Enterprise Products Partners LP EPD reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per limited partner unit of 68 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents. The bottom line increased from the year-ago level of 64 cents.
Total quarterly revenues of $14.4 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.1 billion. The top line declined from $15.4 billion in the prior-year quarter.
The lower-than-expected quarterly earnings were primarily attributable to weak margins in Crude Oil Pipelines & Services and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.
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’s Segmental Performance
Pipeline volumes in natural gas liquids (NGL), crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals totaled 8.6 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 7.9 million bpd in the year-ago quarter. Natural gas pipeline volumes amounted to 21.2 trillion British thermal units per day (TBtus/d), higher than 20.3 TBtus/d in the year-ago quarter. Marine terminal volumes totaled 2.3 million bpd, up from 2.0 million bpd in the year-ago period.
The gross operating margin at NGL Pipelines & Services increased to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. The upside can be primarily attributed to higher volumes and average processing margin at Permian Basin processing facilities. Increased average fractionation fees and improved volume at the Mont Belvieu area NGL Fractionation Complex also added to the upside. Improved performance in the Permian Basin and Rocky Mountain NGL pipelines, Morgan’s Point and Neches River Terminals, and lower loss in MTM Change added to the positives. Reduced loading fee at EHT slightly offset these upsides.
Natural Gas Pipelines and Services’ gross operating margin increased to $496 million from $357 million in the first quarter of 2025. This was primarily due to higher sales margins in Natural gas marketing activities, improved transportation volume with higher capacity reservation fees in the Texas Intrastate System, higher transportation volumes in the Acadian Gas System and Haynesville Gathering System. The positives were offset by a higher loss in MTM activity.
Crude Oil Pipelines & Services recorded a gross operating margin of $329 million, down from $374 million in the prior-year quarter due to a higher loss in MTM activity and declining sales margins in Crude oil pipelines, related terminals and marketing activities.
The gross operating margin at Petrochemical & Refined Products Services was $314 million compared with $315 million in the first quarter of 2025 due to improved propylene sales volume in Propylene production and related activities (excluding MTM). The positives were offset by a higher loss in MTM activity and reduced Octane enhancement and related plant operations.
Enterprise Products’ Cash Flow
The distributable cash flow totaled $2.1 billion compared with $2.0 billion in the year-ago period, providing a coverage of 1.8X. Enterprise retained $1.5 billion of distributable cash flow in the first quarter. It generated an adjusted free cash flow of $1.9 billion, up from $1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Financials of EPD
In the reported quarter, Enterprise’s total capital investment was $988 million.
As of March 31, 2026, the outstanding total debt principal was $34.2 billion, and consolidated liquidity amounted to $3.3 billion.
Enterprise Products’ Outlook
Enterprise’s growth capital expenditure for 2026 is expected to be $2.3-$2.6 billion.
The partnership expects to sustain a capital expenditure of $580 million for 2026.
EPD’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
EPD currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks from the energy sector are Kinder Morgan, Inc. KMI, BP plc BP and Eni S.p.A. E, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Kinder Morgan reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 48 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents.
As of March 31, 2026, KMI reported $72 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its long-term debt amounted to $29.7 billion.
BP reported first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.24 per American Depositary Share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents.
As of March 31, 2026, BP reported $35.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. At the quarter's end, its long-term debt amounted to $25.3 billion.
Eni reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 81 cents per American Depository Receipt, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13.
As of March 31, 2026, E had a long-term debt of €21.7 billion, and cash and cash equivalents of €8.3 billion.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).