LandBridge Lifts 2026 Profit Outlook To $220 Million-$235 Million After 25,000-Acre Buying Spree

LandBridge, which owns or manages surface land in the Permian Basin and leases it to energy and infrastructure companies, raised its 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $220 million to $235 million after record third-quarter revenue of $70.9 million. The company, which buys land and rents it out, bought about 25,000 acres in the quarter and said a data center builder has started work on its acreage.

Record quarter, higher guidance

Revenue rose 39% from a year earlier and 6% from the second quarter, the company said in an 8-K filed Wednesday. Net income was $34.0 million, up 68% year over year and 10% from the second quarter.

Surface use royalties and revenue brought in $54.3 million, resource sales and royalties $12.5 million, and oil and gas royalties $4.1 million. Management attributed the quarter-on-quarter gain in surface use to more produced water handling, including volumes from the ramping Speedway Phase I pipeline, and to higher pipeline easement revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA, an adjusted profit measure, was $63.7 million, up 42% from a year earlier, for a 90% margin. Free cash flow was $49.0 million, up 45% year over year, a 69% margin. The new guidance puts the midpoint at $227.5 million, and Chief Financial Officer Scott McNeely tied the raise to the "expected contribution from recent acquisitions beginning in the fourth quarter."

Acreage bought, debt up

Acquisitions swallowed cash. Net cash used in investing was $267.4 million, including about $266.8 million spent on acquisitions. Borrowings outstanding reached $765.0 million at September 30, against $545.2 million at the end of June, and cash fell to $16.8 million from $39.8 million.

On October 1, the company's operating unit issued an additional $125.0 million of 6.25% senior notes due 2030, bringing that series to $625.0 million. Total liquidity was $126.8 million at quarter-end.

The acquired land includes pore space, the underground rock capacity used for produced water disposal, positioned outside over-pressured injection zones near the Stateline region. LandBridge said it is in active discussions with operators about developing it.

A data center breaks ground

PowerBridge exercised its option on an initial 825 acres of about 3,400 acres under option for the Alpha Digital Campus in Reeves County, Texas. The two companies signed a long-term ground lease and a power royalty agreement in September, and construction began that month.

That first phase is expected to include more than 300 megawatts of a planned 2-gigawatt powered campus, with first power anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, payable December 10 to holders of record on November 25. The company holds a conference call Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Central Time.

Acquisition contributions to earnings are expected to begin in the fourth quarter, the first test of the raised guidance.

Sources

• 8-K Filing — LandBridge Corp (LB) — SEC EDGAR
• Exhibit lb-ex99_1.htm — LandBridge Corp 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
• LandBridge Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results — businesswire.com