Key Highlights

  • Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) reported adjusted earnings of USD 0.35 per share on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, against the consensus estimate of USD 0.33 and USD 0.29 a year earlier.
  • The expansion project backlog rose USD 4.7 billion in the quarter to a record USD 14.4 billion, after USD 5.4 billion of additions and USD 700 million of projects placed in service.
  • Two large pipelines anchor the additions: the Southeast Connector, with a company share of about USD 3.1 billion, and Permian Link, about USD 4.2 billion in total, serving an A-rated hyperscaler.
  • Management now expects 2026 adjusted earnings per share more than 13% above the USD 1.36 budget, while net debt stood at 3.5 times adjusted EBITDA, at the low end of its target range.

A Record Quarter and a Bigger Backlog

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI), the Houston-based operator of natural gas, refined products and carbon dioxide pipelines and terminals, reported third-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Adjusted earnings per share were USD 0.35, against the consensus estimate of USD 0.33, and GAAP earnings per share were USD 0.34, both up 21%. Revenue rose 9% to USD 4.53 billion, and adjusted EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, rose 9% to USD 2.18 billion. Natural Gas Pipelines segment earnings rose 6% to USD 1.49 billion, while CO2 rose 35% and Terminals 15%. Gas transport volumes rose 3%, helped by deliveries to liquefied natural gas export plants. The project backlog rose to USD 14.4 billion, of which USD 13.2 billion is natural gas, the largest in company history.

How Power Demand Feeds the Backlog

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) earns most of its income from take-or-pay contracts, under which shippers pay for reserved capacity whether or not they use it. More than 75% of the backlog supports power generation and local distribution companies, the utilities that deliver gas to homes and businesses. The new Permian Link line, about 434 miles and 2.8 billion cubic feet a day, will serve an A-rated hyperscaler, a large cloud data centre operator, from the third quarter of 2030. The Southeast Connector adds up to 2.6 billion cubic feet a day in phases from the fourth quarter of 2030. The company puts the take-or-pay portion at about 5.7 times first-full-year project EBITDA, a measure of build cost against early earnings.

Risks and What to Watch

The first risk for Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) is execution, since the largest additions enter service between 2029 and 2030, and long pipeline builds face permitting, cost and timing pressure. The second is funding: capital spending reached USD 1.05 billion in the quarter, and free cash flow after dividends was negative USD 120 million. The third is legal cost, as the Products Pipelines segment carried USD 138 million of legal, environmental and other accruals, excluded from adjusted figures. The company expects leverage of 3.6 times at year-end against a 3.8 times budget. Investors should watch the dividend of USD 0.2975 per share, payable on Monday, November 16, 2026 to holders of record on Monday, November 2, 2026, and the Plantation North expansion, expected by year-end 2026.

Where Things Stand

The answer is that Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) added USD 5.4 billion of projects because utilities and a data centre operator signed for long-term gas capacity. The record USD 14.4 billion backlog, mostly natural gas, sits behind adjusted earnings of USD 0.35 per share, ahead of the USD 0.33 consensus estimate. The next catalysts are the dividend record date on Monday, November 2, 2026, payment on Monday, November 16, 2026 and year-end leverage against the 3.6 times expectation. Project timelines and budgets can change, and this is not investment advice.