third quarter 2026
Filed Oct 21, 2026Kinder Morgan reports record third quarter 2026 financial results, with net income attributable to KMI of $764 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $2.18 billion, and a $14.4 billion expansion project backlog.
Third-quarter net income attributable to KMI, Adjusted Net Income Attributable to KMI, EPS, Adjusted EPS, and Adjusted EBITDA all increased from the prior-year quarter. KMI also increased its project backlog to $14.4 billion, expects to be more than 6% favorable to budget on Adjusted EBITDA and more than 13% favorable on Adjusted EPS for 2026, and ended the quarter at the low end of its targeted leverage range.
Key metrics
shortened, hover for the filing’s print| Metric | Value | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $4.53B | – | – |
| Revenue, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $13.84B | – | – |
| Costs of sales, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $1.57B | – | – |
| Costs of sales, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $4.72B | – | – |
| Operations and maintenance, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $949M | – | – |
| Operations and maintenance, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $2.47B | – | – |
| Depreciation, depletion, and amortization, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $628M | – | – |
| Depreciation, depletion, and amortization, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $1.88B | – | – |
| General and administrative, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $190M | – | – |
| General and administrative, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $566M | – | – |
| Taxes, other than income taxes, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $121M | – | – |
| Taxes, other than income taxes, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $355M | – | – |
| Other income, net, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$83M | – | – |
| Other income, net, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$102M | – | – |
| Total operating costs, expenses, and other, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $3.37B | – | – |
| Total operating costs, expenses, and other, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $9.89B | – | – |
| Operating income, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $1.16B | – | – |
| Operating income, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $3.95B | – | – |
| Earnings from equity investments, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $231M | – | – |
| Earnings from equity investments, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $710M | – | – |
| Interest, net, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$430M | – | – |
| Interest, net, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$1.28B | – | – |
| Income before income taxes, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $980M | – | – |
| Income before income taxes, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $3.43B | – | – |
| Income tax expense, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$190M | – | – |
| Income tax expense, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$749M | – | – |
| Net income, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $790M | – | – |
| Net income, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $2.69B | – | – |
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$26M | – | – |
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$78M | – | – |
| Net income attributable to Kinder Morgan, Inc., three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $764M | – | 22 % |
| Net income attributable to Kinder Morgan, Inc., nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $2.61B | – | 27 % |
| Class P Shares basic and diluted earnings per share, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $ 0.34 | – | 21 % |
| Class P Shares basic and diluted earnings per share, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $ 1.17 | – | 27 % |
| Class P Shares basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | 2.23B | – | — % |
| Class P Shares basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | 2.23B | – | — % |
| Declared dividends per share, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $ 0.2975 | – | 2 % |
| Declared dividends per share, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $ 0.8925 | – | 2 % |
| Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Kinder Morgan, Inc., three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $792M | – | 22 % |
| Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Kinder Morgan, Inc., nine months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $2.68B | – | 32 % |
| Adjusted EPS, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $ 0.35 | – | 21 % |
| Adjusted EPS, nine months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $ 1.20 | – | 32 % |
| Adjusted EBITDA, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $2.18B | – | 9 % |
| Adjusted EBITDA, nine months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $6.92B | – | 13 % |
| Natural Gas Pipelines Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026other | $1.50B | – | – |
| Natural Gas Pipelines Adjusted Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $1.49B | – | – |
| Products Pipelines Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026other | $172M | – | – |
| Products Pipelines Adjusted Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $313M | – | – |
| Terminals Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026other | $385M | – | – |
| Terminals Adjusted Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $314M | – | – |
| CO 2 Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026other | $172M | – | – |
| CO 2 Adjusted Segment EBDA, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $184M | – | – |
| Cash flow from operations, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $1.59B | – | – |
| Cash flow from operations, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | $5.04B | – | – |
| Capital expenditures, three months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$1.04B | – | – |
