Williams EBITDA climbs 9% year to date, upper half of guidance in view (NYSE: WMB). What happened. The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) is tracking toward the upper half of its 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance, after nine-month results rose 9%. The company kept its Adjusted EBITDA range of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion and growth capex of $7.3 billion to $7.9 billion. Third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA was $2.04 billion, up $119 million or 6% from the third quarter of 2025. Available funds from operations (AFFO) rose 10% to $1.59 billion, and cash flow from operations rose 5% to $1.5 billion. AFFO covered the dividend 2.42 times, up from 2.37 times a year earlier. GAAP net income was $699 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, up 8% and 6% from the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted net income was $663 million, or $0.54 per share, up 10%. Key numbers. | Metric | Latest | Change | Source | | Q3 2026 Adjusted EBITDA | $2.04 billion | from $1.92 billion, +6% | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | | Nine-month Adjusted EBITDA | $6.21 billion | from $5.72 billion, +9% | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | | Q3 2026 available funds from operations | $1.59 billion | from $1.45 billion, +10% | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | | Q3 2026 GAAP diluted EPS | $0.56 | from $0.53, +6% | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | | Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA at quarter end | 3.80x | from 3.73x | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | | 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance | $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion | / | SEC 8-K earnings release (Exhibit 99.1) | What drove the quarter. Higher service revenues did most of the work, up $198 million in the quarter and $512 million year to date. Williams credits new power generation revenues, the Momentum acquisition, projects placed in service and higher storage revenues. By segment, nine-month Adjusted EBITDA in Transmission, Power & Gulf was $3 billion against $2.71 billion a year earlier. Northeast G&P reached $1.61 billion against $1.52 billion. Gas & NGL Marketing Services rose to $230 million from $151 million. Williams ties that rise to higher gas marketing margins driven by winter storms. GAAP results got a lift from asset sales that Adjusted EBITDA excludes. The quarter included an $83 million gain on the sale of a Permian gathering system. The nine months also include a $130 million net gain on the June sale of the Brazos Permian II equity-method investment. They add a $194 million gain on the January sale of the South Mansfield upstream interests. Those gains are part of the nine-month GAAP net income increase of $508 million, to $2.39 billion from $1.88 billion. Offsets included acquisition and JV formation costs. Unfavorable changes in unrealized gains on commodity derivatives were $29 million in the quarter and $116 million year to date. Why it matters. OptimistFi has argued that Williams turns its gas network into predictable cash flows and must then convert that cash into lower leverage. The quarter supports the first half. Transco's average daily transportation volumes were 15.4 MMdth against 14.9 MMdth in the third quarter of 2025, and firm reserved capacity was 20.7 MMdth against 20.6 MMdth. Adjusted EBITDA rose $497 million year to date, to $6.21 billion from $5.72 billion. Reaching the low end of guidance requires about $2.09 billion in the fourth quarter, above the $2.03 billion of the fourth quarter of 2025. The second half of the case is less settled. Williams did not raise guidance. Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA was 3.80x at quarter end against 3.73x a year earlier and a 2026 midpoint of approximately 3.75x. Williams says the ratio is not the one used for credit agreement compliance or by rating agencies. It is net of cash and $857 million of reimbursable long-lead power equipment purchases. Spending, debt and the growth slate. Capital investments excluding acquisitions were $2.73 billion in the third quarter against $1.05 billion a year earlier. For nine months they were $6.01 billion against $2.76 billion. The Momentum purchase, net of cash acquired, came on top of that at $2.82 billion. Long-term debt stood at $31.73 billion on Sept. 30 against $27.32 billion at Dec. 31, 2025. Cash was $1.76 billion against $63 million. The cash flow statement also shows $3.74 billion of proceeds from the sale of a partial interest in a consolidated subsidiary. On growth, Williams announced a 9.4 Bcf storage expansion at Clay Basin, Transco's 150+ MMcf/d Southeast Supply Enhancement II, and an 84 MMcf/d upsizing of Transco's Garden Connector. It expanded pipeline capacity by 413 MMcf/d across four projects. CEO Chad Zamarin cited confidence in an 11% plus Adjusted EBITDA compound annual growth rate through 2030. What's next. Williams holds its third-quarter earnings call and webcast on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Socrates Plato North Power project is on track to enter service by mid-November. Zamarin said Williams is working to commercialize additional power projects and expects to announce them soon. New power contracts, or a raise to the Adjusted EBITDA range, would strengthen the case. Leverage staying above the 3.75x midpoint would work against the debt-reduction half of it. From optimistfi perps. Sources. * Williams third-quarter 2026 earnings release (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) - News release dated Nov. 2, 2026 with unaudited results for the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2026, guidance, segment tables and reconciliations. * SEC filing Browse every company OptimistFi covers at optimistfi.com/stocks, or read the latest evidence-first research. Originally published on OptimistFi, evidence-first equity research. More at optimistfi.com.

