 8% CAGR estimate. And then in May, we announced additional projects that moved the 8% up to about 9%. And now after layering in the Momentum transaction as well as the other projects we've announced today, we feel confident in moving our target up to 11% plus. Additionally, our long-range plan assumes continued strong project execution on our current backlog of projects, plus winning new opportunities and driving more value out of the legacy business, which leaves us well positioned to exceed this new target. So stay tuned. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Chad. Chad Zamarin: Thanks, John. I want to again congratulate and thank the Williams team for another outstanding quarter of execution, and I want to warmly welcome the Momentum Midstream team to the Williams family. This is actually the second time we have partnered with the team at Momentum. As we worked together more than a decade ago to build and grow key assets that became the bedrock of what is now a major portion of our Northeast Marcellus and Utica system. I want to personally thank Frank Tsuru, Brant Baird, Bill Pritchard and the entire Momentum team for building things the right way and for developing critical infrastructure that will endure and serve our country for generations to come. Bringing together great talent and strategic infrastructure is how we serve the world's growing energy needs. Fueling LNG exports to friends and allies around the world, enabling the resurgence of American industrial expansion, empowering homes, businesses and the AI revolution across our great nation. Of course, none of our progress happens without the dedication of our people and the strength of our partnerships. Thank you to our employees, our customers, our partners and our investors for your continued trust in Williams. And with that, we'll now open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Praneeth Satish of Wells Fargo. Praneeth Satish: Maybe John, going back to your comments. So the EBITDA CAGR here was increased to 11% from 10% 5-year EBITDA CAGR. I guess if we just simply layer in EBITDA from Momentum and Delta Express (sic) [ Delta Access, ] I mean, it seems like on our math, those projects alone would add 200 basis points to the CAGR, take it up to 12%. So I'm just -- is that 11% target incorporating a degree of conservatism? Or are there other kind of headwinds, puts and takes to consider in the forecast? John Porter: Thanks, Praneeth. Thanks for the question. Yes, I mean, like I said in my comments, we do feel well positioned to exceed 11%. And so like I said in February, plus is plus. But just to give a little more color to that, I mean, again, this 11% plus -- the 11% that we're discussing really serves as an update to the 8% we gave back in February and the 9% we gave in May. And specifically, we're really talking about a number here that continues to be centered on our existing contracted book of business. And so we're excluding the commercialization of any additional power or pipes projects, which you're aware of the extensive backlog we've got in both the power side and the pipes projects. And I would say we also do continue to have a degree of conservatism across a pretty broad swath of all of the other parts of the business that we're working on as well, including the Northeast, which is over $2 billion of EBITDA today. And we're continuing to be pretty conservative in terms of how we're modeling the growth in some of those areas. Praneeth Satish: Got it. And then maybe switching gears to the Momentum. So I guess beyond the organic projects that you've identified, Delta Access, are there specific operating or cost synergies that you expect to get from Momentum? And if so, can you help quantify those? And then just as a point of clarification on the deal, the 8.5x acquisition multiple, is that multiple calculated based on Momentum's consolidated EBITDA? Or is it based on Williams' net share after reflecting -- 35% interest? Chad Zamarin: Yes. Thanks, Praneeth. This is Chad. First off, I'd say we're not going to quantify yet what those synergies will be. But I think if you look at the footprint and the overlap between the 2 companies, there will absolutely be operational synergies. But I think even more importantly, I mean we're talking about what is expected to be the most important growth area for our country in serving the more than doubling of LNG demand that we're going to see. I mean, we're at about 18 Bcf a day of LNG export capacity today. I mean, forecast models are showing that going above 40 [ Bcf in next ] 10 years. And so the Haynesville is going to have to respond. And the other thing that I think is important to know about the Haynesville is that it's been producing a lot of gas out of what has been the traditional core area. So we see the inventory moving West. And so we expect this integrated footprint to be really in the heart of what's going to be called upon for growth. So you will see operational synergies, but we also expect to see significant growth, both from existing dedicated customers, but also from new projects that we will launch. And that, I think, helps support the acquisition multiple. You're right. The multiple is based on consolidated EBITDA. There are some noncontrolling interest. You mentioned there is the primary noncontrolling interest, which is the joint venture structure of NG3. But even with the net effect of that, it's still approximately a 9x multiple, the way we're looking at next year's expected performance. And again, we expect that to compress over time as this asset continues to grow within the business. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jeremy Tonet of JPMorgan Securities LLC. Jeremy Tonet: I was just wondering if you could talk, I guess, a bit more on the behind-the-meter backlog as far as how you see the opportunity set at this point in how deals might materialize? And curious, I guess, if you're dealing with one hyperscaler, is it possible to do deals with a different hyperscaler? Are you in conversations with others of similar size or each hyperscaler picking their own solution provider here? Chad Zamarin: Yes. Thanks, Jeremy. I would say we've continued to see strengthening of the commercial interest in our projects and what we can provide, I think, further supported by Socrates coming online on time, within budget. Again, a huge shout out to that team. And the large number of partners that are supporting us in these projects. I think as we've continued to see the challenge of delivering grid capacity, the concerns about how we develop this really important infrastructure. I think our solution of bringing very tailored infrastructure to data center projects is just gaining additional momentum. So we do have conversations ongoing with multiple different counterparties. We expect to commercialize additional projects between now and the end of the year. I will say, I know everyone is excited about and looking forward to the next announcement, but the team is also doing a really good job of pacing the commercialization of projects so that we can maintain this steady growth throughout the end of the decade and beyond. And so Socrates is a great example. Those crews that just delivered that project are moving on to the next site and we'll be ramping up even further the work. And so a lot of, I'd say, responding to the commercial momentum, but also being deliberate about making sure we can phase in projects the right way. And so I'd say, again, stay tuned, but our backlog continues to be strong, and it is supported by multiple customers beyond just our first primary customer. Jeremy Tonet: Got it. And just to confirm, I guess, with -- doing business with 1 major hyperscaler, you don't think precludes your commercial negotiations with signing up another major hyperscaler. Chad Zamarin: No. Look, we're a big company. I mean, we want to provide energy infrastructure solutions for every business in America. And I think that we know how to do that. We want to support the utility and the growth of our grid. We want to support data centers and technology companies getting access to energy, so that we, as a country, can win the race for the next generation of technology. And so no, we do not see the discussions that we're having with customers as something that needs to be exclusive to any one or the other. Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That's very helpful. And if I could -- just as far as the Transco [indiscernible] I was just wondering if you can give us a flavor, I guess, of what you're seeing as far as more kind of your laterals still being potential here? Or do you think that's kind of played out more [indiscernible] smaller parts. Just trying to think of the larger projects that -- like the ones you announced today, how much inventory... Chad Zamarin: Sorry, Jeremy, you were breaking up on us there. Can you repeat that? Jeremy Tonet: Yes, just the potential for large Transco projects coming to fruition like what we saw... Larry Larsen: Yes. Thanks, Jeremy. This is Larry Larsen. Just -- yes, I mean, we continue to have great discussions with our customers across the Transco footprint. We, obviously, are doing a great job executing on the projects we have right now with Southeast Supply Enhancement progressing forward. You saw the upsizing of Power Express. And so yes, there's tremendous opportunity. If you think about the backlog that we talked about at Analyst Day, I've highlighted previously that a lot of those projects that we've been working on in the backlog are Transco-related. I think the Delta Access is a great first step on a large-scale project in the Gulf region, but we're continuing to look at additional demand response across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. And so we're continuing to work those. It's just a matter of pacing with our utility customers as they look at kind of firming up their demand and timing of projects. So hopefully, we'll continue to see things in the backlog commercialize at a pace that seems reasonable. