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Last updated2 minutes ago

WES·Western Midstream Partners, LP

$47.29
+0.13 (+0.28%)
Market Closed (Overnight)$47.08-0.21 (-0.44%)
High
$47.50
Open
$47.25
Market Cap
19.54B
52W High
$50.11
Low
$46.91
P. Close
$47.29
P/E
15.22
52W Low
$36.75
Fwd P/E
12.23
DailyIQ Est.
$49.82
Inst. Ownership
18.2%
Short Interest
1.53%
Days to Cover
10.2
Technical Score (1D)
50
NEUTRAL
News Sentiment
53
MIXED
Truist Securities has just begun coverage of Western Midstream (WES) and issued a Buy rating with a $55 price target, a move that signals fresh institutional confidence in the company’s midstream operations. The rating comes after a review of WES’s recent financials, which show solid cash flow generation and a growing pipeline of midstream assets that should support continued revenue expansion. Because the new rating is the first from a major brokerage, it is likely to attract additional analyst attention and could increase trading volume in the coming days. The $55 target represents a significant upside from the current trading level, suggesting that the market may view WES’s asset base and growth prospects as undervalued. In the next 1–10 trading days, traders should watch for any subsequent analyst upgrades or downgrades that could reinforce or counteract Truist’s bullish stance. Additionally, keep an eye on WES’s earnings release, as the company’s guidance will be benchmarked against the new price target. Any deviation from the projected earnings or cash flow could quickly alter the market’s perception of the company’s valuation. Finally, monitor broader midstream sector sentiment, as a shift in commodity prices or pipeline capacity demand could impact WES’s growth trajectory and the relevance of Truist’s recommendation.
Earnings Summary
Western Midstream Partners, LP is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides critical infrastructure services for gathering, processing, and transporting natural gas, NGLs, condensate, and crude oil, with a strong presence in Texas, New Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains. The company operates in the oil & gas midstream sector, a segment that benefits from long‑term take‑or‑pay contracts and pipeline expansion. In Q4 2024, WES reported EPS of $0.8782, essentially flat against the $0.87826 estimate, while revenue reached $928.5 million, a modest increase from prior periods. The following year’s Q4 2025 EPS fell to $0.47 against an estimate of $0.8613, and revenue of $1.03148 billion was slightly below the $1.06435 billion estimate, indicating a slowdown in earnings momentum. In contrast, Q2 2026 EPS rebounded to $0.99 versus an estimate of $0.877, and revenue surged to $1.22472 billion against an estimate of $1.11086 billion, showing a clear acceleration in both top‑line and bottom‑line performance. Historically, WES has delivered year‑over‑year revenue growth, with recent quarters reflecting a pattern of revenue expansion even when EPS has been volatile, as seen in the 2025 Q4 miss and 2026 Q2 beat. The company’s earnings trajectory has been punctuated by strategic acquisitions and operational efficiencies, which have helped sustain margin growth. Recent news highlights the Brazos Delaware Basin acquisition, higher crude prices, and improved system performance, all of which contributed to a lift in 2026 guidance and a 19% year‑over‑year EBITDA jump. Analysts have raised price targets and upgraded ratings, underscoring confidence in the company’s earnings potential. Investors should watch for the next earnings release to gauge the commissioning schedule of the Pathfinder produced‑water pipeline, the integration progress of the Brazos acquisition, and any updates on take‑or‑pay contract performance, as these factors will be key to confirming the higher guidance and sustaining the recent upside.

EPS

EstBeatMiss
$0.39$0.56$0.73$0.90$1.07Q4'24Q4'25Q2'26Q3'26
QtrEstActual+/−
Q3'26$0.89 - -
Q2'26$0.88$0.99+12.9%
Q4'25$0.86$0.47-45.4%
Q4'24$0.88$0.88-0.0%

Revenue

EstBeatMiss
$884M$980M$1.1B$1.2B$1.3BQ4'24Q4'25Q2'26Q3'26
QtrEstActual+/−
Q3'26$1.2B - -
Q2'26$1.1B$1.2B+10.3%
Q4'25$1.1B$1.0B-3.1%
Q4'24 - $929M -
Full Earnings BreakdownEstimates, actuals, guidance, and historical context
→

Market Data

WES Stock Snapshot

HOLD50/100
$47.08−$0.21 (0.4%)
Market cap
19.54B
P/E ratio
15.2
Day range
$46.91 – $47.50
News sentiment
53/100 · Neutral
Analyst target
$49.62 (+5.4%)
Consensus
Hold · 20 analysts
52-week range+28.1% off low · -6.0% from high
$36.75$50.11
Price $47.08 DailyIQ Est. $49.82

This is a pause rather than a turn for WES - the signals are mixed by construction. Sector peers are worth watching - large caps in Energy tend to move together on rotation.

Reverse DCF

What growth is priced into WES?

