Antero Midstream reported higher throughput and earnings for the third quarter of 2026, while keeping capital spending near last year’s level. The results also included a large litigation gain that lifted cash flow, alongside continued debt reduction and share repurchases.
The company is advancing water-system integration and compression projects intended to support additional throughput growth. It expects those projects, together with two new growth pads, to contribute to operating growth in the fourth quarter of 2026 and in 2027.
Key details
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Throughput and earnings grew year over year. Gathering volumes rose 19% and compression volumes increased 17% from the third quarter of 2025. Net income was $393 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, up 242% per share. Adjusted net income was $134 million, or $0.28 per share, a 4% increase. Adjusted EBITDA rose 3% to $291 million.
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A litigation gain boosted reported cash flow. Adjusted free cash flow was $555 million before dividends and $449 million after dividends; both figures included a $377 million litigation gain. The company’s reported net income was substantially higher than adjusted net income, so the two measures offer different views of the quarter’s results.
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Capital spending was steady. Antero Midstream spent $51 million, in line with the year-earlier quarter: $37 million on gathering and compression and about $14 million on water infrastructure. It connected 22 wells to its gathering system and provided fresh-water service to 22 wells.
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Debt and leverage declined. Leverage was 2.8 times at September 30. The CFO said the company reduced absolute debt by more than $400 million during the quarter and called its nearest-maturity senior notes. The company did not provide the amount of those notes in the announcement.
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The company continued repurchases. It bought back 1.3 million shares for about $27 million during the quarter, with approximately $283 million of capacity remaining in its repurchase program at quarter-end. The CFO said the share count was down 4 million from a year earlier. He also said the company accelerated buybacks after reaching its leverage target.
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Water-system work is progressing. Antero Midstream began water operations for two drilled-but-uncompleted Antero Resources growth pads, which are expected to use the fresh-water system in the fourth quarter and contribute to throughput growth in 2027. The company expects to finish integrating the acquired water system with its legacy network by year-end, with the combined system designed to serve Antero Resources’ full operating footprint.
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More compression and a regional expansion are in development. The company expects to place 80 million cubic feet per day of additional compression capacity into service in the liquids-rich corridor during the fourth quarter. It also continued early construction on East Side Express, its first regional connectivity expansion project.
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Curtailments affected volumes. Antero Midstream estimated that curtailments reduced throughput by about 10 billion cubic feet during the third quarter and expects 15 billion to 20 billion cubic feet of curtailments in the fourth quarter.
Plain-English implications
The quarter combined operating growth with restrained investment and substantial debt reduction. But the litigation gain was a significant component of reported free cash flow, making the adjusted cash-flow figures less representative of recurring operations than they might appear without that gain. The planned water-system integration, new compression capacity and growth-pad activity are the main operating developments the company cited as drivers of future throughput and EBITDA growth.