News Details

HOUSTON & MIDLAND, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNTK) (“Kinetik” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.

Kinetik reported net income including noncontrolling interest of $416.7 million and $525.9 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025, respectively. Kinetik generated Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $252.1 million and $987.7 million, Distributable Cash Flow¹ of $151.7 million and $620.5 million, and Free Cash Flow¹ of $(12.0) million and $167.2 million for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025, respectively.

Highlights

• Generated record full year Adjusted EBITDA ¹ of $987.7 million, despite a challenging operating environment and the sale of the Company’s equity interest in EPIC Crude Holdings, LP (“ EPIC Crude”)
• Amended gas gathering and processing (“ G&P”) agreements with the two largest customers from the legacy Durango Midstream business in New Mexico that extend the terms into the mid-2030s and increase Adjusted EBITDA ¹ beginning in 2026 with fixed-fee structures, the addition of treating fees, and control of residue gas and natural gas liquids
• Reached final investment decision (“ FID”) on the behind-the-meter, gas-fired 40 MW power generation project at the Diamond Cryo facility (“ Diamond Cryo”) in Texas
• Issuing full year 2026 Financial Guidance (“ 2026 Guidance”):
  • Adjusted EBITDA ¹ guidance of $950 million to $1,050 million, a 7% increase year-over-year at the midpoint ²
  • Capital Expenditures ³ guidance of $450 million to $510 million (including maintenance)
• Updated the Company’s Capital Allocation framework to prioritize growth-oriented, scale-driven reinvestment while preserving balance sheet flexibility

CEO Commentary

“2025 was a year of challenges and strategic progress for Kinetik as we navigated a difficult operating environment,” said Jamie Welch, Kinetik’s President & Chief Executive Officer.

“Throughout the year, we advanced several core initiatives, including the commercial in-service of the Kings Landing Processing Complex (“Kings Landing”), the ongoing construction of the ECCC Pipeline, the divestiture of our equity interest in EPIC Crude, and continued commercial progress with our significant customer base – further strengthening the long‑term foundation of our business. Despite industry-wide macroeconomic uncertainty, commodity price pressure, and rising operating costs, our extensive asset footprint and strong customer relationships continued to support resilient financial performance.”

“Looking ahead, the capital investments we executed in 2025 provide a solid foundation for Kinetik to build upon in 2026 and beyond. The fourth quarter results were a positive validation of the steps taken to mitigate the impact of wider production shut-ins due to weak Waha gas pricing and showed the capability and resilience of our Delaware Basin system, even with volumes down over 8% versus our expectations. While we expect continued volatility for much of 2026, we anticipate tailwinds from substantial operating leverage across our system and improving natural gas fundamentals for Waha Hub gas prices as approximately 5 Bcf/d of new Permian natural gas takeaway capacity is placed in-service by the end of the first quarter of 2027 – nearly 20% of current Permian natural gas production volumes.”

“Beyond 2026, we can see an even more compelling outlook as the full year benefits of several of our natural gas liquids contract expirations, system-wide volume growth, enhanced sour gas treating capabilities, cost optimization initiatives, and improving basis differentials are expected to drive material earnings growth. We remain focused on disciplined capital allocation, operational reliability, and positioning Kinetik to deliver sustained, long-term value creation for our shareholders.”

Financial Highlights

Other Financial Updates

In the fourth quarter, the Midstream Logistics segment generated Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $173.1 million, a 15% increase year-over-year. For the three months ended December 31, 2025, Kinetik processed natural gas volumes of 1.79 Bcf/d, a 3% increase year-over-year. Fourth quarter 2025 results primarily benefited from Gulf Coast marketing gains, partially offset by Waha price-related production shut-ins.

The Pipeline Transportation segment generated Adjusted EBITDA¹ of $84.0 million, a 9% decrease year-over-year driven by the divestiture of the Company’s equity interest in EPIC Crude on October 31, 2025.