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Spiro Dounis of Citi. Spiro Dounis: I want to start with Power Innovation, I guess as we think about this next wave of projects that you guys see coming, just curious a high level, if you can walk us through maybe what those -- what might look the same or different from the first wave, specifically, just thinking about new geographic locations, maybe longer contract tenors. It sounds like we can see some new customers show up. And Chad, you mentioned pacing these projects, so trying to get a sense of your plan to recycle the capital to the next project. You've announced $9.6 billion or so in the last 18 months. So is it crazy to think you could allocate most of that $5 billion or so over the next 12 months? Chad Zamarin: Yes, Spiro, thanks. A great question. And I think you're thinking about it the right way. I mean -- and again, credit to John and the entire team, Blackstone and our partners there. I mean, the JV is, I think, a great tool that allows us to preserve our capacity, but also to recycle that capital into the next round of projects. We do see those continuing to evolve. I think that our first 5 projects are a great example of achieving speed. And they have scale. I mean these are big projects, certainly relative to what we used to think about a large power project but they're primarily focused on scale and flexibility, and we are seeing projects evolve to having both that element of speed looking like our first 5 projects on the front end, but also layering in over time, scale and even hybrid projects that would include how we better optimize and frankly, support grid expansion as well. And so I think you will continue to see projects and we've demonstrated our ability to get projects up and running fast, but also I think we've got the ability to then further scale projects over time. And so you will see, I think some of our projects have that phased approach to scaling over time. Geography, we continue to focus on areas where you have, I think, supportive places to get things built. And so we continue to guide to our footprint, but, also, you think about we're building in Ohio, Utah, but certainly, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, our entire footprint, I think, but also think about the states where things are getting built more easily than in other parts of the country will continue to be our focus. And so I'd say that's been our primary model there. As far as pacing, you kind of mentioned it, I mean, I would say, again, stay tuned. We do expect additional commercialization of projects between now and the end of the year. And I think we'll demonstrate pretty quickly that we will -- with our partnership with Blackstone, we will put those resources to work on very attractive projects. And I do think the term for those projects as we continue to validate the model of both bringing your own power, having islanded behind-the-meter, but also evolving over time to be a more optimized and tailored power solution, you will continue to see contract terms extending duration as I think we recognize these are going to become integral infrastructure solutions for our entire ecosystem. Spiro Dounis: Got it. It's good to hear, Chad. Second one, maybe sticking on this theme but focusing more on Socrates. Can you just maybe give us a sense of how that start-up process went and how it's going so far? And I ask in the context of all this being somewhat novel to us and the investor base and really trying to see the proof of concept here. So curious, is it operating, ramping as expected? And is there an ability to maybe apply the learnings on Socrates forward on these remaining start-ups and maybe even accelerate those time lines? Larry Larsen: Yes. Thanks for the question. This is Larry. I'll hit on it. And again, as Chad said, major kudos to our team and the way they worked closely with our customer through commissioning as well as all of our equipment manufacturers and contractors. And the commissioning has gone extremely well. We did a lot of load testing prior to actual start-up to facilitate to make sure that we actually could see the AI load following actually the work the way it was intended to. So those tests went really smoothly. We've made adjustments as we needed to, as you always do through commissioning and start-up. And as of this week, we're delivering first power to the facility and expect to see that ramp up over the course of the month. And so far, so good. So excited to see that ramp up to full capacity in the near term. But yes, the teams are constantly taking learnings from these first projects, both on design and efficiencies on how we commission and approach that. I'm not sure it's going to really translate directly into kind of earlier in services at this point on the projects. Right now, all of our other projects, Aquila and Apollo and others, they're all trending on schedule and on budget right now, similar to Socrates. So yes, I think we'll always take those lessons learned into the next project and hopefully make it even that much more efficient. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Ameet Thakkar of BMO Capital Markets. Ameet Thakkar: Congrats on all the progress and the updates today. I appreciate it. I was just going to maybe turn back to kind of the Woodside LNG kind of transaction and Line 200 now kind of with Momentum. I was just kind of thinking like how much of that -- of Line 200 capacity do you think you'll kind of be able to source from Transco LEG and now Momentum? Chad Zamarin: Yes. So Line 200 obviously originates from Gillis. And you're hearing a lot about Gillis, I mean, it is an important supply point. Both the NG3 pipeline that Momentum had built and is operating and our LEG system deliver into the Gillis area. There are several other pipelines that deliver and the largest, most important trunk line system running across from west to east in that corridor is the Transco system. And so those pipes connect into Transco at Gillis and that is the supply source for a lot of different customers, including -- we mentioned the Delta Access project is going to take off and move east across Louisiana, serve power plants along the way, even serve LNG further east across Louisiana and even power demand in the Mississippi River corridor. And so it truly is an expansion of that entire artery and thoroughfare across Louisiana. And then Line 200 as it takes off. I mean, obviously, the Haynesville is going to be the primary supply point for that area, which is again why we think the growth both in our traditional footprint, but in the Momentum footprint is going to be really important for serving all of that Gillis supply pull that's going to happen from those demand customers, but also we'll be sourcing the lowest cost, most abundant supply for Line 200 and Woodside. The project from a take-or-pay perspective is fully subscribed. So now it's just a matter of making sure we can find the lowest cost supply to support the LNG customers and our partner there. And so that will be the focus. The lateral, and Larry can give a little more color, that's an expansion off of Line 200, where the team was able to basically free up additional capacity and build a lateral to a power load along the way. I don't know, Larry, if there's anything else you want to share about that. Larry Larsen: Yes, I can add. I mean it's basically a 7-mile extension going right into Lake Charles to serve incremental power demand in the corridor. So I mean it's a really great success story. If you think about Line 200, it's really anchored around the Louisiana LNG. And it's just the importance of having this infrastructure as we're seeing growth across Louisiana, both from power and industrial loads that's going to create more opportunities for us. And so great job by the commercial teams identifying this opportunity and continue to upsize and find ways to invest further in these facilities going forward. Ameet Thakkar: And if I could just ask one quick housekeeping question on the Power Innovation JV. I know like when you announced this, and again, on Slide 35, you kind of indicated that $5.34 billion supports 59% of the expected JV project capital. How do I -- I think that implies something closer to $9 billion. How do I reconcile that with the $9.6 billion? I think, on Slide 30, I know certain items like capitalized interest rate is excluded, but that seemed like a pretty big delta for just capitalized interest. If you could just help us bridge that, that would be helpful. John Porter: Yes. I think capitalized interest is the biggest component of that. So a noncash from the standpoint of the partnership. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of John MacKay of Goldman Sachs. John Mackay: You touched a little bit on this, but I just wanted to run through again. So in terms of funding the next set of BTM projects, John, wondering if you could kind of walk us to the $2 billion you framed up. And then more broadly for incremental funding options, can we think about the existing JV with Blackstone being expanded, so more kind of assets being brought into it? Could the next ones be a different structure? Maybe just walk us through some of the options. John Porter: Yes. Thanks for the question, John. Yes, so the -- I said in my comments that we feel like we've got in excess of $2 billion available now to fund near-term Power Innovation projects between now and the end of the year. And that's really working off the 3.75x leverage number that we cited in the presentation, which does normalize the Momentum contribution across the full year versus just, call it, roughly 3 months of Momentum that we would expect in sort of our base case forecast getting through HSR and closing and having basically about 3 months of contribution in '26 gets you to the 3.9x roughly at year-end. But again, we're focused more on a normalized full year Momentum leverage number of 3.75x. And so really, it's just the math between 3.75x and the 4x, which is sort of our -- as we've discussed before, is sort of our internal ceiling around leverage, 4x -- 3.5x to 4x is the range that we're working within. 4x is not a hard and fast number. We've -- at times, we've talked about ticking over it, maybe a little bit for a short period of time. So that's always an option. We could always look at the potential to run things a little bit hotter. But in general, and as we've said before, this leverage issue is really just a '26 and '27 issue. I think relative to the JV, Chad mentioned it, it's a fantastic platform. We spent a lot of time really investing this year in a very competitive process where we really canvassed all of the potential parties and worked very hard to stand up the diligence around the business. And I think we invested a lot in that process that will be transferable and make things much more efficient if we do want to bring in partners in the future. And so I think we'll be able to run a process in a much, much faster time frame and get to the similar kind of attractive results. I think in general, though, it's probable in my mind that each one of these deals could perhaps be a unique separate partnership just because I think each partnership sort of has to price the opportunity in a somewhat unique manner. That being said, we're -- as Chad mentioned, we love the partnership we formed now with Blackstone, with KKR, with Apollo. There were others at the table too who were very close. And so we feel like we've got real depth in this market, tremendous depth in this market. And if that is something we want to do, I think we will be able to do it quickly. And I think we'll be able to continue to achieve very, very positive results. And as I mentioned in my comments, I mean, this structure is really enhancing the returns on these projects. So I think it will continue to be a pretty attractive option if that's the way we want to go. Chad Zamarin: Yes. And John, maybe I'll just mention that the $2 billion that you're referencing is through year-end, call it, '26 and '27, as earnings continue to grow, we open up additional capacity. Again, we've got a lot of -- a pretty healthy backlog. And so we may use that capacity and then evaluate whether or not additional joint venturing makes sense. But then you also pointed out, come 2028, a lot of growth kicks in. And so we're kind of solving right now for what's been commercialized, what we see in the very immediate near term with the scale of the first power JV. John Mackay: Really clear. Second one for me, I just wanted to ask on Delta Access. It's a big project. I guess my questions are, is this coming as part of Momentum. So maybe this was kind of originated on their side and you're picking it up. Maybe you can just walk through that and what you'd expect in terms of return profile. Chad Zamarin: Yes. Thanks, John. Yes. But I would say this has been an area where we've been actively engaging with the counterparties in this area, both from the power and the LNG side. And so we've been working the market for some time. We, obviously, have known the Momentum team a long time. I mentioned in my prepared remarks. We've got a great relationship there. But yes, that team did a great job of commercializing the project and in a way where it just fits really well within the combined platform, but also with what we can do to support customers along the Transco footprint. And so we're really excited about that coming together and actually creating an even better solution that either of us could have done on our own for the customers in Louisiana. And so I think a lot of positive on that front. