Williams Companies Shows Strong Performance Amid Market Changes

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) specializes in finding, producing, gathering, processing, and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids. With a market cap of $71.6 billion, Williams ranks among the largest transporters of natural gas by volume in the United States.

Outpacing the Market

Over the past year, the midstream giant has notably outperformed the broader market. WMB shares have soared 50.7% in the last 52 weeks, showing an 8.9% increase year-to-date (YTD). In comparison, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has recorded 8.6% gains over the past year and a 4.3% drop in 2025.

Industry Comparison

Narrowing the focus, Williams has also beaten the performance of the USCF Midstream Energy Income Fund (UMI), which saw a 21.7% increase in the past 52 weeks but only a slight 37 basis points decline YTD.

Quarterly Results and Analyst Insights

Williams’ stock dropped 2.4% following the release of its mixed Q1 results on May 5. The company achieved impressive topline growth, increasing by 10% year-over-year to $3.1 billion, yet it fell short of Wall Street expectations by nearly 3%. Adjusted net income saw a modest 1.5% year-over-year increase to $730 million, and the adjusted EPS of $0.60 exceeded consensus estimates by 9.1%. Interestingly, cash flow from operations surged 16.1% year-over-year to $1.4 billion.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2025, analysts predict WMB will report a 9.4% year-over-year growth in adjusted EPS, amounting to $2.10. Williams has a solid track record, having surpassed analysts’ bottom-line estimates consistently over the past four quarters.

Analyst Ratings and Price Targets

The stock currently holds a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. Among the 19 analysts covering WMB, there are nine “Strong Buys,” two “Moderate Buys,” seven “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.” This configuration has remained largely stable over the past three months.

On May 7, Wells Fargo (WFC) analyst Praneeth Satish reiterated an “Overweight” rating on WMB and increased the price target to $64. Williams’ average price target of $61.44 indicates a modest 4.2% premium to current price levels, while the highest target of $70 suggests considerable upside potential of 18.8%.

On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not hold (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are intended for informational purposes only. For more information, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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