Start here if you're new
what it is
It moves natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, and refined products across the U.S.
how it gets paid
Last year Energy Transfer made $85.5B in revenue. natural gas transportation and storage was the main engine at $32.0B, or 37% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 3.5% last year. The company had several plant upgrades in the permian basin that supported higher throughput volumes.
what just happened
The last quarter showed $60.2B of revenue, but EPS came in at $0.25 versus $0.34 expected.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
60/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
14.4x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
7.2% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
8.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 59/100 — below average
What they do
It moves natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, and refined products across the U.S.
You do not rebuild 89,800 miles of pipeline because a competitor had a good quarter. Energy Transfer turns that network into tolls, and tolls are hard to dodge. For your portfolio, that means cash flow arrives before the market gets impressed.
How they make money
$85.5B
annual revenue · their business grew +3.5% last year
natural gas transportation and storage
$32.0B
+5.0%
ngl transportation and services
$19.0B
+6.0%
crude oil transportation and services
$12.5B
+4.0%
refined products transportation and terminaling
$9.5B
+3.0%
lng and other
$12.5B
+8.0%
The products that matter
moves crude through pipelines
Crude oil transportation
part of an $85.5B system
this snapshot does not break out segment revenue, which is the honest limitation here. what we do know is ET produced $85.5B in total revenue, and crude movement is one of the core pipes inside that number.
core network
moves gas across interstate systems
Natural gas transportation
network-scale infrastructure
natural gas pipelines are central to the moat because replacement cost is high and permitting is slow. that matters more when you are carrying $63.1B in long-term debt and need the assets working every day.
scale
handles and stores NGL volumes
NGL and storage services
supports the full platform
ET is not a one-pipe business. the broader network is what helps support a 13.5% operating margin on $85.5B in revenue, even if the segment split is thin in this snapshot.
integration
Key numbers
7.2%
dividend yield
You get paid more than most bonds, but the payout has to live inside a business with $63.1B of debt.
$85.5B
annual revenue
That is the size of the cash engine. Small changes in throughput still move a huge revenue base.
14.4x
trailing p/e
You are not paying a cheap lottery ticket price. You are paying a middle-of-the-road earnings multiple for an income stock.
$63.1B
long-term debt
That is the bill sitting ahead of equity holders. It matters more here than in a cleaner balance sheet name.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 75 / 100
- long-term debt $63.1B (50% of capital)
- net profit margin 5.5% — keeps 6 cents of every dollar in revenue
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in ET 3 years ago → it's now worth $18,080.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The last quarter showed $60.2B of revenue, but EPS came in at $0.25 versus $0.34 expected.
Revenue was huge and still not enough to clear the bar on EPS. That is what happens when a capital-heavy business has to keep feeding pipes, projects, and debt service.
$21.4B
revenue
$0.25
eps
26.47%
surprise
the number that mattered
The key number was $0.25 in EPS. The company missed the $0.34 estimate, which tells you the payout story still depends on disciplined execution.
-
energy transfer likely closed out 2025 with decent financial results.
-
the company had several plant upgrades in the permian basin that supported higher throughput volumes.
-
this paired well with favorable transportation tariffs, likely resulting in revenues increasing around 8%, from a year ago.
-
earnings likely realized a slightly larger jump.
-
however, market volatility has hindered demand schedules.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the #1 risk is debt-heavy pipeline economics meeting tighter capital markets.
med
refinancing pressure
ET carries $63.1B in long-term debt, equal to 50% of capital. when a business only keeps 5.4% of revenue as net profit, more expensive funding matters fast.
this risk sits directly against the balance sheet, not the story.
med
volume softness across the network
$90B in estimated revenue only works if the system stays busy. even slow growth matters when you are starting from an $85.5B base and earning 6.5% on capital.
the bull case needs steady throughput, not heroic assumptions.
low
permitting and regulatory friction
hard assets are the moat, but they also live under oversight. pipelines are difficult to replace and difficult to expand, which cuts both ways.
that can slow projects, raise costs, or keep growth closer to 3.5% than investors want.
med
average-quality business priced like a safer one
the stock has outperformed the market over 3 years, but the xvary composite is still 59/100. if investors stop rewarding the asset base, that gap can close the wrong way.
same assets, lower confidence, weaker multiple.
with $63.1B of long-term debt and a 5.4% net margin, ET does not need a collapse to feel pressure — it just needs funding to get more expensive while growth stays ordinary.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
key metric
5.4% net margin
this is the number doing the quiet work on the whole page. if margin improves, the debt looks more manageable. if it slips, the stock gets harder to defend.
ownership trend
3 straight quarters of net institutional buying
606 buyers versus 385 sellers in 3q2025 is real support. you want to see that trend continue, not reverse.
next checkpoint
the path from $85.5B to $90B revenue
the estimate is only modestly higher, which sounds easy until you remember how big the base already is. small misses matter at this scale.
balance sheet risk
$63.1B in long-term debt
50% of capital in long-term debt is manageable until capital gets more expensive. then it becomes the first thing you talk about.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts think ET is behaving like a normal stock right now, not sending a special signal.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — neither unusually safe nor unusually wild. you are getting standard market risk plus ET-specific debt risk.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the chart is not confirming the full valuation case yet.
earnings predictability
60 / 100
reasonably predictable, but not smooth enough to call boring. expect a business with infrastructure stability and financial complexity.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 606 buyers vs. 385 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 1.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$15
$30
$18
current price
$23
target midpoint · +27% from current · 3-5yr high: $35 (+95% · 23% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive