Kinder Morgan, Inc.

Kinder Morgan reported second-quarter net income attributable to KMI of $867 million and EPS of $0.39, both up 21% and 22% year over year, respectively. Adjusted EPS was $0.37, up 32% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA grew 12% year over year. Management said EBITDA year to date was up 15% and adjusted EPS was up 35%. For full-year 2026, the company now expects adjusted EBITDA to be at least 5% above its original budget and adjusted EPS to be at least 12% above budget. The quarterly dividend was declared at $0.2975 per share, or $1.19 annualized, up 2% from 2025. Leverage ended the quarter at 3.6x and management expects to end 2026 at 3.6x as well, versus a 4.0x target midpoint. Cash flow from operations year to date was $3.45 billion, dividends paid were $1.315 billion, total capital spending was $1.92 billion, and the Monument acquisition was $500 million.

Rich Kinder struck an upbeat but measured tone, framing the quarter as another strong one and emphasizing that EBITDA and EPS both beat prior-year results and the 2026 budget by significant margins. He argued that rising LNG and power demand are creating substantial new midstream opportunities, and said the company expects to FID very substantial additional projects during the rest of the year. His message was that Kinder Morgan can fund growth largely with internally generated cash flow while maintaining a growing dividend and disciplined leverage.

David Michels highlighted record second-quarter net income and adjusted EBITDA, plus outperformance versus budget of more than 24% on EPS and more than 9% on adjusted EBITDA. He cited 3.6x net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA at quarter end, down from 3.8x at the start of the year and below the budgeted level, and said the company still expects 3.6x leverage at year-end despite higher Monument and growth-capital spending. He also pointed to the cash flow bridge: $3.45 billion of operating cash flow, $1.315 billion of dividends, $1.92 billion of total capital, and the $500 million Monument acquisition.

Analysts focused heavily on how far Kinder Morgan could scale growth capex and whether it might spend well above its roughly $3 billion annual baseline if the data-center and power opportunity set keeps expanding. Management said it has room to do so, citing about $850 million of balance-sheet capacity for every 0.1x of leverage and saying it could move toward 4.0x if needed, while still staying within guardrails. Questions also centered on specific projects such as Project 219 South, Permian Link, Western Gateway, and the timing of turning the $10 billion shadow backlog into sanctioned projects; management repeatedly said the opportunity set is growing, many projects are gas-related, and Western Gateway should FID in the next month or two. On Haynesville, management said volumes are strong, the system is effectively full, and a $500 million transport/treating expansion is on time and on budget.