| Capital expenditures, nine months ended September 30, 2026GAAP | −$2.83B | – | – |
| FCF, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $545M | – | – |
| FCF, nine months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $2.21B | – | – |
| FCF after dividends, three months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | −$120M | – | – |
| FCF after dividends, nine months ended September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $226M | – | – |
| Cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2026GAAP | $918M | – | – |
| Short-term debt as of September 30, 2026GAAP | $1.73B | – | – |
| Long-term debt as of September 30, 2026GAAP | $31.45B | – | – |
| Net Debt as of September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $32.23B | – | – |
| Last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA as of September 30, 2026non-GAAP | $9.19B | – | – |
| Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA as of September 30, 2026non-GAAP | 3.5 | – | – |
Segments
| Segment | Revenue | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas PipelinesFinancial performance was up on higher contributions from El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline, KinderHawk gathering system, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, and Texas Intrastate. Natural gas transport volumes were up 3% and gathering volumes were up 14% compared to the third quarter of 2025. | not reported | – | – |
| Products PipelinesFavorable contributions primarily from favorable commodity pricing were more than offset by legal, environmental, and other expense accruals treated as Certain Items. Total refined products volumes were down 3% and crude and condensate volumes were down 11% compared to the third quarter of 2025. | not reported | – | – |
| TerminalsEarnings were up on higher liquids contributions from expansion projects placed into service, higher commodity prices, strength in coal and petroleum coke handling, and higher rates on the Jones Act tanker fleet. | not reported | – | – |
| CO 2Earnings were up primarily due to higher commodity prices and higher crude and NGL volumes. SACROC volumes were up 11% and NGL sales volumes were up 9% compared to the prior-year period. | not reported | – | – |
2026 outlook
- NoteBudgeted net income attributable to KMI of $3.1 billion
- NoteAdjusted EPS of $1.36
- NoteDeclared dividends of $1.19 per share
- NoteAdjusted EBITDA of $8.6 billion
- NoteYear-end Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA of 3.8 times
- NoteKMI currently expects to be more than 6% favorable to budget on an Adjusted EBITDA basis for the year.
- NoteKMI currently expects to be more than 13% favorable to budget on an Adjusted EPS basis for the year.
- NoteKMI expects to end the year with a Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 3.6 times, which is 0.2 times favorable to KMI’s budget.
Capital returns
- Cash dividend of $0.2975 per share for the third quarter, payable on November 16, 2026, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 2, 2026.
- The dividend is a 2% increase over the third quarter of 2025.
- Dividends paid were $ (665) million for the three months ended September 30, 2026 and $ (1,984) million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.
What drove it
- Third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $ 2,180 million, up 9 %, supported by higher contributions in Natural Gas Pipelines, Terminals, and CO 2.
- Natural gas transport volumes were 49,273 BBtu/d in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 47,918 BBtu/d in the third quarter of 2025.
- Natural gas gathering volumes were 4,722 BBtu/d, compared with 4,129 BBtu/d in the prior-year quarter.
- Total project backlog was $14.4 billion at the end of the third quarter, including $13.2 billion of natural gas projects.
- Backlog increased $4.7 billion from the second quarter of 2026, with $5.4 billion of additions net of $700 million in projects placed in service.
- More than 75% of the total backlog is associated with projects supporting power generation and local distribution company demand.
Concerns
- Products Pipelines Segment EBDA was $ 172 million in the third quarter of 2026, compared with $ 288 million in the prior-year quarter, as legal, environmental, and other expense accruals more than offset favorable commodity-price contributions.
- Total refined product volumes were down 3% and crude and condensate volumes were down 11% compared to the third quarter of 2025.
- FCF after dividends was $ (120) million for the third quarter of 2026, compared with $ (33) million in the prior-year quarter.
- Liquids utilization was 92.6 % in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 94.6 % in the third quarter of 2025.
- Project completion timing is subject to the timely receipt of required permits and approvals.
What to watch
- Final capacity, capital expenditure levels, permits, and phased in-service timing for the Southeast Connector Project, which is expected to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2030.
- Permitting and expected third-quarter 2030 in-service timing for the Permian Link Project.
- The expected first in-service phase of Creekside Lateral in the fourth quarter of 2026.
- Completion of the more than $500 million Plantation North Expansion Project by year-end 2026.
- Progress on the Western Gateway Pipeline and its expected 2029 in-service date, subject to permits and regulatory approvals.
- Delivery against KMI’s expectation to be more than 6% favorable to budget on Adjusted EBITDA and more than 13% favorable on Adjusted EPS for 2026.
Balance sheet and cash flow
- Cash and cash equivalents were $ 918 million as of September 30, 2026, compared with $ 63 million as of December 31, 2025.
- Net Debt was $ 32,229 million as of September 30, 2026, compared with $ 31,716 million as of December 31, 2025.
- Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA was 3.5 as of September 30, 2026, compared with 3.8 as of December 31, 2025.
- Cash flow from operations was $ 5,041 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared with $ 4,225 million for the prior-year period.