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jason Gabelman of TD Cowen. Jason Gabelman: I wanted to pick up on the Momentum deal, if I could. I know you referenced the kind of 9x multiple, but it does seem like we should be looking at the acquisition net of the LEG connector and then the Delta expansion project. So I'm wondering if you could provide kind of an EBITDA multiple on that entire suite of opportunity that you're now gaining as a result of the deal? Chad Zamarin: Yes. So to be clear, the multiple we've been speaking to does not include -- that's a current run rate multiple. So that does not include any consideration of the future growth that you would see from the Shelby Connector, Delta Access, any additional growth within the platform. And I'd say that -- and sorry, John Mackay had asked the question, the investments fit squarely within our targeted build multiple range. And so you will see over time that we continue to have high-return, attractive investment projects that will further compress the multiple over time. The gathering expansions will be very high return because it's such a large existing platform. So you'll see high-return gathering expansion projects, but then you'll also see this as a springboard for pipeline projects that, again, we're focused on return on invested capital. So our projects are going to fit within that attractive build multiple that we've been targeting and that will further compress the multiple over time. So I'd say for now, you see the acquisition multiple as the current kind of run rate multiple. And then you'll continue to see that compress over time as you see the projects and growth kick in. Jason Gabelman: My follow-up is on kind of broader Transco opportunities and it was touched on in a prior question. But as I reflect on kind of this Transco expansion and then the one you announced last year, they were both a result of some M&A. And so it leads to the natural question of do you see kind of large-scale organic Transco opportunities that are still available within your backlog? Or do you need these kind of outside deals to unlock some of that attractive growth? Larry Larsen: Yes, this is Larry. I'll take that. And yes, definitely, we see organic opportunities on Transco. We're continuing to have those discussions. I mentioned earlier. It doesn't require M&A transaction to help facilitate those. The deals that we've done with SESE and Power Express, those are all organic opportunities. And as I mentioned in the comments before, we continue to have great discussions with our core customers, a lot of it is driven by power demand along the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. And a lot of that's just around timing and scale of what they plan on building out the time line of it. And so most of the larger projects we're talking about are more in the 2030-plus time frame. And so trying to line-out the regulatory certainty and timing for that is what's taking a little bit of time right now, but don't see any other requirements besides just continuing to engage with our customers and put together projects that makes sense. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith of Jefferies. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: I appreciate it. Maybe a first easy one here, if I can. How are you thinking about the lockup here on the shares here being issued as part of the transaction? Robert Wingo: Yes, this is Rob Wingo. I'll take that. I mean instead of a traditional lockup, we'll be releasing the shares over a 180-day period. And then once those shares are released, we'll have a trading restriction that basically will limit their trading to a small percentage of our average daily trading volume. So we really don't see any negative pressure on the shares as a result of this transaction. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Awesome. All right. Excellent. And then secondly, if I can, just when you think about the Power Innovation, I know you've said this perhaps a little bit, but to hit it more squarely here. You've effectively equity-financed the transaction in front of you here. The proceeds from the latest financing a few weeks ago, how should we think about the timeliness of putting that back into the Power Innovation opportunity and/or, frankly -- I know you've delineated some opportunities right in front of you that you're FID-ing here today, separate and apart from the transaction. But basically, the timeliness of the Power Innovation and the scope and size of what's possible here. It seems like the opportunity is accelerating. You guys are preemptively deleveraging. It would seem as that this is an interesting signaling about the cadence of the opportunity ahead. Chad Zamarin: Yes. Thanks, Julien. I'll start and then let John provide any color. Look, I think we're trying to guide, and in his comments and in mine, I mean, you kind of see what capacity we have between now and the end of the year. I mean, we're down to 6 months remaining, even less than that, I guess, now 5 months remaining in the year. So that's a pretty significant amount of capacity that we have to keep projects -- new projects moving along that haven't yet been announced and commercialized. And then you can think about the remainder of as proceeds supporting, we talked about 2027 also being a bit of a high watermark from a capital perspective relative to earnings before the growth really kicks in, in '28. Now there's always the potential for an even more bullish case, but I think we're going to remain -- as John mentioned, I mean, he and the team have set up a construct here that, if needed, we can go back to and I think further upsize. And so we feel really good about being right in the middle of the fairway on the pace that we think we can confidently achieve. And if we need to do more. We've got a solution that allows us to do more. John, anything you want to add? John Porter: Not much. I mean, we've been working to make sure that we've got a financing plan that can keep pace with what we're seeing in terms of the opportunity set, which is pretty amazing and pretty tremendous. And so based on the things we've done so far this year, I feel like we're situated very well. If we do land some of the bigger opportunities, which, again, as I mentioned back in February, are pretty enormous. And the minute we sign up those PPAs we've got to load up the capital for the equipment that will be assigned to those PPAs. And so I feel really good about the amount of capacity that we have right now relative to the -- coming to the end of the year and some of the initial capital we can see on some of those bigger opportunities. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Got it. Small nuance here. Any ability to actually accelerate the time lines on some of the stuff, especially with Meta using modularity here? I mean -- and/or just even upsize some of these sites even more so, the existing sites you've announced? Chad Zamarin: Yes. Look, I think Larry said it well. I mean, we are absolutely going to optimize every next project based on the learnings that we have from the prior projects. But I would say, generally, we are tailoring our projects to meet the equipment delivery schedules as well as the customer. They've got a lot of their own equipment and facility construction to accomplish. And so we're always going to look to be ahead of schedule, but we're also going to want to make sure that we shape the investment and the delivery just to be as optimal as possible. And so look, I think delivering a utility-scale power plant really well under 18 months. I mean, from the time that we were handed over the property from our customer. It was actually closer to 14 months that we delivered a utility-scale power plant. And so I joke, but I tell the team, I'm a kid of the '90s, not since Bruce Willis flew with a group of upstream drillers onto an asteroid and drilled a nuclear bomb into the asteroid to save the planet have we seen that kind of execution. So I think we'll continue to see incredible execution, but we're also going to make sure we deliver quality and we can deliver it every time. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Gabe Daoud of Truist. Gabe Daoud: I was hoping maybe, I guess another question around pace of your BTM efforts. As Socrates enters service this year, sounds like maybe another project will be commercialized. So will bring you back to running 5 at once. Is there anything that we should be thinking about that would also impact your ability to accelerate and run or execute more than 5 projects at once? I know the capital recyclability on these is pretty quick. But is there any additional equipment shortages that we should be thinking about or maybe even anything on the talent side that would impact your ability to execute more than 5 projects at once? Larry Larsen: Yes. Great question. This is Larry. I mean, as we've highlighted before, at the end of the day, we want to make sure we're able to deliver projects to meet our customers' needs and the high quality that we're able to do and make sure we meet both budget and schedule. And so as we look at the next wave of projects, we're going to continue to keep that in mind as we think about the capacity that our team has. And it's not only just the turbines. We've highlighted that we've locked up the turbines to be able to support our backlog, but it's the rest of the balance of plant. And our team has done an amazing job being able to put all those pieces together. So it's not really necessarily a pace, but it's some of the timing of when that equipment comes in, it's really going to be setting some of the pace as we think about commercialization of these projects. I think you'll see that kind of evenly spread out over the remainder of the -- kind of this decade. Chad Zamarin: Yes, I would say we are scaling up. So Larry, and the entire team, I mean, we've been adding talent and scaling up the capability to deliver, John mentioned, even larger projects. I mean, the Power Innovation team was formally started about 2 years ago. We've been working on scaling up in anticipation of a larger growth cycle now for several years, but that's really been accelerating over the last 6 to 12 months. And so yes, our capacity to do more will increase, frankly, if you think about the power of the platform that we've built, the expanding capacity that we have especially as we get through this next 2-year cycle, we're going to have a lot more capacity to invest. And so we are preparing the organization to be able to appropriately speed up, not run faster than we're ready to. But yes, we are scaling up through this process. Gabe Daoud: Got it. Got it. Okay. That's very clear and helpful. And then I guess the follow-up would be clearly bullish on Haynesville supply through the decade and I guess, maybe even beyond. Curious if we could just get some updated thoughts around your Appalachia G&P business. So smaller E&Ps have indicated near term, looking to potentially grow in '27 and '28. But just curious maybe if we can get an update on what you're seeing on the ground there. Larry Larsen: Yes. We're continuing to see some players move into the space and pick up leases. And I think we're excited to see the activity level. I think as John mentioned in his comments, as we look at our outlook, we've been somewhat conservative on our growth for the Northeast, but we're seeing a lot of demand in and around each -- the region that's going to help support pricing and activity. And so I think there's definitely some potential for upside on that front. But for the near term, we've been fairly conservative on just total growth in the G&P space. And although we've seen this last quarter, we've seen a little bit of outperformance in volumes in some of our rich volumes -- rich gas areas. And so I think there's more upside potential than what we have out there right now, but we've been somewhat conservative right now. