Atmos Energy Q3 Earnings Call Highlights

Atmos Energy reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 earnings guidance after reporting net income of $1.2 billion, or $7.33 per diluted share, for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

Earnings per share rose 14.5% from the prior-year period, according to management.

The company maintained its fiscal 2026 guidance range of $8.40 to $8.50 per share.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Forsythe said third-quarter performance at Atmos Pipeline–Texas, or APT, was in line with expectations, though natural-gas price spreads narrowed beginning in June as additional pipeline takeaway capacity entered service earlier than expected.

Forsythe said year-to-date results included a $132 million, or $0.63-per-share, impact from Texas House Bill 4384.

Of that amount, $71 million was recognized in the distribution segment and $61 million was recognized at APT.

Other contributors to year-to-date performance included $227 million of rate increases across the company’s operating segments, as well as a $41 million operating-income increase tied to residential and commercial customer additions and higher customer load.

APT’s through-system revenue, net of the Rider REV mechanism, increased about $34 million, or $0.16 per share.

APT captured average spreads of $4.66 during the first nine months of fiscal 2026, compared with $1.77 in the comparable prior-year period.

Forsythe attributed the higher spreads to rising associated-gas production, constrained takeaway capacity and lower demand during an unseasonably warm winter heating season.

However, management said those conditions have changed.

Forsythe said new takeaway capacity that had been expected to enter service later in the calendar year came online in late June and late July, contributing to compressed spreads.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Akers said the company now expects APT’s second-half earnings contribution to land near the lower end of a previously discussed $0.08-to-$0.12 range.

Since the start of the fiscal year, Atmos Energy has implemented $396 million of annualized operating-income increases, including $260 million implemented during the fiscal third and fourth quarters, Forsythe said.

The company has seven regulatory filings in progress seeking nearly $334 million in annualized operating-income increases, with most of that amount expected to be implemented in the first quarter of fiscal 2027.

Akers said the company’s fiscal-year capital expenditures total $3.1 billion, with more than 87% directed toward safety and reliability improvements for its distribution, transmission and underground-storage systems.

Forsythe later said the company remains on track to spend approximately $4.2 billion in capital expenditures during fiscal 2026.

At APT, the company is developing several projects around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.