- FCF was $ 2,210 million and FCF after dividends was $ 226 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.
- KMI issued $1.15 billion of 5.55% senior notes due August 2036 and $600 million of 6.15% senior notes due August 2056 on August 6, 2026.
Analysis
Kinder Morgan reported record third-quarter results, led by net income attributable to KMI of $ 764 million versus $ 628 million in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted Net Income Attributable to KMI was $ 792 million versus $ 648 million, while GAAP EPS was $ 0.34 versus $ 0.28 and Adjusted EPS was $ 0.35 versus $ 0.29. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $ 2,180 million from $ 1,991 million. Revenue was $ 4,531 million compared with $ 4,146 million, while operating income was $ 1,160 million compared with $ 1,063 million.
The Natural Gas Pipelines segment remained the central operating driver. Segment EBDA was $ 1,501 million compared with $ 1,391 million, supported by EPNG, KinderHawk, TGP, and Texas Intrastate. Natural gas transport volumes were 49,273 BBtu/d versus 47,918 BBtu/d, and gathering volumes were 4,722 BBtu/d versus 4,129 BBtu/d. Terminals Segment EBDA rose to $ 385 million from $ 274 million, while CO 2 Segment EBDA increased to $ 172 million from $ 135 million. Products Pipelines Segment EBDA declined to $ 172 million from $ 288 million because legal, environmental, and other accruals more than offset favorable commodity-price contributions.
Capital deployment accelerated through a $14.4 billion expansion project backlog, including $13.2 billion in natural gas projects. The backlog rose $4.7 billion from the second quarter of 2026, reflecting $5.4 billion of additions net of $700 million in projects placed in service. The company highlighted the Southeast Connector and Permian Link projects, each designed to transport more than 2.5 Bcf/d of natural gas. More than 75% of the backlog supports power generation and local distribution company demand, and KMI stated that the larger $13.7 billion portion of the backlog represents stable, primarily take-or-pay cash flows.
Cash generation funded substantial investment. Cash flow from operations was $ 5,041 million for the first nine months, versus $ 4,225 million a year earlier, while capital expenditures were $ (2,831) million versus $ (2,206) million. FCF was $ 2,210 million and FCF after dividends was $ 226 million for the nine-month period. The quarterly dividend was increased 2% to $0.2975 per share. KMI ended the quarter with Net Debt of $ 32,229 million and a Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 3.5, which management described as the low end of its targeted range.
For 2026, KMI budgeted net income attributable to KMI of $3.1 billion, Adjusted EPS of $1.36, declared dividends of $1.19 per share, Adjusted EBITDA of $8.6 billion, and year-end Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA of 3.8 times. Management now expects to be more than 6% favorable to budget on Adjusted EBITDA and more than 13% favorable on Adjusted EPS, while expecting year-end Net Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA of 3.6 times. The filing identifies permitting, approvals, commodity prices, demand conditions, and counterparty financial risk as factors that could affect these expectations and project execution.
Management, verbatim
Our record-setting performance is firmly grounded in our long-standing business model. We enjoy a strategically located network of assets and a portfolio of long-term, fee-based contracts with financially strong customers, providing stable and predictable cash flows.
Richard D. Kinder, Executive Chairman
This quarter we increased our expansion project backlog to $14.4 billion, including the largest natural gas project backlog in company history at $13.2 billion. Two new major projects in the backlog include Southern Natural Gas Company’s (SNG) Southeast Connector and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America’s (NGPL) Permian Link.
Kim Dang, Chief Executive Officer
The Natural Gas Pipelines business segment’s financial performance was up in the third quarter of 2026 relative to the third quarter of 2025, on higher contributions from the El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline (EPNG), KinderHawk gathering system, Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), and our Texas Intrastate system.
Dax Sanders, KMI President
Not in the filing
stated, not guessed- Prior-quarter financial results for reported income-statement and cash-flow metrics.
- Gross profit and gross margin.
- Segment revenue by Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO 2.
- GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin.
- Income tax rate.
- Share repurchases or repurchase authorization.
- Previous-release outlook and prior-guidance comparisons.
- Quarterly balance-sheet comparison as of a prior quarter-end.
AlphAI analysis generated from the company’s SEC earnings filing (Form 8-K Item 2.02, or Form 6-K for a foreign private issuer). Every figure was cross-checked against the filing text; consensus estimates, price targets and share-price reactions are not shown because they are not in the filing. AI-generated research, not investment advice.