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Robert Catellier of CIBC Capital Markets. Robert Catellier: I just wanted to go back to Momentum Midstream again for a sec here. You gave a pretty good picture of the opportunity that's there. I wondered if you could summarize that into what we could expect as an EBITDA CAGR for Momentum specifically? And what level of basin production growth do you think you need to see to support that outlook? Chad Zamarin: Yes. Thanks, Robert. I mean, look, what I would say is think about us as very focused on the long-term growth rate that we've targeted as, frankly, a floor. And so you can expect us to be bringing in opportunities that would at least meet or exceed the growth rate of our target growth rate. Otherwise, it would be dilutive to growth. And so we're not, I think, going to give precision today on what that CAGR is, but I can tell you that it is additive to our growth rate through the end of the decade, and that's what we're going to be focused on is making sure that we can deliver that long-term growth. Robert Catellier: Yes, that was the point of the question. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't dilutive to your long-term growth rate. So second question for me then. You've had a number of transactions here with the JV funding for power and innovations and obviously putting more capital to work in the midstream and pipeline. So how are you looking at balance between your various business segments through the end of the decade in that -- the forecast horizon you provided? Where do we end up with the power business roughly as a percentage of the total with what you know today? Chad Zamarin: Yes. I think John showed some of this during our Analyst Day. But I've talked about -- think about the next 5, frankly, 10 years being the decade of pipe and power. And so we expect to continue to see just the need to both catch up and keep up from a pipeline and a power infrastructure perspective in our country. And so you think about our business today is about half-and-half pipe and gathering and processing. Gathering and processing will be really important, we'll have to respond to this growth in demand, but the big infrastructure build-out that's going to be required is going to be the pipe and power side of the business. And so you can think about through the end of the decade and beyond, us continuing to grow pipeline business at a very healthy clip. The power business emerging and growing alongside it has a relative overall share. Gathering and processing will shrink. It won't shrink on an absolute basis, but just relative to those other 2 faster growth areas. I think, John, at some point, will probably update that forecast to give a little more clarity. But if you go back to what we showed at Analyst Day, I think, it kind of showed how we changed and frankly improve the business mix over time, both from a mix of business, but also if you think about the counterparty to credit, what we're going to look like is going to be, I think, a well-balanced business as we move forward. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Manav Gupta of UBS. Manav Gupta: This is Manav. I just quickly wanted to understand the guidance was raised for 2026, which is very positive. What could drive you towards the top end of that $8.5 billion guidance versus the midpoint or the lower end, if you could help us with that? John Porter: Yes. Thanks, Manav, for the question, our 2026 guidance and the range that we have out there. Yes, it's still early August, and there's still quite a few things to play out for the year. So those are some of the reasons why we try to stay, I'd say, fairly conservative. Still, at this point during the year, we always talk about things that can come along that can impact our business, for one, hurricane season, which is early on here in -- and then we are continuing to see pretty weak gas prices through the summer months. And so just continuing to be a little bit cautious about optimism. But I think some of the things that could be impactful would be what kind of hurricane season we have, what happens to prices here as we move into winter and overall levels of rig activity, things like Sequent, obviously, occasionally can have pretty fantastic early winter results but not something we count on when we do these guidance updates. And again, all of the project stuff is progressing well. The second phase of Socrates progressing well. So we're assuming that, that comes online on time. And some of the early in-service payments will be amortized, although those are pretty substantial cash payments, they are amortized over the duration of the contract. So they don't have as big of a blip in the year of in service. Manav Gupta: Perfect. My quick second follow-up is, you have, I think, 5 transmission projects coming up in 2027. Could we get an update on some of the progress over there? And the 2 ones I'm particularly interested are the Southeast Supply Enhancement and the Northeast Supply Enhancement, if we could get an update over there? Larry Larsen: Yes, Manav, this is Larry. Thanks for the question. Yes, the projects in -- going through '27 are progressing really well. We've got Southeast Supply Enhancement that is under construction. We still believe we'll have some early in-service for the pipeline segment of that, that could start beginning of the year in '27 and then full in-service still targeting for third quarter. NESE, we've got some of the construction initial stuff kicking up, but the real meat of that kicking off at the end of this year as we go into some of the compression. And then the offshore build would be mostly in 2027. So that project is trending on time and on budget. So yes, I think all the projects right now seem to be doing a great job. Our team is managing through a lot of activity right now. We've navigated some rainier weather on the East Coast that's definitely caused some challenges for the teams as they're starting to build through the pipeline construction, but they've done it really well and don't see any impacts at this point. Operator: This concludes the Q&A portion of our call. I will now turn it over to President and CEO, Chad Zamarin, for closing remarks. Chad Zamarin: Great. Well, thank you again for joining us and for the robust Q&A. We truly appreciate your interest in Williams, and we look forward to speaking with you soon. Thanks and have a great day. Operator: Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. 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This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Williams (WMB) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in Williams Companies, Inc. (The)? Here are five stocks we like better. Strong Q2 performance: Williams’ second-quarter EBITDA rose 6% year over year to $1.92 billion, prompting the company to raise full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $8.3 billion–$8.5 billion. Power growth accelerates: Phase 1 of the Socrates Power Innovation project entered service, delivering 200 megawatts, while a Blackstone joint venture provides $5.34 billion in committed capital to expand behind-the-meter power projects for data centers and other customers. Haynesville expansion: The $5.5 billion Momentum Midstream acquisition adds major gathering and pipeline capacity, while the Shelby Connector and Delta Access projects support future growth. Williams also raised its long-term EBITDA growth target to more than 11% annually through 2030. Oil Could Dip, But These 3 Energy Stocks Still Look Built to Win Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) reported higher second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as growth in its transmission, Gulf Coast, Northeast gathering and processing, and Haynesville-related businesses offset a decline in its upstream segment. Second-quarter 2026 EBITDA rose 6% year over year to $1.92 billion from $1.8 billion, Chief Financial Officer John Porter said. Year-to-date EBITDA was up 10%. The company also raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion, reflecting stronger base-business performance and the expected contribution from its acquisition of Momentum Midstream. → No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings MarketBeat Week in Review – 05/04 - 05/08 President and Chief Executive Officer Chad Zamarin said Williams placed Phase 1 of its Socrates Power Innovation project into service last week, delivering 200 megawatts of utility-scale power to a customer. The phase was completed on time and within budget in less than 18 months from commercialization, according to Zamarin. Williams expects to deliver the next Socrates phase before year-end. Chief Operating Officer Larry Larsen said the first phase’s commissioning and load testing proceeded smoothly, with the facility delivering initial power and expected to ramp toward full capacity during the month. → MarketBeat Week in Review – 08/03 - 08/07 How Williams Companies Is Cashing in on the AI Power Boom The company is using Socrates as a proof point for its behind-the-meter power strategy, which is aimed at serving data-center and other power demand. Zamarin said Williams remains in discussions with multiple customers and expects to commercialize additional Power Innovation projects before the end of 2026. Management said its future projects could incorporate a combination of rapid deployment, greater scale and hybrid structures designed to support grid expansion. Williams is focusing on locations within its footprint and in areas where infrastructure development can be advanced more readily, Zamarin said. → Why the Landlord of the AI Boom Could Outlast the Chipmakers Williams established a Power Innovation financing joint venture with Blackstone that provides $5.34 billion of committed capital. The arrangement includes $4.4 billion for 49% of expected total growth capital expenditures and more than $900 million of additional consideration to Williams, Porter said. Porter said the capital carries a capped 6.35% cost of equity while allowing Williams to retain operatorship, key decision-making authority and upside participation in the platform. The partnership also includes a buyout option beginning in 2033 at the remaining partner investment balance. According to Porter, the additional consideration improves the ratio of cash flow Williams expects from its five current Power Innovation projects to invested capital by about 56% over the primary contract terms. The calculation excludes potential additional upside during and after those terms. Williams expects year-end leverage of about 3.9 times debt to EBITDA, based on an assumed three months of Momentum contribution. On a full-year run-rate basis, Porter said leverage would be about 3.75 times, leaving more than $2 billion of incremental capacity under the company’s internal 4-times leverage ceiling for additional near-term Power Innovation projects. Williams announced the $5.5 billion acquisition of Momentum Midstream, funded with $3.5 billion in cash and debt and $2 billion of equity. Zamarin described the transaction as an accretive bolt-on acquisition with an approximate 8.5-times multiple based on consolidated EBITDA. He said the multiple is about nine times when considering the effect of noncontrolling