Largest gas pipeline network in Northwest could grow as Oklahoma-based owners pursue expansion. Published 9:47 am Thursday, October 22, 2026 By Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle Natural gas pipeline and infrastructure in the Northwest. One of the largest pipeline systems in the state could soon carry even more gas to the region under a proposal by Oklahoma-based pipeline company Wilson. (U.S. Bureau of Land Management/Contributed) | Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... | Pipeline giant Williams has proposed new expansions for its Northwest Pipeline from the Colorado Rockies through Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The Oklahoma-based company that owns one of the largest gas pipeline networks in the Northwest is beginning to pursue permits to expand that network, and to pump more gas to the region to meet rising electricity demand. Pipeline company Williams, owner of the 4,000-mile long Northwest Pipeline system that brings fracked gas from Rocky Mountain states to Idaho, Washington and Oregon, last month submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission paperwork to build a new pipeline called the Silver Spur between two existing gas transmission lines in Idaho and Nevada. The news was first reported by the nonprofit gas industry watchdog group Oil and Gas Watch. If approved, the 88-mile pipeline would carry up to 275 million additional standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to the Northwest, while states like Oregon and Washington simultaneously try to drive down gas consumption through policies and pollution caps meant to slow the growing threat of climate change. Environmental advocates say Williams' claims that the pipeline is meant to meet overall demand for electricity growing in the region masks that the demand is being driven almost entirely by data centers. The Hood River-based nonprofit environmental organization is raising alarms about the proposed expansion with state officials and earlier this year led 20 organizations in calling on Washington and Oregon leaders to block fossil fuel expansion in the region. Two analyses from Columbia Riverkeeper and the Seattle-based think tank Sightline Institute show that a growing number of Northwest utility companies are spending on new gas-powered energy infrastructure or buying gas-powered energy from other states to power new demand coming almost exclusively from data centers. Spokespersons for Williams did not respond to the Capital Chronicle's questions Thursday about who the primary buyers of the gas would be. A recent analysis by ECOnorthwest found data centers today are responsible for nearly one-quarter of all power consumption in Oregon. As part of the permitting process, FERC and other federal agencies will review the Silver Spur project, and eventually hold public meetings and comment periods. The company has said in interviews it plans to complete the pipeline in 2030. The pipeline expansion would be significantly more than the 150 million cubic feet per day that Canadian pipeline company TC Energy was approved to add to its Gas Transmission Northwest Express pipeline in 2023, and that got major pushback from the region's Democratic leaders, including U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and then-Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington. A spokesperson for Wyden said he was not able to comment Wednesday while the senator was in Bend following the school shooting at Silver Rail Elementary, and a spokesperson for Merkley did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon. Silver Spur is one part of Williams' proposed larger Rockies Columbia Connector system, which would eventually include a nearly 160-mile pipeline expansion along the Washington side of the Columbia River, and another 137-mile pipeline called Valley Trail, in eastern Washington's Grant County and the state's data center hub in Quincy, according to reporting from The Seattle Times. Williams has not yet filed for permits for the Rockies Columbia Connector or the Valley Trail pipelines, but altogether the expansion could bring nearly 1 billion cubic feet more natural gas to the region per day. The company has said it hopes to have the Rockies Columbia Connector complete by late 2030. In a March earnings call, company executives described the projects as part of one of the largest gas pipeline expansions in the Northwest in more than two decades. This article was originally published by Oregon Capital Chronicle and used with permission. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected].