Distributable Cash Flow¹ and Free Cash Flow¹ in the fourth quarter were lower as distributions received from Permian Highway Pipeline (“PHP”) were down $31.3 million from the third quarter due in large part to a minor timing change in distribution policy resulting in the fourth quarter distribution being paid at the beginning of January 2026. The timing change in the PHP distribution policy has no other impact or consequence.

The Company repurchased $176.0 million⁹ of Class A common stock in 2025 under the existing Repurchase Program, of which $3.5 million was repurchased during the fourth quarter of 2025.

2026 Outlook & Guidance

Kinetik estimates full year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA¹ to be between $950 million and $1,050 million. The midpoint of guidance assumes:

• High single-digit percentage growth year-over-year in gas processed volumes across the system, after accounting for expected Waha price-related production shut-ins;
• ECCC Pipeline in-service during the second quarter of 2026;
• Kings Landing acid gas injection (“ AGI”) and sour conversion project in-service by year-end 2026; and
• 2026 average annual commodity prices ¹⁰ of $61.58 per barrel for WTI, $3.34 per Mmbtu for Houston Ship Channel natural gas, $0.44 per Mmbtu for Waha Hub natural gas, and $0.52 per gallon for composite natural gas liquids.

Key factors that could drive meaningful variability within the Adjusted EBITDA¹ guidance range include (i) significant changes in commodity prices, (ii) elevated or fewer price-related production shut-ins, (iii) producer development delays or accelerations resulting from commodity price conditions, and (iv) changes in the completion timing of certain strategic projects.

Kinetik estimates 2026 Capital Expenditures³ (including maintenance) to be between $450 million and $510 million. Guidance assumes:

• Approximately 70% of Capital Expenditures ³ is to be spent in New Mexico, which reflects the Company’s rich opportunity set;
• The in-service of the ECCC Pipeline, the Kings Landing AGI and sour conversion project, and expansion of its low- and high-pressure gathering system in Eddy and Lea Counties; and
• Optimization projects in Texas that increase processing capacity across several Delaware South complexes, as well as construction of the behind-the-meter gas-fired power generation project at Diamond Cryo.

Capital Allocation Framework

Kinetik is committed to a growth-oriented, scale-driven capital allocation framework that prioritizes long-term value creation while maintaining financial resilience across market cycles. The Company intends to operate within a targeted Leverage Ratio^1,6 range of 3.5x to 4.0x, while preserving ample liquidity to enable disciplined, value-accretive capital deployment.

Capital allocation decisions and incremental capital returns will be evaluated across three primary levers including organic growth, dividend increases, and share repurchases:

• Organic growth: Prioritize projects with mid-teens or stronger unlevered returns that expand system scale and position the Company for attractive near- and long-term growth
• Dividend increases: Target 3% to 5% annual increases until Dividend Coverage ^1,4 of 1.6x or higher is achieved, at which time the annual dividend is expected to grow in-line with earnings growth
• Share repurchases: Opportunistic and highly accretive to per-share metrics and central to longer term incremental returns

Each lever will compete for capital based on its ability to deliver meaningful, sustainable shareholder value.

Strategic Projects & Commercial Update

Kinetik continues to make significant progress across the Delaware North footprint, highlighted by the successful completion of contract amendments with two of its largest customers. Collectively, the amended contracts increase Adjusted EBITDA¹ beginning in 2026, enhance cash flow visibility, strengthen long‑term customer alignment, and position the Company to grow alongside these producers over the next decade as development increasingly shifts toward more sour gas benches.

Following the recent FID, Kinetik is progressing construction of the AGI and sour conversion project at Kings Landing. The project will enable the Company to handle elevated levels of H₂S and CO₂ across all three Delaware North processing complexes. The Company continues to work closely with the Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division to expedite any remaining permitting requirements. The project remains on schedule with in‑service anticipated by year-end 2026.

Construction continues to progress on the ECCC Pipeline, which will connect the western portion of Kinetik’s system North to South between Eddy and Culberson counties. The project remains on track for in-service during the second quarter of 2026.