interests. The deal adds roughly 6 billion cubic feet per day of gathering capacity and more than 4 Bcf per day of take-or-pay pipeline capacity in East Texas and Louisiana, including the growing Shelby Trough area of the western Haynesville. Williams said the acquisition complements its Haynesville Gathering operations, Louisiana Energy Gateway pipeline and Transco Gulf Coast system. Management did not quantify anticipated operating or cost synergies, but Zamarin said the overlapping asset footprints should create operational benefits. He also pointed to growth opportunities from existing dedicated customers, new customers and expansion projects. Williams announced two projects alongside the acquisition: Shelby Connector: An expansion linking Momentum’s gathering footprint to the Louisiana Energy Gateway system. The project has initial customer commitments of up to 750 million cubic feet per day, is targeted for first-half 2028 service, and could be expanded to 1.5 Bcf per day. Delta Access: A fully contracted pipeline project running from the combined Momentum and Williams systems toward LNG and power customers along the Transco corridor. It is planned with initial capacity of 2.25 Bcf per day, targeted for early 2029 service, and could expand to 3.5 Bcf per day. Zamarin said the projects fit within Williams’ targeted build-return range and are expected to further improve the acquisition multiple over time. Transmission and Gulf EBITDA increased $56 million, or about 6%, from the prior-year quarter, led by 23% growth in the company’s Gulf businesses. Porter attributed that performance to recent Gulf expansion projects, while natural gas storage EBITDA also rose 23%. Williams also reported growth from Transco and MountainWest Pipeline expansion projects. Northeast gathering and processing EBITDA increased $39 million, or 8%, mainly due to rich-gas areas. The West segment grew $18 million, or about 5%, driven by Haynesville investments including Louisiana Energy Gateway. Sequent marketing performed modestly better than a year earlier, although Porter noted that the second quarter typically presents lower seasonal opportunities. The company’s other segment declined about $14 million, largely due to the January 2026 divestiture of upstream Haynesville assets. Williams raised its long-term EBITDA growth target to more than 11% compounded annually through 2030, from its prior target of more than 10%. Porter said the updated target reflects Momentum and newly announced projects, while excluding commercialization of additional power and pipeline opportunities. Management said it remains conservative regarding growth assumptions in certain legacy businesses, including the Northeast segment. Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities. Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Williams Companies Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of 50 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 52 cents. However, the bottom line increased from the year-ago period’s level of 46 cents, driven by better-than-expected performance of its Transmission, Power & Gulf, Northeast G&P and West segments. The Tulsa, OK-based oil and gas storage and transportation company’s revenues of $3 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $2 million. The figure increased by 9.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues. This can be attributed to higher service revenues and increased product sales. Williams Companies, Inc. (The) price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Williams Companies, Inc. (The) Quote Adjusted EBITDA totaled $1.9 billion in the quarter under review, which was up 6% year over year. Cash flow from operations amounted to $1.4 billion, down 5.1% from the corresponding quarter of 2025. Williams Companies has agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream in a deal worth up to $5.5 billion, strengthening its Haynesville footprint and expanding its integrated natural gas infrastructure to meet rising Gulf Coast LNG, power and industrial demand. Momentum adds more than 4,000 miles of pipelines, 6 Bcf/d gathering capacity and key processing assets, with the deal expected to boost AFFO and EPS. Williams Companies also announced the Delta Aces and Shelby Trough Connector expansions, positioning the company to capture growing natural gas demand and enhance basin connectivity. Transmission, Power & Gulf: The segment reported an adjusted EBITDA of $959 million, up 6.2% from the year-ago quarter’s level. The increase was driven by contributions from projects placed in service, new Gulf volumes and higher storage revenues. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. Northeast G&P: Driven primarily by higher volumes at Ohio Valley Midstream and higher proportional EBITDA from Blue Racer Midstream and Bradford within Appalachia Midstream, this segment registered an adjusted EBITDA of $540 million. This represents a 7.8% increase from $501 million in the year-earlier quarter. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $518 million. West: This segment focuses on the gathering and processing of assets in the Western United States. Adjusted EBITDA for this segment totaled $359 million, up 5.3% from the prior-year quarter’s level of $341 million. Strong results were fueled by Louisiana Energy Gateway, placed into service in third-quarter 2025, as well as higher gathering volumes, including contributions from the 2025 Rimrock and Saber acquisitions. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $389 million. Gas & NGL Marketing Services: The segment posted a negative adjusted EBITDA of $1 million, narrowing down from the year-ago negative EBITDA of $15 million, resulting from higher gas marketing margins due to winter storms. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same was pegged at a negative $7.27 million. Other: This segment posted an adjusted EBITDA of $64 million, representing a 17.9% decrease from $78 million in the year-earlier quarter, caused by unfavorable changes in net realized results from upstream operations, including the impact of the divested South Mansfield interests. However, the figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $57 million. In the reported quarter, total costs and expenses of $1.9 billion increased by about 2% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. Total capital expenditure (capex) was $1.8 billion. As of June 30, 2026, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company had cash and cash equivalents of $203 million and long-term debt of $28.1 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 64.7%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Williams Companies raised its 2026 guidance and now expects adjusted EBITDA of $8.3-$8.5 billion, with growth capital expenditures projected at $7.3-$7.9 billion. Factoring in the pro forma contribution from the Momentum Midstream acquisition over the past four quarters, the company expects its 2026 leverage ratio to be approximately 3.75x at the midpoint. The growth capex and debt-to-adjusted EBITDA guidance exclude certain reimbursable long-lead equipment costs. While we have discussed WMB’s second-quarter results in detail, let us take a look at three other key reports in this space. Expand Energy Corporation EXE reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.33, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22. The company’s bottom line increased from the year-ago adjusted profit of $1.10 per share, fueled by strong production and lower operating expenses. Expand Energy’s ‘natural gas, oil and NGL’ revenues of $1.8 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 billion. The top line was also below the year-ago figure of $2 billion. As of June 30, 2026, the company had $663 million in cash and cash equivalents. Expand Energy had a long-term debt of $3.7 billion, reflecting a debt-to-capitalization of 16%. NOV Inc. NOV reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 31 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents. The bottom line also increased 6.9% from the year-ago quarter’s 29 cents, driven by outperformance of the Energy Equipment segment. The oil and gas equipment and services company’s total revenues of $2.1 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $39 million. However, NOV’s revenues fell 2.5% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $2.2 billion due to lower year-over-year revenues from the Energy Products and Services segment. As of June 30, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $1.2 billion and long-term debt of $1.7 billion with a debt-to-capitalization of 21.3%. Core Laboratories Inc. CLB reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 11 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents, driven by outperformance of the Production Enhancement segment. However, the bottom line decreased from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure of 19 cents due to the underperformance of the Reservoir Description segment and increased costs and expenses. This oilfield service provider reported second-quarter operating revenues of $124.6 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $128 million and decreasing from the earlier-year quarter’s reported figure of $130.1 million. This can be attributed to military conflicts in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine region, which disrupted energy infrastructure, delaying projects, disrupting crude oil trade and reducing demand for the company's international laboratory services. As of June 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $22.7 million and long-term debt of $113.9 million. CLB’s debt-to-capitalization was about 29%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Core Laboratories Inc. (CLB) : Free Stock Analysis Report NOV Inc. (NOV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Expand Energy Corporation (EXE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Second-Quarter Adjusted EBITDA: $1.92 billion, up 6% year-over-year. Year-to-Date Adjusted EBITDA Growth: Up 10% compared to the prior year. Transmission & Gulf Segment EBITDA: Improved by $56 million, or about 6%. Gulf Businesses EBITDA: Grew 23%. Natural Gas Storage EBITDA: Increased 23%. Northeast G&P EBITDA: Grew $39 million, or 8%. West Segment EBITDA: Grew $18 million, or about 5%. Other Segment EBITDA: Decreased by approximately $14 million due to the divestiture of upstream Haynesville assets. Full-Year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA Guidance: Raised to $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion. Forecasted Year-End Leverage: Approximately 3.9 times debt-to-EBITDA (3.75 times on a full-year run-rate basis). Long-Term EBITDA Growth Target: Increased to 11%-plus CAGR through 2030. