Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusBuy33 ratings
Bullish2678.8%
Neutral721.2%
Bearish00.0%
The Williams Companies, Inc. · WMB · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026
Williams Posts Record Q1 EBITDA, Raises Capex to Back Power Push
Williams delivered record Q1 FY2026 adjusted EBITDA of $2.25 billion, up 13% year-over-year, with EPS of $0.73 beating the $0.634 consensus estimate by 15%. Revenue of $3.03 billion came in 7.6% below the $3.28 billion estimate. The company launched three new power-innovation projects and multiple pipeline expansions, guiding full-year EBITDA toward the upper half of its prior range while raising the capex midpoint to $7.3 billion. Leverage rose to 4.1x, above the target range, but management expects earnings growth to deleverage by 2028. The market reaction was muted on the print (+0.14% abnormal vs. +0.80% benchmark), and the stock subsequently drifted about 5.9% lower over the following weeks. At $70.16, shares trade 16% below the analyst consensus target of $83.54.
Reported After market closeNYSEEnergy
$85.81B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationThe Williams Companies, Inc., alongside its subsidiaries, operates as a prominent energy infrastructure entity, primarily conducting business throughout the United States. The company’s operations are organized into four key segments: Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico division manages crucial natural gas pipelines such as Transco and Northwest, in addition to natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets situated in the Gulf Coast. This segment also oversees various petrochemical and feedstock pipelines. Focusing on midstream activities, the Northeast G&P segment handles gathering, processing, and fractionation within the Marcellus Shale region, predominantly in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio.…
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$0.73
Consensus $1
EPS surprise
+15.1%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$3.03B
Consensus $3.28B
Revenue surprise
-7.6%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$70.16Previous close
$28Low
$59.67Average
$99High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 29, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Barclays | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 8, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 1, 2026 |
| CIBC | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 26, 2026 |
| UBS | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 12, 2026 |
| Scotiabank | Sector Outperform | Sector Outperform | Maintain | May 12, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 8, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 7, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 7, 2026 |
| Stifel | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 6, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Mar 24, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Mar 13, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Nov 5, 2025 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 14, 2025 |
| Wolfe Research | Peer Perform | Underperform | Upgrade | Jun 13, 2025 |
| Mizuho | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Nov 4, 2024 |
| Seaport Global | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Jul 30, 2024 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Strong Buy | Downgrade | Apr 21, 2023 |
| Bernstein | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Feb 27, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Mar 16, 2022 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 18, 2022 |
| TD Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Feb 24, 2021 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 2, 2018 |
| Argus | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 5, 2018 |
| Evercore Partners | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 2, 2016 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 2, 2016 |
| Tudor Pickering | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jul 21, 2016 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jun 17, 2014 |
| Maxim Group | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Feb 12, 2014 |
| Scotia Howard Weil | Sector Perform | Sector Outperform | Downgrade | Jan 8, 2014 |
| ISI Group | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Oct 14, 2013 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $70.16. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIBC | Analyst unavailable | $83 | $75.42 | +18.3% | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $99 | $74.46 | +41.1% | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | John MacKay | $82 | $74.46 | +16.9% | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $75 | $75.08 | +6.9% | Jul 8, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Julien Dumoulin-Smith | $85 | $74.34 | +21.2% | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $71.56 | +21.2% | May 29, 2026 |
| CIBC | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $76.89 | +21.2% | May 26, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $98 | $79.74 | +39.7% | May 20, 2026 |
| Scotiabank | Brandon Bingham | $86 | $74.18 | +22.6% | May 12, 2026 |
| UBS | Manav Gupta | $91 | $74.18 | +29.7% | May 12, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $87 | $74.88 | +24.0% | May 6, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $82 | $75.16 | +16.9% | May 1, 2026 |
| Williams Trading | Analyst unavailable | $82 | $71.15 | +16.9% | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Julien Dumoulin-Smith | $83 | $72.27 | +18.3% | Apr 10, 2026 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $73 | $72.17 | +4.0% | Feb 20, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $81 | $72.28 | +15.5% | Feb 17, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $89 | $72.28 | +26.9% | Feb 17, 2026 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $71.13 | +11.2% | Feb 12, 2026 |
| Williams Trading | Analyst unavailable | $84 | $71.13 | +19.7% | Feb 12, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $71.97 | +11.2% | Feb 12, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $80 | $68.84 | +14.0% | Feb 11, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $68.84 | +11.2% | Feb 11, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $76 | $66.33 | +8.3% | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Gabriel Moreen | $73 | $66.14 | +4.0% | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Scotiabank | Brandon Bingham | $66 | $61.68 | -5.9% | Jan 16, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $71 | $61.02 | +1.2% | Jan 9, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Robert Mosca | $70 | $57.72 | -0.2% | Nov 5, 2025 |
