Williams Companies earnings: third quarter 2026

Williams Companies, which runs natural gas pipelines and storage in the US, had a solid third quarter of 2026: revenues rose about 10% to $3.2 billion and its main cash measure rose 10%, while it kept its forecast for the year and said it is heading for the upper half of it. The other side is cost: heavy spending on new projects and acquisitions is being paid for with borrowing and a stake sale, and debt is up 16% this year. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Profit per share under standard accounting was $0.56, in line with the $0.55 average of analysts' forecasts compiled by Nasdaq; that figure includes an $83 million one-off gain on a sale, and the company's adjusted profit, which leaves such items out, was $663 million. ¹²

The strong points

• The cash the business brings in from its pipelines, which the company calls available funds from operations, rose 10% on a year earlier to $1.59 billion. ¹
• That cash covered the dividends paid to shareholders 2.42 times over in the quarter. ¹

The weak points

• So far this year, spending on new projects and on buying businesses has far outrun the cash the business made, with capital spending nearly doubling to $5.68 billion. ¹
• Long-term debt is up 16% since the end of 2025, to $31.7 billion. ¹
• Although revenues rose about 10%, costs rose faster, so the profit from running the business grew only about 2%, to $1.14 billion. ¹

What the company expects

• Williams kept its forecast for 2026 operating profit before interest, tax and depreciation at $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion, and says it is heading for the upper half of that range. ¹
• Looking further out, the company expects that profit measure to keep growing by 11% or more a year through 2030, and says more power projects are coming soon. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. The yearly forecast was kept with a hint of the upper half, profit per share came in line with what analysts expected, and revenues and cash grew, though the growth is being paid for with a lot of new debt.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)
• The previous results, for what it forecast then

Notes

1. Williams Companies's results release, 2 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 2 November 2026. ↩