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with WMB. Is WMB fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 04, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Achieved in-service for phase one of Socrates, delivering 200 MW of power on time and within budget, demonstrating strong execution capability. Raised full-year 2026 EBITDA guidance by $200 million at the midpoint and increased long-term EBITDA growth target to 11%-plus CAGR through 2030. Executed strategic acquisition of Momentum Midstream, expanding Haynesville footprint and creating synergies with Transco and Gulf Coast assets. Formed Power Innovation financing JV with Blackstone, providing $5.34 billion in committed capital at an attractive 6.35% cost of equity, enhancing project returns. Signed customer agreements for Leidy Access, Garden Connector, and upsized Transco Power Express, driving additional demand growth. Maintained strong balance sheet with forecasted leverage of 3.75x, preserving capacity for future investments. Reported strong Q2 2026 EBITDA growth of 6% year-over-year, with year-to-date growth of 10%. Acquisition of Momentum Midstream adds $3.5 billion in cash and debt, increasing leverage temporarily to 3.9x at year-end 2026. Second-quarter results were impacted by seasonally lower opportunities in the marketing business. Other segment EBITDA declined $14 million due to divestiture of upstream Haynesville assets. Guidance remains conservative due to potential hurricane season impacts and weak gas prices during summer months. Power Innovation projects face potential equipment delivery timing constraints, which could affect pace of commercialization. Long-term growth target of 11% excludes additional power and pipe projects, indicating potential conservatism in outlook. Q: The EBITDA CAGR target was raised to 11% from 10%. Simply layering in EBITDA from Momentum and Delta Access seems to add 200 basis points, taking it to 12%. Is the 11% target conservative, or are there other headwinds to consider? A: John Porter (CFO) confirmed the company is well positioned to exceed the 11% target. He clarified that the 11% figure is centered on the existing contracted book of business and excludes the commercialization of additional power or pipeline projects. The guidance also incorporates a degree of conservatism across other parts of the business, including the Northeast, which generates over $2 billion of EBITDA today. Q: Beyond the organic projects like Delta Access, are there specific operating or cost synergies expected from the Momentum acquisition, and can you quantify them? Is the 8.5x acquisition multiple based on consolidated EBITDA? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) stated they will not quantify synergies yet but confirmed there will be operational synergies given the footprint overlap. He emphasized the strategic importance of the Haynesville basin for future LNG growth. He confirmed the 8.5x multiple is based on consolidated EBITDA, and even with the net effect of noncontrolling interests, it remains approximately 9x based on next year's expected performance. Q: Can you provide an update on the behind-the-meter backlog and the opportunity set? Are you in conversations with multiple hyperscalers, or is the business exclusive to one primary customer? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) noted continued strengthening of commercial interest, supported by the on-time, on-budget delivery of Socrates. He confirmed ongoing conversations with multiple counterparties and expects to commercialize additional projects by year-end. He explicitly stated that discussions with customers do not need to be exclusive to any one hyperscaler, as Williams aims to provide energy infrastructure solutions for all businesses. Q: Regarding the Power Innovation JV, how should we think about the timing of deploying the proceeds from the recent financing into new opportunities? Is it reasonable to think you could allocate most of the $5 billion over the next 12 months? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) and John Porter (CFO) indicated they have significant capacity to fund new projects between now and year-end. The JV structure with Blackstone provides a flexible source of low-cost equity. They expect additional project commercialization before year-end and have the ability to recycle capital into the next round of projects, with the JV enhancing project returns by about 56% over the primary contract term. Q: Can you provide an update on the Socrates start-up process and whether the learnings can be applied to accelerate timelines for remaining projects? A: Larry Larsen (COO) reported that commissioning has gone extremely well, with load testing completed successfully and first power delivered to the facility this week. He noted the team is taking learnings from these first projects to improve design and commissioning efficiencies. All other projects (Aqualand, Apollo, etc.) are trending on schedule and on budget, similar to Socrates. Q: With the Momentum acquisition, how much of Line 200's gas supply do you expect to source from Transco, LEG, and Momentum? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) explained that Line 200 originates from Gillis, a critical supply point where both the NG3 pipeline and LEG system deliver. The Haynesville will be the primary supply source for the area, and the growth in both traditional and Momentum footprints will be important for serving Gillis supply pull. The Line 200 project is fully subscribed from a take-or-pay perspective, and the focus is on sourcing the lowest-cost supply to support LNG customers. Q: Can you walk us through the funding options for the next set of behind-the-meter projects? Can the existing JV with Blackstone be expanded, or will future projects use different structures? A: John Porter (CFO) stated they have in excess of $2 billion available to fund near-term Power Innovation projects, working off a 3.75x leverage number. He noted that each future deal could potentially be a unique separate partnership, but the process will be much more efficient given the investments made in the current JV. The company has real depth in this market and can achieve similar attractive results quickly if they choose to bring in partners. Q: Is Delta Access a project that originated from Momentum, and what return profile do you expect? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) confirmed that Williams had been actively engaging with counterparties in the area for some time. The Momentum team did a great job commercializing the project, and it fits well within the combined platform. The combination creates an even better solution for customers in Louisiana than either company could have done alone, supporting customers along the Transco footprint. Q: Can you provide an EBITDA multiple on the entire suite of opportunity gained from the Momentum deal, including Shelby Connector and Delta Access? A: Chad Zamarin (CEO) clarified that the 8.5x multiple is a current run-rate multiple and does not include future growth from Shelby Connector, Delta Access, or additional platform growth. The investments fit squarely within the targeted build multiple range, and gathering expansions will be high-return given the large existing platform. The multiple will compress over time as projects and growth kick in. Q: Do you see large-scale organic Transco opportunities still available in your backlog, or do you need outside deals like Momentum to unlock attractive growth? A: Larry Larsen (COO) confirmed there are definitely organic opportunities on Transco that do not require M&A transactions. Projects like Southeast Supply Enhancement and Power Express are organic. The company continues to have great discussions with core customers, driven by power demand along the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with larger projects expected in the 2030-plus timeframe. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Achieved first utility-scale power in-service for Socrates Phase 1 in under 18 months, validating the speed-to-market capability of the Power Innovation platform. Acquired Momentum Midstream for $5.5 billion to solidify the company's position as the largest Haynesville gas gatherer connected to the Transco pipeline system. Performance beat driven by strong results in the Gulf and Transmission and Gulf segment, which improved about 6%, led by the Gulf business which grew 23%. due to recent expansion projects. Strategic financing JV with Blackstone provides $5.34 billion in committed capital at a capped 6.35% cost of equity, preserving balance sheet capacity for rapid power scaling. The Haynesville basin is positioned as the primary supply source to meet a projected doubling of U.S. LNG export demand over the next decade. Management raised the long-term EBITDA CAGR target to 11-plus percent through 2030, reflecting the combined impact of Momentum and new pipeline expansions. Full-year 2026 EBITDA guidance raised by $200 million to a range of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion, assuming approximately three months of Momentum contribution. Forecasted year-end leverage of 3.75x on a run-rate basis provides over $2 billion in incremental capacity for near-term Power Innovation projects. Announced the Shelby Connector and Delta Access projects, expected in-service in 2028 and 2029, to connect Haynesville supply to Gulf Coast LNG and power demand. Management expects the 8.5x acquisition multiple for Momentum to compress quickly as operational synergies and growth projects are realized. Guidance assumes continued conservative modeling for the Northeast G&P business despite observed outperformance in rich gas volumes. The Momentum acquisition is funded via a mix of $3.5 billion in cash/debt and $2 billion in equity to maintain investment-grade credit metrics. Power Innovation JV includes an attractive buyout option for Williams beginning in 2033, allowing for future full ownership of the assets. Management flagged potential headwinds including hurricane season impacts and persistent weakness in natural gas prices through the summer months. Divestiture of upstream Haynesville assets in January 2026 resulted in a $14 million EBITDA decline in the 'Other' segment compared to the prior year. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. The 11% target is centered on the existing contracted book of business and excludes the commercialization of additional power or pipe projects in the backlog. Management maintains a degree of conservatism across the business, particularly in the Northeast segment which generates over $2 billion in EBITDA today. Management confirmed they are in discussions with multiple hyperscalers and technology counterparties beyond their initial primary customer. Agreements are not exclusive to any single provider; the company aims to provide infrastructure solutions for the broader technology and utility ecosystem. While not yet quantified, management expects significant operational synergies due to the footprint overlap in East Texas and Louisiana. The deal is viewed as a springboard for high-return gathering expansions and new pipeline projects that will drive multiple compression over time. The company is scaling up internal talent and engineering capacity to handle larger and more complex hybrid power projects. Future projects may involve unique separate partnerships rather than expanding the existing Blackstone JV to ensure optimal pricing for each opportunity.