In Delaware South, the Company advanced its wholly-owned behind-the-meter power generation project at Diamond Cryo with the purchase of a 40 MW gas turbine. Regulatory and engineering site work is underway, and the project requires less than $25 million in total capital and is targeted for in-service in late 2026. This solution is scalable and can be replicated across additional processing facilities within Kinetik’s footprint.

In February 2026, Kinetik began a pilot engagement with Palantir to evaluate opportunities to enhance decision-making support, integrate real‑time profitability analytics, and improve planning across the Company’s Delaware Basin footprint. This work supports a broader strategy to leverage data and technology to drive efficiency, reliability, and value creation.

Conference Call & Webcast

Kinetik will host its fourth quarter 2025 results conference call on February 26, 2026 at 8:00 am Central Time (9:00 am Eastern Time). To access a live webcast of the conference call, please visit the Investors section of Kinetik’s website at www.ir.kinetik.com. A replay of the conference call will be available on the website following the call.

Investor Presentation

An updated investor presentation will be available under Events and Presentations in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.ir.kinetik.com.

About Kinetik Holdings Inc.

Kinetik is a fully integrated, pure-play, Permian-to-Gulf Coast midstream C-corporation operating in the Delaware Basin. Kinetik is headquartered in Houston and Midland, Texas. Kinetik provides comprehensive gathering, transportation, compression, processing and treating services for companies that produce natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and water. Kinetik posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website, www.kinetik.com.

Forward-looking statements

This news release includes certain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that refer to projections, forecasts, outlooks, guidance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “seeks,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “prospects,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “should,” “would,” “will,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the Company’s future business strategy and plans, expectations, and objectives for the Company’s operations, including statements about strategy, synergies, sustainability goals and initiatives, technology adoption, portfolio monetization opportunities, growth, expansion, cost reduction and other capital projects and the timing and cost thereof, future operations, and financial guidance, growth opportunities, the amount and timing of future shareholder returns, the Company’s projected dividend amounts and the timing thereof, and the Company’s targeted leverage and financial profile. While forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by us that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, whether actual results and developments will meet our expectations and predictions depend on a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results, performance, and financial condition to differ materially from our expectations. See Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 to be filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future development, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Additional information

Additional information follows, including a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow, and Net Debt (non-GAAP financial measures) to the GAAP measures.

Non-GAAP financial measures

Kinetik’s financial information includes information prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as well as non-GAAP financial information. It is management’s intent to provide non-GAAP financial information to enhance understanding of our consolidated financial information as prepared in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow, Dividend Coverage Ratio, Net Debt and Leverage Ratio are non-GAAP measures. This non-GAAP information should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated. See “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” elsewhere in this news release. This news release also includes certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial information. Reconciliations of these forward-looking non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measure are not available without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various reconciling items that would impact the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure, that have not yet occurred, are out of Kinetik’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Accordingly, such reconciliation is excluded from this new release. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

1. A non-GAAP financial measure. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” for further details.
2. 2025 Adjusted EBITDA, excluding actual Adjusted EBITDA contributions from EPIC Crude.
3. Net of contributions in aid of construction and returns of invested capital from unconsolidated affiliates.
4. Dividend Coverage Ratio is Distributable Cash Flow divided by total declared dividends.
5. Net Debt is defined as total current and long-term debt, excluding deferred financing costs, less cash and cash equivalents.
6. Leverage Ratio is total debt less cash and cash equivalents divided by last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA, calculated per the Company’s credit agreement. The calculation includes EBITDA Adjustments for Qualified Projects, Acquisitions and Divestitures.
7. Net Debt to Adjusted EBITDA Ratio is defined as Net Debt divided by last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA.
8. 161.6 million shares, issued and outstanding shares as of December 31, 2025, is the sum of 64.1 million shares of Class A common stock and 97.6 million shares of Class C common stock.
9. Aggregate Dollar value of Kinetik Class A common stock repurchased as of December 31, 2025.
10. Market forward pricing as of February 13, 2026.