| BMO Capital | Ameet Thakkar | $70 | $57.68 | -0.2% | Nov 5, 2025 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $66 | $62.68 | -5.9% | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Williams Trading | Julien Dumoulin-Smith | $72 | $63.5 | +2.6% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $83 | $63.69 | +18.3% | Oct 2, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $65 | $63.18 | -7.4% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $63.97 | +11.2% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $67 | $63.97 | -4.5% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Williams Trading | Spiro Dounis | $65 | $57.88 | -7.4% | Aug 29, 2025 |
| Williams Trading | Robert Catellier | $64 | $57.34 | -8.8% | Aug 15, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Praneeth Satish | $70 | $57.89 | -0.2% | Aug 7, 2025 |
| Williams Trading | Stewart Glickman | $62 | $53.07 | -11.6% | Nov 8, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Gabriel Moreen | $56 | $52.14 | -20.2% | Nov 4, 2024 |
| Williams Trading | Jean Ann Salisbury | $55 | $51.37 | -21.6% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Bank of America Securities | Jean Ann Salisbury | $55 | $51.37 | -21.6% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Williams Trading | Robert Kad | $58 | $49.63 | -17.3% | Oct 4, 2024 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $46 | $46.36 | -34.4% | Oct 2, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Elvira Scotto | $47 | $44.67 | -33.0% | Aug 23, 2024 |
| Barclays | Theresa Chen | $42 | $44.13 | -40.1% | Aug 19, 2024 |
| CFRA | Stewart Glickman | $42 | $43 | -40.1% | Aug 7, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Gabriel Moreen | $47 | $44.77 | -33.0% | Jul 22, 2024 |
| Truist Financial | Neal Dingmann | $42 | $41.02 | -40.1% | Jun 17, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Elvira Scotto | $44 | $41.55 | -37.3% | Jun 13, 2024 |
| Williams Trading | Praneeth Satish | $46 | $40.98 | -34.4% | Jun 4, 2024 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Selman Akyol | $43 | $39.32 | -38.7% | May 7, 2024 |
| Williams Trading | James Carreker | $40 | $39.27 | -43.0% | Apr 29, 2024 |
| Wolfe Research | Keith Stanley | $34 | $37.68 | -51.5% | Apr 18, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | John MacKay | $37 | $39.24 | -47.3% | Apr 10, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $41 | $32.63 | -41.6% | Jan 9, 2023 |
| Williams Trading | Michael Lapides | $30 | $33.29 | -57.2% | Sep 7, 2022 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $40 | $32.63 | -43.0% | Aug 3, 2022 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $42 | $32.86 | -40.1% | Aug 3, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Praneeth Satish | $39 | $35.38 | -44.4% | May 22, 2022 |
| Argus Research | Bill Selesky | $40 | $34.62 | -43.0% | May 13, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $39 | $35.7 | -44.4% | May 4, 2022 |
| Williams Trading | Analyst unavailable | $37 | $33.8 | -47.3% | May 2, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $38 | $34.34 | -45.8% | Apr 28, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $40 | $33.9 | -43.0% | Apr 26, 2022 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $40 | $35.74 | -43.0% | Apr 20, 2022 |
| Raymond James | Justin Jenkins | $36 | $29.73 | -48.7% | Feb 23, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Timm Schneider | $31 | $29.73 | -55.8% | Feb 23, 2022 |
| Barclays | Marc Solecitto | $34 | $29.73 | -51.5% | Feb 23, 2022 |
| UBS | Shneur Gershuni | $36 | $28.83 | -48.7% | Jan 26, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Chase Mulvehill | $35 | $29.2 | -50.1% | Jan 18, 2022 |
| US Capital Advisors | Rebecca Followill | $30 | $27.19 | -57.2% | Nov 18, 2021 |
| Wolfe Research | Alex Kania | $29 | $28.2 | -58.7% | Oct 19, 2021 |
| Seaport Global | Sunil Sibal | $28 | $24.19 | -60.1% | Jul 28, 2021 |
| Argus Research | Bill Selesky | $30 | $25 | -57.2% | May 17, 2021 |
Track every rating change on WMB the moment it posts. Free to start.
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Stock move
+0.9%
Event window
SPY move
+0.8%
Same window
Abnormal move
+0.1%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
1.6×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
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Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
Q1 FY2026 marked a step-up from the prior quarter. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $2.25 billion, up from $1.92 billion in Q3 2025. Three new power-innovation projects were announced: Neo (commissioning by H2 2028 with a 12.5-year contract), Atlas (online by year-end for a Northeast data center), and Silver Spur (pipeline to Idaho by early 2030). Power Express was upsized to 750 MMcf/d with a 2030 in-service target. NESE became the first new gas pipeline in New York City in over a decade. The Naughton Coal Conversion was placed into service. The capex midpoint was raised to $7.3 billion, a sharp increase from the prior 2025 range of $3.95 to $4.25 billion. Leverage rose to 4.1x, above the prior 3.7x target. The Cogentrix investment is slated for divestiture later in 2026, and upstream Haynesville assets were divested in January 2026.
Guidance delta
Management maintained full-year guidance but narrowed expectations toward the upper half of the prior EBITDA range. The capex midpoint was raised to $7.3 billion, reflecting investments in new power-innovation projects and pipeline expansions. The company reaffirmed a 10%+ CAGR target through 2030. Leverage at 4.1x temporarily exceeds the target range, with deleveraging expected by 2028 as earnings from new projects accelerate.
Key takeaways
- Record Q1 FY2026 adjusted EBITDA of $2.25 billion, up 13% YoY; EPS of $0.73 beat the $0.634 estimate by 15%.
- Revenue of $3.03 billion missed the $3.28 billion consensus estimate by 7.6%.
- Three new power-innovation projects (Neo, Atlas, Silver Spur) expand the backlog alongside multiple pipeline expansions including Power Express upsize to 750 MMcf/d.
- Full-year EBITDA guidance narrowed to the upper half of the prior range; capex midpoint raised to $7.3 billion.
- Leverage at 4.1x exceeds the target range, but management expects earnings growth to deleverage by 2028.
Management priorities
- Scale the power-innovation portfolio with Neo, Atlas, and Silver Spur while pursuing additional greenfield opportunities.
- Advance pipeline expansions including Power Express (750 MMcf/d), NESE, SESE, and Silver Spur.
- Pursue permitting reform (401 process) and judicial reform to reduce project delays.
- Finalize financing strategy and potential equity partnerships for the power-innovation portfolio.
- Develop additional natural-gas storage projects at Pine Prairie and Mountain West.
Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-29T06:41:45.589128+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-29T06:41:45.586294+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 . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.