TULSA, Okla., August 03, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Williams (NYSE: WMB) today announced its unaudited financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026. Financial performance validates growing strength of natural gas strategy GAAP net income: $827 million, or $0.68 per diluted share (EPS), up 51% vs. 2Q 2025 Adjusted net income: $614 million, or $0.50 per diluted share (Adj. EPS), up 8% vs. 2Q 2025 Adjusted EBITDA: $1.921 billion, up $113 million or 6% vs. 2Q 2025 Cash flow from operations (CFFO): $1.376 billion Available funds from operations (AFFO): $1.450 billion, up $133 million or 10% vs. 2Q 2025 Dividend coverage ratio: 2.26x (AFFO basis) Raising 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint by $200 million to $8.4 billion, reflecting Momentum Midstream acquisition Extending track record of unmatched growth Successful completion of phase one of Socrates, the company's first Power Innovation project; phase two on track for 4Q 2026 completion Signed customer agreements on Transco's Leidy Access and Garden Connector and upsized Power Express Finalized Power Innovation Joint Venture with Blackstone, adding $5.34 billion of low-cost capital to fuel near-term Power Innovation projects Signed agreement to acquire Momentum Midstream, establishing a premier Haynesville position to serve growing LNG and power demand with long-term take-or-pay contracts CEO Perspective Chad Zamarin, president and chief executive officer, made the following comments: "Williams delivered another quarter of solid results as we continue to capture rising demand for reliable energy infrastructure. Second-quarter Adjusted EBITDA increased 6% year-over-year to $1.921 billion, driven by transmission and Gulf Coast expansions, higher natural gas storage revenues and strong gathering performance across our footprint." "Our Power Innovation platform continues to ramp up as customers look for fast, reliable and scalable solutions to meet growing power demand. With the first phase of Socrates successfully completed within budget and on time and the closing of our joint venture with Blackstone, we have demonstrated best-in-class execution, strengthening our ability to commercialize additional projects and accelerate this important growth platform." "At the same time, we continue to advance growth across our broader natural gas infrastructure business. We signed customer agreements for Transco’s Leidy Access and Garden Connector expansions and we further upsized Transco's Power Express project. Additionally, we are announcing the acquisition of Momentum Midstream, a highly strategic platform that strengthens our position in the country’s most important LNG demand corridor. Alongside the acquisition, we are also announcing an expansion of our LEG gathering system and a large take-or-pay pipeline project along the Transco corridor. We look forward to the Momentum team joining the Williams family as we invest in these impressive assets that serve as a catalyst for continued growth." Zamarin added, "Williams is built to execute across multiple growth opportunities at once, and this quarter demonstrated the strength of that balanced approach. We are expanding our contracted project portfolio, investing in high-return opportunities and maintaining financial strength and flexibility, all of which support a higher long-term growth target. I want to thank our employees for their continued focus on safe and reliable operations and our customers for their trust in Williams. Together, we are delivering the infrastructure solutions needed to serve rising demand from LNG, power generation and industrial growth while creating market-leading and lasting value for our shareholders." GAAP Measures Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 net income increased by $281 million and $455 million, respectively, compared to the prior year. Both comparative periods benefited from: Higher service revenues of $111 million and $314 million, respectively, driven by projects placed in service, new Gulf volumes, higher storage revenues, and higher gathering volumes including acquisitions in the West, while Transco’s higher net rates also benefited the year-to-date period. Higher gas marketing margins. Higher equity earnings driven by Blue Racer Midstream and Appalachia Midstream. A net gain of $126 million from the June 2026 sale of the Brazos Permian II equity-method investment. The year-to-date period also benefited from a $194 million gain on the January 2026 sale of the South Mansfield upstream interests. These favorable changes were partially offset by: Reduced upstream results due to the sale of the South Mansfield interests. An increase in operating and administrative expenses. Higher net interest expense associated with net increases in long-term debt. A higher provision for income taxes driven by increased pre-tax income. The quarterly period also benefited from a favorable change of $106 million in net unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives, while the year-to-date period reflected an unfavorable change of $87 million in net unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives. Second-quarter 2026 cash flow from operations decreased $74 million compared to the prior year primarily due to unfavorable net changes in working capital driven by the payment of Transco’s rate refunds in April 2026, partially offset by higher operating results exclusive of non-cash items and favorable net changes in derivative collateral requirements. Year-to-date 2026 cash flow from operations increased $96 million compared to the prior year primarily due to higher operating results exclusive of non-cash items, partially offset by unfavorable net changes in working capital driven by the payment of Transco’s rate refunds and unfavorable net changes in derivative collateral requirements. Non-GAAP Measures Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Adjusted EBITDA increased by $113 million and $378 million, respectively, over the prior year driven by the previously described increases in service revenues and gas marketing margins, partially offset by higher operating and administrative expenses. Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Adjusted Net Income improved by $48 million and $213 million, respectively, over the prior year driven by the previously described impacts to net income, adjusted primarily to remove the effects of net unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives and the gains associated with the Brazos Permian II and South Mansfield upstream sales. Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Available Funds From Operations (AFFO) increased by $133 million and $458 million, respectively, compared to the prior year primarily due to higher adjusted operating results exclusive of non-cash items and a favorable change in the current component of the income tax provision. Business Segment Results & Form 10-Q Williams' operations are comprised of the following reportable segments: Transmission, Power & Gulf; Northeast G&P; West; Gas & NGL Marketing Services and Other. For more information, see the company's second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q. Transmission, Power & Gulf Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Modified and Adjusted EBITDA improved compared to the prior year driven by contributions from projects placed in service, new Gulf volumes, and higher storage revenues, partially offset by higher operating and administrative expenses. Transco’s higher net rates also benefited the year-to-date period. Northeast G&P Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Modified and Adjusted EBITDA increased compared to the prior year driven primarily by higher volumes at Ohio Valley Midstream and higher proportional EBITDA from Blue Racer Midstream and Bradford within Appalachia Midstream. West Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Modified EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA improved compared to the prior year driven by Louisiana Energy Gateway, placed into service in third-quarter 2025, as well as higher gathering volumes including contributions from the 2025 Rimrock and Saber acquisitions, partially offset by lower minimum volume commitment revenues. Gas & NGL Marketing Services Second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Modified EBITDA increased from the prior year. The quarterly period reflects $124 million of net favorable changes in unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives, which are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. The year-to-date period for both measures benefited from higher gas marketing margins driven by winter storms, partially offset by net unfavorable changes in unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives, which are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. Other The changes in second-quarter and year-to-date 2026 Modified EBITDA include gains from the January 2026 sale of the South Mansfield upstream interests, net unfavorable changes in unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives, and an unfavorable change in net realized results from upstream operations, including the impact of the divested South Mansfield interests. Both the gains on sale of the South Mansfield interests and the unrealized gains/losses on commodity derivatives are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. Strategic Acquisition of Momentum Midstream Williams has agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream in a strategic Haynesville growth transaction valued at up to $5.5 billion, further expanding the company's fully integrated natural gas infrastructure platform in one of the nation's most important supply basins serving growing Gulf Coast LNG, power and industrial demand. Under the agreement, Williams will acquire 100% of Momentum Midstream for total consideration of up to $5.5 billion, comprising approximately $3.5 billion of cash and debt consideration and roughly $2 billion of Williams equity. Momentum's Haynesville platform adds more than 4,000 miles of pipe and over 1 million dedicated acres within four key gathering areas with a combined capacity of 6 Bcf/d, multiple processing and treating facilities and three take-or-pay pipelines capable of transporting 4.05 Bcf/d, serving the Haynesville and key demand markets. The acquisition is valued at an implied valuation of approximately 8.5x projected 2027 EBITDA and is expected to be accretive to both available funds from operations (AFFO) per share and earnings per share. Predictable, fee-based cash flows, supported by fixed-fee earnings, take-or-pay contracts and a high-quality customer base, underpin the transaction's long-term value. Williams is announcing two attractive immediate expansion projects across the platform to capture the next wave of Haynesville supply and connectivity to growing LNG and power demand: As part of the acquisition, the Delta Access expansion along the Transco corridor will serve growing LNG and power demand. The $1.5 billion project will provide initial capacity of 2.25 Bcf/d, with future expansion opportunities and is expected to come online in the first quarter 2029. Enhanced through the acquisition, the Shelby Trough Connector is an expansion of our LEG system into the growing Shelby Trough area of the Haynesville. The project will provide 750 MMcf/d of initial capacity with expansion potential up to 1.5 Bcf/d and includes a new lateral and additional compression facilities. It is expected to enter service in the second quarter of 2028. The acquisition and the announced pipeline projects deepen Williams' exposure to long-term natural gas demand growth, including Gulf Coast LNG demand projected to increase by approximately 20 Bcf/d over the next 10 years. By combining Momentum's complementary footprint with Williams' existing infrastructure, the transaction enhances basin connectivity, broadens customer reach and creates additional opportunities to serve LNG, industrial and power demand, including future Transco expansions. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. Advisors BofA Securities acted as lead financial advisor to Williams. Truist Securities also acted as a financial advisor to Williams in connection with the transaction. Davis Polk & Wardwell is serving as Williams’ legal counsel on the transaction. 