Enterprise Products Partners L.P. EPD reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 84 cents per unit, up 27.3% from 66 cents per unit a year earlier. The bottom line topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents per unit by 12%.
Revenues surged 60.8% to $18.3 billion from $11.4 billion in the prior-year quarter. The top line surpassed the consensus estimate of $13.6 billion by 34.56%.
The strong quarterly results were driven by increased international demand, higher marketing margins and record system activity.
Equivalent pipeline volumes rose 8% to a record 14.7 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 13.6 million bpd in the year-ago quarter.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Quote
EPD Benefits From Broad-Based Margin Growth
Total gross operating margin increased $514 million to a record $3 billion. The improvement included a $77 million increase in unrealized mark-to-market gains on financial instruments used for hedging activities.
Management attributed the strong quarter partly to acute global demand for U.S. energy during April and May. The partnership generated about $200 million from incremental volumes and margins tied to this demand, with the contribution distributed across NGL, crude oil, petrochemicals and other operations. Those market differentials largely normalized afterward.
Enterprise Products’ NGL Operations Strengthen
The NGL Pipelines & Services segment generated gross operating margin of $1.6 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year earlier. Gross operating margin from natural gas processing and related NGL marketing increased to $512 million from $341 million.
Permian Basin processing volumes rose 14% to 4.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Higher processing margins and volumes lifted results in both the Midland and Delaware basins. NGL marketing also benefited from improved sales margins, higher sales volumes and favorable mark-to-market activity.
NGL pipeline volumes increased 8% to a record 4.9 million barrels per day (MMBbl/d). Fractionation volumes reached 1.9 MMBbl/d, aided by Frac 14, which entered service in the fourth quarter of 2025.
EPD Posts Record Crude & Gas Results
Crude Oil Pipelines and Services gross operating margin increased to $485 million from $403 million. Texas crude oil pipelines, terminals and marketing benefited from higher sales volumes and margins, while the Seaway Pipeline gained from increased pipeline and marine terminal activity.
Crude oil pipeline volumes reached a record 3 MMBbl/d, while crude marine terminal volumes rose to 1.1 MMBbl/d. Seaway volumes benefited from exports of crude originating from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Natural Gas Pipelines and Services delivered a record gross operating margin of $556 million, up from $417 million a year earlier. Higher natural gas marketing margins, improved transportation fees on the Texas Intrastate System and increased Permian gathering volumes supported the gain.
Enterprise Products Expands Petrochemical Margins
Petrochemical and Refined Products Services gross operating margin rose to $418 million from $354 million. Segment pipeline volumes increased to a record 1.2 MMBbl/d, while marine terminal volumes advanced to 422,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d).
The ethylene business benefited from higher export, sales and pipeline volumes. Propylene production increased 14% to a record 134,000 Bbl/d, driving higher sales volumes and margins. Improved octane enhancement sales margins also contributed to the segment’s performance.
EPD Generates Record Cash Flow
Adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to a record $2.83 billion. Operational distributable cash flow rose 21% to $2.31 billion and provided 1.9 times the coverage of the second-quarter distribution. Enterprise Products retained $1.1 billion of distributable cash flow.
Adjusted cash flow from operations advanced 19% to $2.52 billion.
Enterprise Products’ Balance sheet & Dividend
Total debt principal was $33.53 billion at quarter-end. Enterprise Products reported a 3.0X leverage ratio and $4 billion of liquidity, later supplemented by an incremental $1 billion short-term credit facility.
The partnership declared a quarterly distribution of 56 cents per unit, up 2.8% and repurchased $159 million of common units during the quarter.
EPD Advances Growth Projects
Enterprise Products invested $1.2 billion during the quarter, including $1 billion in growth projects and $140 million in sustaining capital. It expects 2026 growth capital spending in the range of $2.9-$3.4 billion after applying about $600 million of asset-sale proceeds. Sustaining capital expenditures are projected at approximately $600 million.
The partnership has $6.5 billion of major projects under construction. Planned additions include two 300 million-cubic-feet-per-day Permian processing plants and the 150,000 Bbl/d Frac 15 facility. The Houston Ship Channel LPG export terminal expansion is expected to begin operations by year-end 2026.
Management expects growth capital expenditures to be around $3 billion in 2027, with more than 80% already committed to sanctioned projects. Despite higher planned investment, discretionary free cash flow for 2026 could still approach $1 billion.
EPD’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Enterprise Products currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the energy sector are PBF Energy Inc. PBF, HF Sinclair Corporation DINO and Cactus, Inc. WHD. PBF sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while DINO and WHD carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each, at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.
PBF reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.22 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.05 per share.
As of June 30, 2026, PBF had total debt of $1.75 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of $894.1 million.
HF Sinclair reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $5.31 per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.39 per share.
As of June 30, 2026, DINO had total debt of $2.77 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of $2.26 billion.
Cactus reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 93 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents per share.
As of June 30, 2026, WHD had cash and cash equivalents of $365 million.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
PBF Energy Inc. (PBF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Cactus, Inc. (WHD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
