NextDecade Corporation (NEXT) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
NextDecade (Nasdaq: NEXT) is a pre-revenue LNG developer building the Rio Grande LNG export terminal in Brownsville, Texas, so investing in it means buying a construction story: a leveraged bet that a multi-billion-dollar facility gets finished on time and starts generating cash flow later this decade. It trades like a speculative infrastructure option, not an operating energy company.
NEXT stock price
As of 2026-07-24, NextDecade Corporation (NEXT) last closed at $7.01, down 38.1% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $4.80 and $11.43.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or NextDecade Corporation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does NextDecade Corporation (NEXT) do?
NextDecade Corporation is a Houston-based liquefied natural gas developer whose sole material asset is the Rio Grande LNG facility near Brownsville, Texas. As of Q1 2026 the company reported no LNG revenue yet, a net loss attributable to common stockholders of ~$136.4 million (about -$0.51 per share), total assets of ~$13.23 billion (driven by ~$11.66 billion of property, plant and equipment under construction), net debt of ~$9.36 billion, and ~$465 million of cash and restricted cash. Phase 1 (Trains 1 and 2 plus common facilities) was ~67.8% complete and Train 3 was ~44.2% complete, with first gas targeted for the second half of 2026 and first LNG from Train 1 in the first half of 2027.
The investment picture is a classic pre-cash-flow infrastructure profile: a market capitalization of roughly $2 billion sits on top of a project financed with billions in senior secured debt and equity from blue-chip partners. In September 2025 the company reached a positive final investment decision on Train 4 (a ~$6.7 billion expansion, first delivery expected in the second half of 2030) alongside TotalEnergies, Global Infrastructure Partners (a BlackRock company), GIC, and Mubadala, backed by 20-year sale-and-purchase agreements with ADNOC, TotalEnergies, and Aramco. Management has pointed to potential distributable cash flow of roughly $800 million per year at a $5 per MMBtu cargo margin once trains are operating, but essentially none of that is realized today, which is why the stock behaves like a levered call on completion and commissioning.
What's driving NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)?
1. Construction reaching first gas
Phase 1 was reported ~67.8% complete with early electrical commissioning underway on Train 1 and first gas targeted for the second half of 2026. Each construction milestone that lands on schedule and within budget de-risks the story and moves the company closer to its first revenue-generating cargoes.
2. Contracted, long-dated offtake
Trains are backed by 20-year sale-and-purchase agreements with major counterparties including ADNOC, TotalEnergies, and Aramco, largely indexed to Henry Hub. These long-term contracts are what underpin the project financing and the argument for durable future cash flow once the facility runs.
3. Expansion optionality (Trains 4-8)
Train 4 reached a positive final investment decision in September 2025, bringing capacity under construction to roughly 24 MTPA, and the site is permitted for up to around 48 MTPA across as many as ten trains. Additional FIDs would grow NextDecade's stake in a larger cash-flow base, though each requires fresh commercial support and financing.
4. Structural LNG demand
US LNG exports have been supported by strong global demand and supportive federal permitting sentiment. A tight LNG market improves the odds of commercializing later trains and can lift sentiment for the whole US developer group, NextDecade included.
What are the risks to NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)?
NextDecade generates essentially no revenue today while carrying more than $9 billion of net debt against a market cap near $2 billion, so it is highly leveraged to execution. Any construction delay, cost overrun, or commissioning problem at Rio Grande LNG could pressure the equity, and the company has repeatedly raised capital that dilutes existing shareholders. First cash flow is still years out, meaning ongoing losses in the interim, and later trains depend on securing more offtake and financing that is not guaranteed. The stock is volatile and single-project concentrated, so its value is heavily tied to one facility being completed and operated successfully.
How is NextDecade Corporation (NEXT) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see NextDecade Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$0 (pre-commercial, no LNG revenue yet)
- Q1 2026 net loss (to common): ~$136M (~-$0.51 EPS)
- Total assets: ~$13.2B (~$11.7B PP&E under construction)
- Net debt: ~$9.4B
- Cash + restricted cash: ~$465M
- Market cap: ~$2.0B (~265M shares, ~$7-8 share price)
Standard earnings multiples do not apply because NextDecade is pre-revenue and loss-making, so the market values it on the projected future cash flow of Rio Grande LNG rather than current results. Management has cited potential distributable cash flow of roughly $800 million per year at a $5 per MMBtu cargo margin once trains ramp. A small analyst following carried a consensus closer to Hold with price targets in the mid-single-digit to high-single-digit dollar range.
Who competes with NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)?
US LNG export peers
Cheniere Energy and Venture Global are the two largest US LNG exporters and the closest comparables; both are further along operationally than NextDecade, giving investors an operating benchmark for what a completed export business can earn.
Global LNG project developers
Sempra (with its Port Arthur and Cameron projects) and other global LNG developers compete for the same offtake customers, EPC capacity, and capital, so their commercial and financing progress affects NextDecade's relative positioning.
Integrated majors and offtakers
Large energy companies such as TotalEnergies, Shell, and national players like Aramco and ADNOC are both partners/customers and, through their own LNG portfolios, alternative sources of supply, which shapes pricing and demand for merchant capacity.
How to invest in NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)
There are three common ways to get NEXT exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so NEXT sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where NEXT fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)
NEXT is a long-dated LNG construction bet where the payoff depends on completing Rio Grande LNG and converting signed offtake contracts into real cash flow, with meaningful dilution, debt, and timeline risk between here and there.
More on NextDecade Corporation (NEXT)
Whether NEXT is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is NEXT a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the NEXT stock forecast.
For income investors, whether NEXT pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does NEXT pay a dividend?
Build a basket around NEXT with Walnut
Use NextDecade Corporation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does NextDecade do?
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NextDecade is a US energy company developing and building the Rio Grande LNG facility near Brownsville, Texas, which liquefies natural gas for export as LNG. Its business today is construction and commercialization of that project rather than selling energy.
Does NextDecade make any money yet?
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Not from LNG. As of Q1 2026 the company reported no LNG revenue and a net loss of around $136 million for the quarter. It is still in the construction phase, so it is spending heavily ahead of any operating cash flow.
When will Rio Grande LNG start producing?
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The company has targeted first gas into the facility in the second half of 2026 and first LNG from Train 1 in the first half of 2027, with commercial cargoes and revenue expected to follow. Timelines can shift with construction progress.
Why is NextDecade's market cap so large relative to its revenue?
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Because the market is pricing the future cash flow of a multi-billion-dollar export facility, not current sales. Roughly $2 billion of equity value sits on top of about $13 billion of assets under construction and roughly $9 billion of net debt, so it trades on project prospects.
Is NextDecade a speculative stock?
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It carries the risk profile of a single-project, pre-revenue, highly leveraged developer, which makes it volatile and speculative in nature. That is different from a shell company: it is an SEC-reporting firm with a funded, under-construction facility and blue-chip partners.
Who are NextDecade's partners and customers?
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Train 4 was greenlit with TotalEnergies, Global Infrastructure Partners (a BlackRock company), GIC, and Mubadala as equity partners, and long-term offtake agreements are held with counterparties including ADNOC, TotalEnergies, and Aramco.
Who competes with NextDecade?
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Its closest peers are US LNG exporters Cheniere Energy and Venture Global, along with other developers like Sempra and the global LNG portfolios of integrated majors that compete for customers, capital, and construction capacity.
What are the main risks of investing in NextDecade?
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Key risks include construction delays or cost overruns, a heavy debt load against little current revenue, ongoing shareholder dilution from capital raises, concentration in a single facility, and the years-long wait before meaningful cash flow arrives.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with NextDecade Corporation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.