2026 Financial Guidance The company now expects 2026 Adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion and growth capex between $7.3 billion and $7.9 billion. Including the pro-forma impact of Adjusted EBITDA from the Momentum acquisition for the last four quarters, Williams' updated leverage ratio midpoint for 2026 is now approximately 3.75x. Guidance for 2026 growth capex and debt-to-adjusted EBITDA excludes certain reimbursable long-lead equipment. Williams Second-Quarter 2026 Materials to be Posted Shortly; Q&A Webcast Scheduled for Tomorrow Williams' second-quarter 2026 earnings presentation will be posted at www.williams.com. The company's second-quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast with analysts and investors is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 a.m. Central Time). Participants who wish to join the call by phone must register using the following link: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIc62c79d5921d4e059ef7fd0f834cb2fa A webcast link to the conference call will be provided on Williams’ Investor Relations website. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website for at least 90 days following the event. About Williams Williams (NYSE: WMB) is a trusted energy industry leader committed to safely, reliably and responsibly meeting growing energy demand. We use our infrastructure to deliver one third of the nation’s natural gas to where it's needed most, supplying the energy used to heat our homes, cook our food and generate low-carbon electricity. For over a century, we’ve been driven by a passion for doing things the right way. Today, our team of problem solvers is leading the charge into the clean energy future. Learn more at www.williams.com. Non-GAAP Measures This news release and accompanying materials may include certain financial measures – adjusted EBITDA, adjusted income ("earnings"), adjusted earnings per share, available funds from operations and dividend coverage ratio – that are non-GAAP financial measures as defined under the rules of the SEC. Our segment performance measure, modified EBITDA, is defined as net income (loss) before income (loss) from discontinued operations, income tax expense, net interest expense, equity earnings from equity-method investments, other net investing income, impairments of equity investments and goodwill, depreciation and amortization expense, and accretion expense associated with asset retirement obligations for nonregulated operations. We also add our proportional ownership share (based on ownership interest) of modified EBITDA of equity-method investments, including our indirect share from interests owned by equity-method investees. Adjusted EBITDA further excludes items of income or loss that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations. Such items are excluded from net income to determine adjusted income and adjusted earnings per share. Management believes this measure provides investors meaningful insight into results from ongoing operations. Available funds from operations (AFFO) is defined as cash flow from operations excluding the effect of changes in working capital and certain other changes in noncurrent assets and liabilities, reduced by preferred dividends and net distributions to noncontrolling interests. AFFO may be adjusted to exclude certain items that we characterize as unrepresentative of our ongoing operations. This news release is accompanied by a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their nearest GAAP financial measures. Management uses these financial measures because they are accepted financial indicators used by investors to compare company performance. In addition, management believes that these measures provide investors an enhanced perspective of the operating performance of assets and the cash that the business is generating. Neither adjusted EBITDA, adjusted income, nor available funds from operations are intended to represent cash flows for the period, nor are they presented as an alternative to net income or cash flow from operations. They should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for a measure of performance prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. Forward-Looking Statements The reports, filings, and other public announcements of The Williams Companies, Inc. (Williams) may contain or incorporate by reference statements that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. Such statements are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). These forward-looking statements relate to anticipated financial performance, management’s plans and objectives for future operations, business prospects, outcomes of regulatory proceedings, market conditions, and other matters. We make these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this report that address activities, events, or developments that we expect, believe, or anticipate will exist or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by various forms of words such as "anticipates," "believes," "seeks," "could," "may," "should," "continues," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "intends," "might," "goals," "objectives," "targets," "planned," "potential," "projects," "scheduled," "will," "assumes," "guidance," "outlook," "in-service date," or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and include, among others, statements regarding: Levels of dividends to Williams' stockholders; Future credit ratings of Williams and its affiliates; Amounts and nature of future capital expenditures; Expansion and growth of business and operations; Expected in-service dates for capital projects; Financial condition and liquidity; Business strategy; Cash flow from operations or results of operations; Rate case filings; Seasonality of certain business components; Natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil prices, supply, and demand; Demand for services. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, uncertainties, and risks that could cause future events or results to be materially different from those stated or implied in this report. Many of the factors that will determine these results are beyond our ability to control or predict. Specific factors that could cause actual results to differ from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: Availability of supplies, market demand, and volatility of prices; Development and rate of adoption of alternative energy sources; The impact of existing and future laws and regulations, the regulatory environment, environmental matters, and litigation, as well as our ability and the ability of other energy companies with whom we conduct or seek to conduct business, to obtain necessary permits and approvals, and our ability to achieve favorable rate proceeding outcomes; Exposure to the credit risk of customers and counterparties; Our ability to acquire new businesses and assets and successfully integrate those operations and assets into existing businesses as well as successfully expand our facilities, and consummate asset sales on acceptable terms; The ability to successfully identify, evaluate, and timely execute on our capital projects and investment opportunities; The strength and financial resources of our competitors and the effects of competition; The amount of cash distributions from and capital requirements of our investments and joint ventures in which we participate; The ability to effectively execute our financing plan; Increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to environmental, social, and governance practices; The physical and financial risks associated with climate change; The impacts of operational and developmental hazards and unforeseen interruptions; The risks resulting from outbreaks or other public health crises; Risks associated with weather and natural phenomena, including climate conditions and physical damage to our facilities; Acts of terrorism, cybersecurity incidents, and related disruptions; Costs and funding obligations for defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans; Changes in maintenance and construction costs, as well as our ability to obtain sufficient construction-related inputs, including skilled labor; Inflation, interest rates, tariffs on foreign-made materials and goods (including steel and steel pipes) necessary to conduct our business, and general economic conditions (including future disruptions and volatility in the global credit markets and the impact of these events on customers and suppliers); Risks related to financing, including restrictions stemming from debt agreements, future changes in credit ratings as determined by nationally recognized credit rating agencies, and the availability and cost of capital; The ability of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil exporting nations to agree to and maintain oil price and production controls and the impact on domestic production; Changes in the current geopolitical situation; Changes in U.S. governmental administration and policies; Whether we are able to pay current and expected levels of dividends; Additional risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Given the uncertainties and risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, we caution investors not to unduly rely on our forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligations to, and do not intend to, update the above list or announce publicly the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments. In addition to causing our actual results to differ, the factors listed above and referred to below may cause our intentions to change from those statements of intention set forth in this report. Such changes in our intentions may also cause our results to differ. We may change our intentions, at any time and without notice, based upon changes in such factors, our assumptions, or otherwise. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, we caution that there are important factors, in addition to those listed above, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of those factors, see (a) Part I, Item IA. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the SEC on February 24, 2026, and (b) Part II, Item IA. Risk Factors in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260803713284/en/ Contacts MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected] (800) 945-8723 INVESTOR CONTACTS: Caroline Sardella(918) 230-9992 Ashley Mitchell(918) 240-6082

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.5 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.52 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.46 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -3.85%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this pipeline operator would post earnings of $0.65 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.73, delivering a surprise of +12.31%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates just once. The Williams Companies, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Production and Pipelines industry, posted revenues of $3.05 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $2.78 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. The Williams Companies shares have added about 19% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.4%. While The Williams Companies has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for The Williams Companies was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.56 on $3.19 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.35 on $12.82 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Oil and Gas - Production and Pipelines is currently in the bottom 26% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. South Bow Corporation (SOBO), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 5. This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +7.1%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.6% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. South Bow Corporation's revenues are expected to be $516.13 million, down 1.5% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) : Free Stock Analysis Report South Bow Corporation (SOBO) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research