XPLR Infrastructure Cash Flow Rebounded as Revenue Rose
Second-quarter revenue climbed 6.1% to $363 million despite pressure on operating profit.
XPLR Infrastructure (XIFR), a renewable-energy infrastructure owner, nearly tripled free cash flow before growth from the first quarter as its repowering program advanced and battery-storage ventures took shape.
The cash-flow rebound reversed three consecutive quarterly declines. Free cash flow before growth rose to $257 million from $89 million sequentially, though it remained 1.5% below the year-earlier period. Adjusted EBITDA followed a similar path, climbing 20.2% from the first quarter to $523 million after increasing from $396 million in the fourth quarter to $435 million in the first.
Revenue rose 6.1% from a year earlier and 32.0% sequentially. Net income attributable to XPLR fell 51.9% from a year earlier to $38 million, though it increased from $33 million in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA remained 6.1% below the year-earlier period.
Higher costs weighed on the revenue gain. Operating income declined 33.3% to $60 million, compressing operating margin to 16.5% from 26.3%, as operations-and-maintenance expense increased 41.2% to $144 million.
Interest expense fell 19.3% to $92 million, while cash interest paid rose to $36 million from $20 million. The sequential cash-flow comparison also benefited from the absence of about $74 million of incremental corporate interest expense that burdened the first quarter following a March 2025 debt issuance.
XPLR reaffirmed its 2026 guidance for adjusted EBITDA of $1.75 billion to $1.95 billion and free cash flow before growth of $600 million to $700 million, ranges maintained through the prior three reported quarters. First-half adjusted EBITDA fell 6.7% to $958 million, while first-half free cash flow before growth declined 24.1% to $346 million.
The company completed about half of its planned 2026 repowerings by the second quarter, up from about 30% at the first-quarter report. It also formed the Mammoth Plains and Carousel battery-storage joint ventures and completed related interconnection-asset sales in July, extending a storage plan representing about 200 net megawatts of participation.
XPLR also simplified its capital structure, completing an approximately $150 million minimum buyout of CEPF 5 and repaying $500 million of convertible notes with available cash. Those actions left the company pursuing its unchanged full-year targets after a stronger second-quarter cash performance.