Antero Midstream Raises Free Cash Flow Outlook by $370 Million After Litigation Win

Antero Midstream's third-quarter profit more than tripled on Wednesday after the pipeline and water services company booked a $377 million gain from the Clearwater litigation, and it raised its full-year free cash flow outlook by $370 million to reflect the payout.

Net income rose to $393 million, or $0.82 a diluted share, from $116 million, or $0.24, a year earlier, according to its earnings release filed with an 8-K on Wednesday. Stripping out the litigation gain and other items, adjusted net income was $134 million, or $0.28 a share, up 4% per share.

A one-time cash boost

The litigation proceeds drove adjusted free cash flow before dividends to $555 million in the quarter, and $449 million after dividends, compared with $185 million and $78 million a year earlier.

The company raised its 2026 guidance for adjusted free cash flow before dividends to $1.125 billion to $1.185 billion and after dividends to $700 million to $760 million, both up $370 million at the midpoint. It lifted net income guidance to $765 million to $815 million, up $280 million at the midpoint, and said all other guidance ranges were unchanged.

Volumes keep climbing

Gathering volumes rose 19% and compression volumes increased 17% from a year earlier, while fresh water delivery volumes fell 3% to 89,000 barrels per day. Processing volumes from its joint venture averaged 1.6 Bcf per day, and processing and fractionation capacity were both fully utilized.

Revenue was $327 million, including $257 million from Gathering and Processing and $70 million from Water Handling. Adjusted EBITDA increased 3% to $291 million, and capital spending was $51 million, in line with a year earlier.

About 10 Bcf of throughput was lost to curtailments in the quarter, and the company expects about 15 to 20 Bcf of curtailments in the fourth quarter.

"Antero Midstream delivered another quarter of year-over-year throughput and earnings growth with flat capital investments," CEO Michael Kennedy said in the release. He said two drilled but uncompleted growth pads and the water system integration "are expected to drive visible EBITDA growth in the fourth quarter of 2026 and 2027."

Debt down, buybacks up

CFO Justin Agnew said the company cut absolute debt by more than $400 million during the quarter, called its nearest-maturity senior notes and accelerated share repurchases once it hit its leverage target. Leverage declined to 2.8 times as of Sept. 30.

Antero Midstream bought back 1.3 million shares for about $27 million in the quarter and had about $283 million of remaining capacity under its repurchase program. Agnew said the share count has fallen by 4 million shares from a year ago.

What's next

The company expects to place 80 MMcf per day of additional compression capacity in service in the liquids-rich corridor during the fourth quarter and continued initial construction on East Side Express, its first regional connectivity expansion project. It will hold a conference call on Thursday at 10 a.m. MT.

Sources

1. Antero Midstream Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 28, 2026 (accession 0001104659-26-119692)

This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not investment advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Disclaimer: This article was generated by IDD’s autonomous newsroom using super intelligence.