Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. · PAA · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026

PAA Holds EBITDA Guidance as Capex and Pipeline Expansion Rise

Q2 supports a constructive but execution-dependent view: balance-sheet improvement and producer activity provide support, while higher capex and expansion execution need to translate into returns without weakening cash generation.

Why did PAA fall 3.0% after beating EPS estimates in FY2026 Q2?

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Reported Before market openNASDAQEnergy $17.90B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $0.41 Consensus $0.38
EPS surprise +7.4% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $17.69B Consensus $12.72B
Revenue surprise +39.1% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -3.0% Event window
SPY move +0.6% Same window
Abnormal move -3.6% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.8× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +12.7% Up to 20 sessions
PAASPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Compared with the prior quarter, PAA maintained FY2026 EBITDA guidance rather than raising it, completed the Canadian NGL sale, increased growth capex, and fast-tracked a 75,000 bpd Cactus III expansion. Leverage improved to 3.3x, while management continued to emphasize Permian and Canadian growth and cost efficiencies.

Guidance delta

FY2026 EBITDA guidance was maintained at $2.88 billion; growth capex increased to $400–$450 million.

Key takeaways

  • Q2 adjusted EBITDA kept PAA on track for its $2.88 billion FY2026 guidance.
  • The completed Canadian NGL sale reduced pro forma leverage to 3.3x.
  • Growth capex rose to $400–$450 million for Permian and Canadian gathering projects.
  • Management fast-tracked a 75,000 bpd Cactus III expansion, taking planned capacity to 725,000 bpd.
  • The company targets $1.75 billion of 2026 free cash flow and continued cost efficiencies.

Management priorities

  • Complete Cactus III additional capacity and assess further phases.
  • Expand Permian gathering and Canadian gathering systems.
  • Deliver $50 million of cost efficiencies in 2026 and another $50 million in 2027.
  • Pursue opportunistic bolt-on acquisitions while retaining financial flexibility.
  • Return cash to shareholders while maintaining capital discipline.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
PAA EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q1 '24 estimate $0.39 Q1 '24 actual $0.41, beat Q2 '24 estimate $0.31 Q2 '24 actual $0.31, match Q3 '24 estimate $0.31 Q3 '24 actual $0.37, beat Q2 '25 estimate $0.32 Q2 '25 actual $0.36, beat Q3 '25 estimate $0.35 Q3 '25 actual $0.39, beat Q4 '25 estimate $0.47 Q4 '25 actual $0.40, miss Q1 '26 estimate $0.37 Q1 '26 actual $0.39, beat Q2 '26 estimate $0.38 Q2 '26 actual $0.41, beat Q3 '26 estimate $0.41 Q4 '26 estimate $0.43 Q1 '27 estimate $0.43 Q2 '27 estimate $0.44
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy42 ratings
Bullish2457.1%
Neutral1740.5%
Bearish12.4%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$23.79Current
$11Low
$21.63Average
$31High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Nov 6, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Jefferies Buy BuyMaintainOct 28, 2026
UBS Buy BuyMaintainOct 9, 2026
Mizuho Outperform OutperformMaintainSep 21, 2026
Barclays Underweight UnderweightMaintainSep 21, 2026
Citigroup Neutral NeutralMaintainSep 17, 2026
Show 37 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $23.79. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
JefferiesJulien Dumoulin-Smith$30$26.41 +26.1%Oct 27, 2026
Raymond JamesAnalyst unavailable$28$25.25 +17.7%Oct 19, 2026
ScotiabankMark Lear$28$25.14 +17.7%Oct 15, 2026
UBSManav Gupta$31$24.5 +30.3%Oct 9, 2026
JefferiesJulien Dumoulin-Smith$27$24.42 +13.5%Oct 9, 2026
See 44 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, trucks, and on barges or railcars. This segment provides terminalling, storage, and other related services, as well as merchant activities. The NGL segment is involved in natural gas processing and NGL fractionation, storage, transportation, and terminaling. This segment also includes ethane, propane, normal butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline derived from natural gas production and processing activities, as well as crude oil refining processes. Its NGL components are used for various applications, such as heating, engine, and industrial fuels.The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. operates as a subsidiary of Plains GP Holdings, L.P.

Historical context

All PAA earnings

Energy peers this season

Latest reports in the same sector
CompanyQuarterEPS surpriseMarket moveHeadline
COP ConocoPhillips FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +7.2% -1.1% COP beats Q3 expectations as management reiterates its 2029 cash-flow target
TRP TC Energy Corporation FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q4 2026 +4.7% -0.0% TC Energy Raises EBITDA Outlook as Q3 Growth Accelerates

Latest beats and misses

Who reports next

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-08-07T21:16:40.734899+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-09-12T01:23:12.567806+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-09-21T22:50:48.310599+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-21T22:50:48.307756+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-09-21. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.