Western Midstream Partners (WES) Q3 2026: Record Throughput, Distribution Held at $0.93

Western Midstream Partners posted Q3 2026 earnings of $0.78 per diluted unit, missing the $0.91 consensus estimate by roughly 14%. Revenue of $1.19 billion also came in just below the $1.21 billion expectation, a gap of about 1.2%. The quarter absorbed $12.5 million in acquisition-related expenses tied to the June 2026 Brazos Delaware II purchase and a $5.8 million loss on divestiture, both of which weighed on the bottom line.

The core drag on margins was sequential compression in the natural-gas segment: per-Mcf Adjusted Gross Margin slipped to $1.25 from $1.35 in Q2. Lower crude-oil and NGLs pricing and a 4% sequential decline in DJ Basin throughput compounded the pressure. Seasonally higher operating and maintenance expense added to the headwinds, all of which management flagged as typical for the third quarter.

Despite the double miss, there were genuine operational bright spots. Natural-gas throughput hit a record 5.9 Bcf/d, up 8% sequentially, and Delaware Basin natural-gas throughput reached a record 2.6 Bcf/d, up 20% sequentially, largely on a full quarter of Brazos Delaware contribution. Delaware Basin produced-water throughput also set a record at 3,047 MBbls/d. Management said the Brazos integration is on track, with those assets expected to connect into the West Texas Complex by mid-December to reduce offloads and generate more value for unitholders.

The $0.93 quarterly distribution per unit was held steady, sustaining an annualized yield of roughly 8.4%. Management reaffirmed its 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $2.75 billion to $2.95 billion and said it now expects results above the midpoint, more than $250 million above the original February midpoint of $2.6 billion. CEO Oscar K. Brown cited a greater number of wells expected to come online in Q4 as the catalyst for strong fourth-quarter results.

Looking further out, management said 2026 capital expenditures are expected to come in slightly above the high end of the $850 million to $1.0 billion guidance range, reflecting investment in the Solitude pipeline system and accelerating producer activity. For 2027, Western Midstream is targeting throughput growth across all three product lines, supported by a full year of Brazos, the Pathfinder pipeline start-up, North Loving II coming online, and new Powder River Basin gathering and processing agreements.