Excelerate Energy Posts Record EBITDA As Revenue Miss Masks Firmer Margins, But A Heavier Capex Load Tempers The Story

Excelerate Energy delivered a quarter where the top line badly misses the point. Third-quarter EPS of $0.44 beat the $0.42 consensus by 4.8%. Revenue of $297.21 million missed the $367.79 million estimate by 19.2% and fell 24.0% from a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA reached $133.5 million, a company record, up from $120.1 million in the second quarter and $129.3 million a year earlier. Earnings fell 2.2% year over year against last year's adjusted $0.45. On a GAAP basis, diluted EPS actually edged up from $0.43. The central takeaway is that Excelerate's profit engine is strengthening even as reported revenue shrinks, while the cost of funding its next leg of growth is rising quickly.

The revenue miss is mostly a mix story rather than a demand problem. LNG, gas and power revenue, a lower-margin line tied to commodity deliveries, fell to $131.6 million from $245.2 million a year ago, and the cost of those sales dropped by a similar amount. Management attributed part of the year-over-year pattern to the timing of deliveries under its Atlantic Basin agreement.

Terminal services moved the other way, rising to $165.7 million from $145.9 million. That growth reflects the contracted, infrastructure-like revenue investors value most, and the new Jordan charter was the main driver. Adjusted gross margin rose to $155.9 million from $144.6 million a year ago and $137.9 million last quarter. Management also credited higher LNG, gas and power direct margins for the sequential gain.

The quality of the beat holds up, with two caveats:

• SG&A climbed to $28.9 million from $23.4 million a year ago.
• Share repurchases reduced the diluted share count by roughly 470,000 shares year over year, giving per-share results modest help.

The call was notably more constructive than earlier in the year, when the Iraq delay forced a guidance cut. Full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance was narrowed to $495-515 million from $480-510 million, lifting the midpoint by about $10 million. Even so, the range remains below the original $515-545 million outlook, so this is a partial recovery rather than a full restoration.

The commercial pipeline produced several new building blocks:

• **Bahamas LNG Hub:** an 11-year supply agreement with AxDo anchors the hub. Management pegged it at about $6 million of EBITDA in 2027 and roughly $15 million at run-rate after a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) arrives in the second half of 2028. The contracted volume is under half of asset capacity.
• **Petrobras:** a five-year extension of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Sequoia charter through 2038 adds more than $400 million of contracted backlog.
• **FSRU conversion:** the Methane Patricia Camila conversion advanced to an engineering and construction award with Seatrium, at roughly $260 million all-in.

Management also framed $250-300 million of incremental EBITDA by 2029 from defined projects, a more explicit multi-year marker than prior language. The call analysis indicates the quarterly dividend was raised to $0.09 from $0.08.

Bears have legitimate ammunition on the balance sheet and execution:

• **Capex:** committed growth capex guidance jumped to $400-410 million from $270-300 million earlier in the year.
• **Leverage and cash:** net leverage rose to 1.8x from 1.5x in the first quarter, and cash fell to $357 million from $538 million at year-end.
• **Cash generation:** nine-month operating cash flow of $254.5 million trailed last year's $356.8 million, partly on working-capital swings.
• **Maintenance capex:** the cut to $65-75 million from $100-110 million reflects deferral rather than savings, which could push spending into 2027.
• **Iraq:** the second-quarter 2027 startup still depends on jetty construction and an LNG supply agreement not yet signed, all against an active Arabian Gulf conflict.

The workaround of using FSRUs already outside the Strait of Hormuz for Iraq and Colombia is prudent. It also shows how much of the 2027 ramp depends on geopolitics.

The market has not been rewarding the story. Shares were at $34.29 as of the report date, down 9.1% from the open following the August report and about 4.8% below the 200-day moving average of $36.03. Investor sentiment stayed slightly negative and was essentially unchanged, slipping to -0.108 from -0.097. Price and AVWAP trend readings remain negative, consistent with a stock that has drifted lower despite improving sequential earnings. That backdrop suggests investors are weighing rising capital intensity and Middle East exposure more heavily than record quarterly EBITDA.

The bottom line is that Excelerate's quarter was stronger than the 19.2% revenue miss implies. Contracted terminal revenue, margins and EBITDA all improved, and the call added credible, long-dated growth projects. What has changed is the setup: the company is now spending aggressively ahead of 2027-2028 startups, leverage is creeping higher, and full-year guidance still sits below where it began the year. Execution in Iraq, Colombia and the Bahamas will determine whether the $250-300 million incremental EBITDA framework earns back investor confidence that, judging by the share price, has not yet returned.

Read our earnings preview for Excelerate Energy, Inc.: https://www.earningswhispers.com/article/EE/21827

This earnings review was originally published on Earnings Whispers.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Earnings Whispers and its staff may hold positions in the securities mentioned. It is AI-assisted, based on proprietary Earnings Whispers data and company reports, and edited by Earnings Whispers staff.