Shares of ONEOK declined roughly 3.2% in afternoon trading after earlier reaching a 52-week high of $96.07, reflecting a sell-off prompted by profit-taking and renewed scrutiny of the company’s first-quarter 2026 financials. The stock’s retreat followed an earnings-per-share miss in the quarter that has left some investors questioning the near-term trajectory even as management boosted its full-year guidance.
In the Q1 2026 report, ONEOK posted net income of $776 million, or $1.23 per diluted share, and reported a 13% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $2.0 billion. Despite the rise in adjusted EBITDA and the company’s upwardly revised revenue outlook, the per-share figure failed to meet consensus expectations and has been a focal point for market participants selling into strength.
Analyst reactions have been mixed, but one notable downgrade intensified selling pressure. Scotiabank lowered its rating on ONEOK to Sector Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $89 from $92, arguing that ONEOK’s valuation is less attractive than other midstream companies that have greater exposure to liquids. That perspective weighed on sentiment and was a significant contributor to the intraday decline.
Other covering firms offered more constructive takes that emphasized the company’s guidance revision. Jefferies kept a Buy rating with a $100 price target, and Stifel increased its target to $99, with both firms pointing to management’s raised outlook. Those positive assessments, however, were not sufficient to counteract the valuation concerns highlighted by Scotiabank or to overcome short-term profit-taking at the stock’s fresh annual high.
Today also coincided with ONEOK’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, convened virtually at 9 a.m. Central Time. Corporate governance changes were noted at the meeting: directors Gerald B. Smith and Pattye L. Moore retired from the board at the end of their current terms, with Smith stepping down under the company’s mandatory director retirement-age policy and Moore electing to retire.
The broader U.S. equity market was notably positive on the day, with the S&P 500 up 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.3%, and the NASDAQ advancing 1.5%. Those gains underscore that ONEOK’s weakness was company-specific rather than driven by a general market pullback.
Market voices have pointed to several interacting factors behind the stock’s drop. The combination of an EPS miss, the Scotiabank downgrade emphasizing relative valuation versus liquids-focused peers, and natural profit-taking after hitting a 52-week high appear to have created downside momentum. At the same time, many analysts still view the company’s longer-term outlook as broadly constructive, citing raised full-year guidance and strong volume growth across ONEOK’s pipeline network as underpinning factors.
Investors assessing ONEOK now face a trade-off between near-term execution concerns reflected in the EPS miss and the company’s revised guidance and underlying volume trends. The market’s reaction on the day indicates greater sensitivity to valuation comparisons within the midstream sector and to immediate earnings beats or misses, even when headline operating metrics such as adjusted EBITDA show solid growth.
Context for investors
- Q1 2026 produced mixed results: solid adjusted EBITDA growth but an EPS shortfall versus expectations.
- Analyst opinions diverged after the quarter, with Scotiabank downgrading the stock on valuation grounds while Jefferies and Stifel remained constructive, citing raised guidance.
- Company-specific drivers, including profit-taking at a 52-week high and concerns about relative valuation, were primary contributors to the intraday decline rather than broader market weakness.