CHEAP

At today's price, Western Midstream Partners, LP needs to grow free cash flow about -3.4% a year for the next 10 years to justify its valuation at a 7.05% cost of capital. Over its actual history it has compounded free cash flow at 22.8% a year, so the market is asking for 26.3 percentage points below its own delivered rate. On that basis WES looks priced below what its own growth record supports.

Implied FCF growth
-3.4%
Historical FCF CAGR
22.8%
Growth gap
-26.3 pts
Verdict
CHEAP
Discount rate (WACC)
7.05%
Beta
0.64

Behaviour On Record

What WES's own history says about today's numbers

Realized volatility (21d)
15.1% 4th pct
Below its peak
-27.8%
vs 200-day average
+9.1%
Up days (1y)
55%

Western Midstream Partners, LP is currently running 15.1% annualised volatility over the last 21 sessions. Measured against WES's own 13 years of daily returns rather than a market-wide average, that is the 4th percentile — unusually subdued by its own history, against a typical reading of 28.8%. The distinction matters because a number that looks calm for one stock is turbulent for another, and the absolute figure on its own tells you neither.

WES is trading -27.8% below its running peak. Across 12 full years on file, its median worst-drawdown-in-a-year was -25.6%, and the deepest was -85.8% in 2020. The current drawdown is already deeper than this stock's typical annual low point, which puts it in the part of its range where past recoveries began — and where past declines also continued.

Price sits +9.1% from its 200-day moving average. Against every other day in its history, that gap ranks at the 72nd percentile — a somewhat wider gap than its own norm. Over the past year WES closed higher on 55% of sessions, and it is currently 2 sessions into a rising streak.

On September specifically: over 13 years of records, WES finished the month higher 8 of 13 times, with a median return of +1.0% and an average of -1.6%. Its strongest month historically has been April at +14.5% on average, its weakest March at -4.7%. Seasonality is a weak signal on its own — a decade is a small sample and regimes change — but it is a real distribution rather than a rule of thumb.

Overnight risk is measurable too: WES has opened more than 2% away from the prior close in 295 of 3,267 sessions (9.0% of the time), with the largest gaps running +19.1% and -10.5%. For anyone holding through an event, that rate is a better guide to overnight exposure than the intraday range.

All figures computed from 3,268 daily closes between 2013-09-20 and 2026-09-18, split-adjusted, recomputed daily. Percentiles are against WES's own 13-year history, not a peer group or index.

Sector Rotation

Is money rotating into or out of WES's sector?

Western Midstream Partners, LP sits in the Industrials sector, currently ranked 11th of 11 GICS sectors by relative-strength rotation score (improving).

Sector rank
#11 of 11
Sector state
Improving
Sector rotation score
30

Options Market

What is the options market pricing for WES?

CallsPuts

For Western Midstream Partners, LP's nearest expiry (2026-10-16, 26 days out), open interest is put-heavy, a defensive/bearish tilt (put/call ratio of 1.72), with at-the-money implied volatility around 25.5%. The options market is pricing roughly a ±6.9% move by that expiry — a range of about $45.93–$52.77.

Put/call ratio (2026-10-16)
1.72
ATM implied volatility
25.5%
Total open interest
2,322
Expected move by 2026-10-16
±6.9% ($45.93–$52.77)

Analyst Rating Changes

Are analysts turning bullish or bearish on WES?

Truist Securities most recently initiated coverage on Western Midstream Partners, LP to Buy on Sep 17, 2026 with a price target of $55. Over the last 90 days, coverage has run 0 upgrades against 0 downgrades, a net mixed lean.

Latest action
Truist Securities — Buy
90-day upgrades
0
90-day downgrades
0
Net rating momentum
0
DateFirmActionRatingPrice target
Sep 17, 2026Truist SecuritiesInitiatedBuy$55
Aug 24, 2026RBC CapitalMaintainedSector Perform$41 → $47
Aug 18, 2026Morgan StanleyMaintainedEqual-Weight$51 → $55
Aug 11, 2026CitigroupMaintainedNeutral$42 → $45
Aug 10, 2026Wells FargoMaintainedEqual-Weight$43 → $46
Jul 14, 2026JP MorganMaintainedNeutral$46 → $47
Jul 14, 2026MizuhoMaintainedOutperform$48 → $51
Jul 10, 2026UBSMaintainedNeutral$45 → $48
Jun 10, 2026Morgan StanleyUpgradeUnderweight → Equal-Weight$51
May 27, 2026Morgan StanleyMaintainedUnderweight$41 → $51
May 21, 2026UBSMaintainedNeutral$40 → $45
May 13, 2026Wells FargoMaintainedEqual-Weight$41 → $43

WES Competitive Positioning

Western Midstream Partners, LP (WES) is tracked alongside these names in Oil & Gas Midstream on DailyIQ — ranked by market cap, with today's move alongside.