DT Midstream Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• DT Midstream reported Q1 adjusted EBITDA of $308 million, up $15 million sequentially on cold‑weather demand, and reaffirmed 2026 guidance while cautioning that Q1 strength is seasonal and should not be annualized.
• Management approved two pipeline projects — the Vector Pipeline mainline expansion (≈+400 MMcf/d) and Millennium R2R (70 MMcf/d) — and increased committed capital to roughly $400M for 2026 and $440M for 2027, with DT’s Vector investment expected to be $80–$100M.
• Commercial momentum includes a contingent 20‑year, 265 MMcf/d power‑plant lateral, a 250 MMcf/d NEXUS interconnect for a data center, oversubscribed open seasons for Midwestern and Vector expansions, and LEAP operating at 2.1 Bcf/d with potential expansion toward 4 Bcf/d.

DT Midstream NYSE: DTM reported first-quarter 2026 results it described as a “strong start” to the year, supported by cold-weather-driven demand, while outlining new pipeline investments and additional commercial activity tied to utilities, power generation and data-center-related load.

First-quarter performance and outlook

Executive Chairman and CEO David Slater said the company’s first quarter was “fueled by a strong demand and cold winter,” which he said increased confidence in the full-year plan. He also pointed to a “very strong market environment” supporting the company’s $3.4 billion project backlog.

EVP and CFO Jeff Jewell reported adjusted EBITDA of $308 million for the quarter, up $15 million from the prior quarter. Jewell said pipeline segment results increased $14 million sequentially, driven by “seasonally higher EBITDA from our joint venture and interstate pipelines and higher revenue on Stonewall and LEAP.” Gathering segment results were up $1 million, which he attributed to higher volumes on Blue Union and Appalachia Gathering.

Jewell said growth capital investment totaled $72 million in Q1, “in line with our plan,” and added that the company expects a ramp in growth capital weighted toward the second half of the year.

Management reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range and its “2027 adjusted EBITDA early outlook,” but cautioned that Q1 strength should not be annualized. Slater said the winter created unusual conditions, including “extreme price volatility,” and that the commercial team captured opportunities amid basis moves. “Some of the results of Q1 are a derivative of that phenomenon… That’s very seasonal, and you shouldn’t expect that to repeat,” Slater said. Jewell also cited seasonality, a Guardian Pipeline rate step-down in Q2, and planned maintenance as factors expected to weigh on results versus the first quarter.

Newly approved projects: Vector expansion and Millennium R2R

Slater announced that DT Midstream approved investment in two new pipeline-segment projects.

• Vector Pipeline mainline expansion: Slater said the project will increase Vector’s total capacity by approximately 400 million cubic feet per day and will be “anchored by investment-grade utility customers under 20-year negotiated rate contracts,” with an expected in-service date in Q4 2028.
• Millennium R2R: Slater said the project is supported by long-term contracts with two utilities and an existing power plant, providing 70 million cubic feet per day of capacity and expected to be fully in service in Q1 2027.

Jewell provided additional financial detail on the Vector expansion, stating the company expects total DT Midstream investment of $80 million to $100 million. He said the company increased its committed capital for 2026 and 2027 to reflect the two new investments, with 2026 committed capital now “approximately $400 million” and 2027 “approximately $440 million.” Jewell also said Millennium R2R will be completed under the company’s “existing regulatory authorization.”

Commercial activity tied to power generation and data centers

DT Midstream also discussed several commercial developments beyond the two approved projects.

Slater said the company entered into an agreement to build a pipeline lateral to serve a new utility-scale power development located off its Midwestern Pipeline in Indiana. The developer plans to construct a 900 MW power plant, which DT Midstream expects to serve under a 20-year demand-based contract for about 265 million cubic feet per day of capacity. Slater said the project is contingent on the customer reaching a final investment decision (FID) on the power plant, which DT Midstream expects in 2026, with the lateral pipeline expected to be in service in the first half of 2028.

On Midwestern, Slater also said the company recently re-contracted approximately 30% of the system’s capacity with term extensions ranging from 5 to 25 years. In the Q&A, Slater called the renewals a “proof point” that existing shippers “want to make sure that they maintain control of that valuable capacity” as demand grows. He added that the company’s approach in the current environment is to term out capacity “at the maximum allowable tariff rate,” and said investors should expect DT Midstream to pursue that playbook across its assets over time.

