Leading analysts outline key opportunities shaping energy and diversified industries

CALGARY, AB, Jan. 15, 2026 /CNW/ - ATB Capital Markets, the capital markets arm of ATB Financial and ATB Securities Inc., hosted its 14th Annual Institutional Investor Conference in Toronto last week, bringing together over 136 institutional investors and 50 management teams from across multiple sectors.

The perspectives shared by business leaders, combined with the deep sector expertise of ATB Capital Markets' research analysts, provided an informed outlook on the key risks and opportunities shaping the market in 2026. Discussions spanned energy, and diversified industries including transportation, construction, infrastructure, and industrials, offering investors clear insight into how evolving market conditions are influencing strategy across sectors.

"We were thrilled to kick off 2026 by bringing together leading management teams and ATB Capital Markets' analysts for in-depth discussions and meaningful investor engagement," said Darren Eurich, CEO of ATB Capital Markets. "Against an increasingly complex macroeconomic backdrop, the quality of dialogue reflected both the calibre of the participants and the depth of expertise across our platform, underscoring the importance of selectivity and fundamentals in today's market. Looking ahead, our teams are well positioned to help clients navigate uncertainty and capture long-term opportunity."

For ATB Capital Markets' full list of 2026 Outlook reports, click here.

Energy Outlook

Exploration & Production: Discussions reflected a potentially volatile commodity environment entering 2026, underscoring the importance of disciplined execution, capital efficiency, and inventory quality across Canada's leading plays. Panelists pointed to the ramp-up of LNG Canada as a structural shift for Western Canadian natural gas markets, supporting improved AECO pricing and greater confidence in multi-year development plans. Canadian E&P M&A activity is expected to become more selective through 2026, with inventory quality, depth and net asset value emerging as the primary drivers of transaction value. While oil prices enter the year on softer footing, structural improvements, most notably following the start-up of TMX, have helped anchor Canadian differentials and improve heavy oil valuations.

Energy Infrastructure: 2026 is expected to be a year of incremental progress rather than transformational builds, as market and regulatory uncertainty, capital intensity, and political and environmental risks continue to temper large-scale private investment. Discussions highlighted accelerating power demand driven by electrification, data centre development, and onshoring, with independent power producers emphasizing natural gas generation, battery storage, and asset optimizations as the most cost-effective near-term solutions. Capital is increasingly flowing toward incremental, lower-risk investments in existing assets rather than large-scale new builds. Panelists also highlighted improving midstream fundamentals and growing AI-related power demand, positioning Alberta as an increasingly attractive location for data centres as power access frameworks evolve.

Energy Services: Conference discussions characterized 2026 as a year of steady activity, with revenue growth increasingly decoupled from rig counts as rising service intensity, longer laterals, and more complex well designs continue to drive demand. The macro outlook highlighted a divergence between oil and gas activity, with oil-facing services challenged by softer crude pricing and oversupply, while the natural gas outlook remains constructive, supported by LNG export growth, AI-driven power demand, and improving gas fundamentals. As a result, the most attractive opportunities are expected to favour companies leveraged to gas-weighted activity and rising productivity, particularly in Canada in the near term.

"Insights from the conference reinforced a cautious but constructive outlook for the energy sector heading into 2026," said Patrick O'Rourke, Managing Director, Equity Research, Large-Cap E&P and Oil Sands at ATB Capital Markets. "While a potentially volatile commodity environment and infrastructure constraints are shaping investment decisions, confidence continues to be underpinned by inventory depth, disciplined capital allocation, and incremental improvements in market access."

Diversified Industries Outlook 
Transportation discussions reflected a more normalized operating environment entering 2026. In aviation, limited aircraft supply and steady demand are supporting pricing and utilization, while rail and logistics operators pointed to stable volumes and improving efficiency. Across subsectors, management teams emphasized cost discipline and selective growth amid mixed macro conditions. In consumer-facing sectors, elevated interest rates and cautious household spending continue to pose near-term challenges, with normalization expected to be gradual, driven by easing financial conditions and a stabilizing labour market rather than a sharp rebound.

Companies across engineering and construction highlighted strong backlogs and improving project mix as key supports for earnings growth in 2026. While public-sector procurement delays and macroeconomic uncertainty will remain areas to monitor, conference panelists expressed confidence in medium-term infrastructure demand, underpinned by the energy transition, climate resilience, and broader nation-building priorities. Recurring themes included margin stability, the adoption of more collaborative contract models, and continued discipline in M&A activity.

"With many companies trading at compelling valuations and backlogs providing solid visibility, 2026 presents opportunities for investors willing to focus on execution and capital discipline," said Chris Murray, Managing Director, Equity Research, Diversified Industries at ATB Capital Markets. "Company-specific positioning and margin resilience are expected to be key differentiators in the year ahead."

About ATB Financial
Powering possibilities for our clients, communities, and beyond is what drives us at ATB Financial. As a leading Alberta-based financial institution with over $100 billion in total assets and assets under management, our success comes from more than 5,000 team members who deliver exceptional experiences to over 843,000 clients across our Personal and Business Banking, ATB Wealth Management, and ATB Capital Markets businesses. ATB Financial provides expert advice and services through our extensive branch network and agencies, our 24-hour Client Care Centre, four entrepreneur centers, and our digital banking options. ATB Financial is bronze certified as part of the Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations commissioned by the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business. More information about ATB can be found at atb.com.

About ATB Capital Markets
ATB Capital Markets offers holistic corporate and capital markets advice, combined with customised financial solutions to help businesses thrive. We're a full-service financial services provider for key industries on the cusp of a new era. Established in 2020, ATB Capital Markets helps clients with services that include investment and corporate banking, sales and trading, institutional research, and risk management.

Disclaimer
ATB Capital Markets is a trademark brand of ATB Securities Inc. and is used in connection with various financial services such investment banking, capital markets and wholesale banking activities carried on by ATB Financial or certain of its subsidiaries including ATB Securities Inc. and ATB Capital Markets USA Inc. ATB Securities Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and is registered with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization and applicable securities regulatory authorities in the provinces that it conducts business, and a member of Canadian marketplaces, trading #003 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ATB Capital Markets USA Inc. is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Member Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

For more information about ATB Capital Markets, visit https://atbcm.atb.com/ 

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