MLPs’ Strong Earnings Growth Continued in Q2 2018

MLPs’ strong earnings growth continued in the second quarter after a solid first quarter. Of the top 15 limited partnerships by market cap, 13 reported YoY (year-over-year) rises in their quarterly revenues and earnings. Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) reported the highest YoY EBITDA growth among the MLPs under review. Fourteen of the top 15 MLPs are constituents of the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP).

In this series, we’ll do a quick earnings wrap-up for a few major MLPs. Before that, though, let’s summarize the second-quarter performances of the three largest MLPs by market cap.

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), the largest US MLP by market cap, posted a 28.1% YoY revenue rise and a 32.1% YoY rise in EBITDA in the second quarter. Moreover, EPD’s quarterly EBITDA margin expanded six basis points YoY to 20.9%. For a post-earnings review of EPD, read What Drove Enterprise Products Partners’ Q2 2018 Earnings?

MPLX LP (MPLX) saw a huge 72.3% YoY revenue rise and an 82.9% YoY rise in EBITDA, respectively, in the quarter. MPLX’s EBITDA margin expanded 320 basis points in the quarter. For a post-earnings analysis of MPLX’s second-quarter earnings, read MPLX Reported Strong Second-Quarter Earnings Growth.

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the MLP subsidiary of Energy Transfer Equity (ETE), posted strong second-quarter earnings. The Texas-based partnership reported a 43.1% YoY revenue rise and a 28.3% YoY rise in EBITDA in the quarter. For more details on ETP’s second-quarter performance, read How ETE and ETP Performed in the Second Quarter.

For a post-earnings analysis of Plains All American Pipeline (PAA), read Higher Permian Volumes Drove PAA’s Second-Quarter Results. In the next article, we’ll look into Magellan Midstream Partners’ (MMP) second-quarter performance.