Williams Cos. president expresses commitment to Tulsa, calls for investments in education, quality of life. * Oct 21, 2026 Updated Oct 22, 2026 * 1 Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer OKLAHOMA CITY - Chad Zamarin, the president of Williams Cos., expressed a strong commitment to Tulsa while speaking to lawmakers at the state Capitol on Tuesday, but also a strong desire to see major quality of life improvements that would make it easier for the Fortune 500 company to attract and retain talented employees. Zamarin was among 10 contributors to an interim study that examined strategies for making Oklahoma more attractive to businesses and the people they employ. The forum was organized by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa. While Oklahoma has attributes, including its comparatively low cost of living and reputation for being business friendly, that work in its favor, Zamarin and others cited its poor reputation for public education, rising crime and problems associated with homelessness and things like poor mental health care as serious strikes against it. They advised that strategies to adopt more favorable tax policies will not be enough to keep young people in the state or attract new economic investment. People are also reading... The Williams CEO said the company expects to add 1,500 new employees in the coming year but will likely struggle to hire 150 of them in Tulsa. It won't be by choice, but by necessity, he said. "If we could we would hire every one of those jobs right here, (but) the reality is that Oklahoma is not yet attracting the workforce of the future. The talent we need is not being adequately developed locally and is not choosing to move here," he said. "So we do what any growing company does. We hire and grow where the talent is and where the talent wants to be." He asked state lawmakers to consider three priorities for making Oklahoma more competitive. Improving education and workforce development is critical, he said. "Families will not choose to be here if our education system fails to prepare kids for the future," he said. A second priority should be on public safety. "When people choose where to live, public safety is a major factor, and homelessness and crime have become a drag on quality of life," Zamarin said. "Downtown Tulsa has been struggling to grow due to a lack of residential options and an increase in homelessness and crime." Zamarin thanked Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, who was also a contributor to the study, for work that has been accomplished addressing public safety issues. "But the reality is, I can't ask an employee to come to the office before the sun rises nor stay till after the sun sets because it's risky for them to walk to their car parked in our parking garage," he said. "That is not acceptable, and that is the challenge, and people see that when they come to think about joining our company." Zamarin also asked lawmakers to consider ways to strengthen partnerships between businesses, cities, the state and nonprofit organizations and foundations to encourage healthy growth in downtown districts. "Let me be clear. Williams is an Oklahoma company, and we are working hard and investing aggressively to keep it that way," he said. "We're proposing a major reinvestment in downtown Tulsa. Phase one would bring literally thousands of new residents in to downtown. It would include a soccer stadium. It would include two new hotels. It would include two new corporate headquarters in downtown Tulsa. We can do that for about $850 million... That sounds like a lot, but we're thinking too small, I think, as a state. We were just in Kansas City, where they're spending almost $3 billion this year and $9.5 billion between now and the end of the decade, (and) that's a city that's only twice the size of Tulsa." He said priorities at the Capitol shouldn't be on cutting taxes or on providing incentives for corporations. Rather, they should be on making smart investments in education, public safety and in the vibrancy of downtown business districts, which he likened to "beating hearts" vital to the health of Oklahoma's overall economy. "Our goal should be very simple," Zamarin said. "A child born in Oklahoma should never have to look beyond the state borders for the education and opportunity to reach their full potential, and an engineer in Houston weighing an offer from Williams should look at Tulsa and see the obvious choice."