Slater further said DT Midstream commercialized a new interconnect on NEXUS during the quarter with 250 million cubic feet per day of capacity to supply a behind-the-meter natural gas-fired facility powering a new data center in Ohio. “Adding this load to the main line of NEXUS strengthens the asset over the long term,” he said. Later, responding to a question about the long-discussed NEXUS expansion, Slater said the new demand is “helpful” and located in northwest Ohio. He described an initial focus on contracting existing available capacity on the main line, followed by a potential mainline expansion. “Stay tuned as it evolves,” he said.

Asked about data center-related pushback, Slater said the “utilities are winning more than the independent developers” in aggregate load growth across DT Midstream’s footprint. He also said much of the public dialogue centers on affordability for retail power customers, and described developers as increasingly focused on demonstrating that investments will lower—not raise—costs for retail customers, particularly in state regulatory proceedings.

Open seasons point to additional expansion opportunities

Management highlighted strong customer interest in future expansions in the Midwest and Northeast.

Slater said Midwestern Gas Transmission (MGT) held a non-binding open season in early April for northbound and southbound expansions that could increase capacity by up to 1.5 Bcf/d, and reported the open season was oversubscribed. In the Q&A, President and COO Chris Zona said the company is working to “put a box around the needs” for the 2029–2030 timeframe, progress engineering and solutions, and move toward binding agreements that can support an FID. Slater noted that Midwestern follows “a corridor of power generation between Chicago and Nashville,” and said DT Midstream has added 565 million cubic feet per day of power-generation load to Midwestern over the last 12 months.

In response to questions on the competitive landscape, Slater said he believes the region can absorb multiple expansions and referenced DT Midstream’s estimate of “a 5 to 8 Bcf a day addressable growth opportunity” in the area. He said competitive advantage will often come down to “location,” arguing that expanding existing pipelines in the right corridors can be advantaged versus greenfield projects. He also described a broader value-chain proposition that can include transportation, connectivity back to supply basins, and storage from the company’s Michigan facilities.

Slater also said Vector Pipeline closed a non-binding open season for a “2030 expansion project” to increase westbound capacity into Chicago by 300 million to 500 million cubic feet per day, which he said was also oversubscribed. He said the next steps for both Midwestern and Vector opportunities include optimizing design based on shipper requests and then working toward binding commitments.

Haynesville utilization, LNG-linked positioning, and volumes

Slater discussed market volatility in early 2026, including cold-weather-driven price spikes and geopolitical developments in the Middle East. He said curtailed and constrained LNG volumes from the region “have underscored the value of U.S. LNG as a stable and dependable supply source,” and management suggested that dynamic could favor increased U.S. Gulf Coast LNG exports.

Slater said DT Midstream’s Haynesville system is “very well-positioned” due to receipt and delivery connectivity. He noted that the company’s LEAP pipeline is “currently running full at its design capacity of 2.1 billion cubic feet per day” and has the ability to expand to 4 Bcf/d.

In the Q&A, Zona emphasized what he called DT Midstream’s connectivity advantages in the basin and said the company can expand LEAP in “bite-sized expansions,” citing the ability to add “$200 million a day” increments with competitive pricing and timing. Addressing how LEAP could expand toward 4 Bcf/d, Zona said it would be “a combination of pipe and compression,” and “not necessarily entire lines.” Slater added he is seeing “a very active commercial dialogue” around the assets, which he said can signal a coming “next wave of expansion opportunity.”

On operations, Jewell said total gathering volumes increased in both regions versus Q4. He reported Haynesville volumes averaged 2.09 Bcf/d, driven by new volumes and recovery from upstream maintenance in Q4, while Northeast volumes averaged 1.42 Bcf/d, driven primarily by the Stonewall-to-Mountain Valley Pipeline expansion placed into service at the beginning of February.

Asked about lower natural gas prices and producer behavior, Slater said Q1 Haynesville volumes were “pretty robust” and expected to be similar in Q2, adding that producer recalibration often shows up in Q3. He said the company was not seeing or hearing “anything imminent” from producers, but that the risk of short-term shifts is “something that we have seen historically and we factor into our guidance.”

DT Midstream also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.88 per share, unchanged from the prior quarter. Jewell said the company remains committed to growing the dividend in line with adjusted EBITDA.

About DT Midstream NYSE: DTM

DT Midstream Inc NYSE: DTM is a midstream energy company that owns and operates infrastructure for gathering, processing and treating hydrocarbons and produced water. Its core business activities encompass natural gas gathering, cryogenic processing, natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation, and produced-water handling services. These integrated operations enable the company to capture and transport multiple hydrocarbon streams from wellhead to market and to provide essential water management solutions.

The company’s asset footprint is concentrated in the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it serves a diverse range of exploration and production customers.

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