ProFrac Holding Corp (ACDC) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the ProFrac Holding Corp. first quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Michael McKenna, Director of Finance for ProFrac Holding Corp. Thank you. You may begin.

您好，歡迎您參加 ProFrac Holding Corp. 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員說明） 請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，ProFrac Holding Corp 財務總監 Michael McKenna 先生。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for ProFrac Holding Corp's conference call and webcast to review our first quarter 2024 results. With me today are Matt Wilks, Executive Chairman, Ladd Wilks, Chief Executive Officer, and Lance Turner, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，接線生。大家，早安。感謝您參加 ProFrac Holding Corp 的電話會議和網路廣播，回顧我們 2024 年第一季的表現。今天與我在一起的有執行董事長馬特·威爾克斯 (Matt Wilks)、首席執行官拉德·威爾克斯 (Ladd Wilks) 和首席財務官蘭斯·特納 (Lance Turner)。

Following my remarks, management will provide a high-level commentary on the operational and financial highlights of the first quarter before opening the call up to your questions. There will be a replay of today's call available by webcast on the company's website at pfholdingscorp.com, as well as a telephonic recording available until May 16, 2024. More information on how to access these replay features is included in the company's earnings release.

在我發表演講之後，管理層將在電話會議上回答您的問題之前，對第一季的營運和財務亮點進行高級評論。今天的電話會議將在公司網站 pfholdingscorp.com 上透過網路直播重播，並在 2024 年 5 月 16 日之前提供電話錄音。有關如何存取這些重播功能的更多資訊包含在該公司的財報中。

Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, May 9, 2024. And therefore, you're advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay listening or transcript reading. Also comments on this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws, including management's expectations of future financial and business performance.

請注意，本次電話會議報告的資訊僅截至今天（2024 年 5 月 9 日）。因此，我們建議您，任何對時間敏感的資訊在任何重播聆聽或文字記錄閱讀時可能不再準確。此外，本次電話會議的評論可能包含美國聯邦證券法意義內的前瞻性陳述，包括管理階層對未來財務和業務績效的預期。

These forward-looking statements reflect the current views of ProFrac's management and are not guarantees of future performance. Various risks, uncertainties and contingencies could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in management's forward-looking statements.

這些前瞻性陳述反映了 ProFrac 管理階層目前的觀點，並非對未來績效的保證。各種風險、不確定性和意外事件可能導致實際結果、績效或成就與管理階層前瞻性陳述中表達的結果有重大差異。

The listener or reader is encouraged to read ProFracs Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission such can be found at sec.gov or on the company's Investor Relations website section under the SEC Filings tab to understand those risks, uncertainties and contingencies.

我們鼓勵聽眾或讀者閱讀ProFracs 表格10-K 和其他向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，這些文件可在sec.gov 或公司投資者關係網站的SEC 文件標籤下找到，以了解這些風險、不確定性和風險。

The comments today also include certain non-GAAP financial measures as well as other adjusted figures to exclude the contribution of Flotek. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable, consolidated and GAAP financial measures are included in the quarterly earnings release, which can be found on the company's website.

今天的評論還包括某些非公認會計準則財務指標以及其他調整後的數據，以排除 Flotek 的貢獻。季度財報中包含了最直接可比較、綜合和公認會計原則財務指標的更多詳細資訊和調節表，您可以在公司網站上找到該報告。

And now I would like to turn the call over to ProFracs' Executive Chairman, Mr. Matt Wilkes.

現在我想將電話轉給 ProFracs 執行主席 Matt Wilkes 先生。

Thanks, Michael, and good morning, everyone. After my prepared remarks, Ladd will comment further on the performance of our subsidiaries, and Lance will go through our financial performance.

謝謝邁克爾，大家早安。在我準備好的演講後，拉德將進一步評論我們子公司的業績，蘭斯將審查我們的財務表現。

We were very pleased with our first quarter results. We made progress on what we told you last quarter and are now seeing the results. We are focused on getting back to our foundations to provide an incredible customer experience, increased utilization throughout all of our subsidiaries and better cost control to ensure we are the lowest cost operator in the industry.

我們對第一季的業績非常滿意。我們在上個季度告訴您的內容上取得了進展，現在正在看到結果。我們致力於回歸根本，提供令人難以置信的客戶體驗、提高所有子公司的利用率以及更好的成本控制，以確保我們成為業內成本最低的營運商。

In the first quarter, we generated $160 million of adjusted EBITDA and $582 million of revenue. Our costs were down and our efficiencies were up. We deployed nine fleets since our most recent low in the fourth quarter. As we scale, we were able to absorb costs and deliver greater returns per fleet, and we saw benefits of that in the first quarter.

第一季度，我們實現了 1.6 億美元的調整後 EBITDA 和 5.82 億美元的營收。我們的成本降低了，效率也提高了。自第四季的最低點以來，我們部署了九個機隊。隨著規模的擴大，我們能夠吸收成本並為每個機隊帶來更大的回報，我們在第一季看到了這樣做的好處。

In addition, ProFrac has expanded its portfolio of highly efficient customers. In the quarter, we generated substantial cash flow that we used to fund the growth of fleets and working capital. The underlying results demonstrate the earnings capabilities of our assets and our people. We believe our cash conversion is the best in the industry.

此外，ProFrac 也擴大了其高效能客戶組合。在本季度，我們產生了大量現金流，用於為機隊和營運資金的成長提供資金。基本結果證明了我們的資產和員工的獲利能力。我們相信我們的現金轉換是業內最好的。

Looking forward, we continue to see opportunity in this market. Our average fleet count for the second quarter will grow based on the timing of activations during the first quarter. We continue to pursue opportunities to increase our fleet count in a disciplined manner. Similar to the activity outlook for the industry, we also expect pricing to remain relatively stable.

展望未來，我們繼續看到這個市場的機會。我們第二季的平均機隊數量將根據第一季的啟動時間而成長。我們繼續尋求機會，以有紀律的方式增加我們的機隊數量。與產業活動前景類似，我們也預期定價將保持相對穩定。

Overall, we remain on track with what we laid out for pressure pumping last quarter, and I am confident we will continue to have wins as the year progresses, even in a flat rig count scenario.

總體而言，我們仍符合上季度壓力泵的計劃，我相信隨著今年的進展，即使在鑽機數量平坦的情況下，我們也將繼續取得勝利。

Turning to Alpine, weakness in the gas markets and weather have impacted our results. However, we are seeing an uptick in volumes and anticipate demand increases starting later this year that should further boost output.

說到阿爾派，天然氣市場的疲軟和天氣影響了我們的業績。然而，我們看到產量增加，並預計今年稍後開始需求增加，這將進一步提高產量。

We continue to expect the proppant division to achieve our 60% to 70% utilization target, but we recognize that we will likely need to see continued improvement and get in natural gas prices to get utilization where we want it. We view this as upside opportunity and we believe that this inflection point is getting closer.

我們仍然預計支撐劑部門將實現 60% 至 70% 的利用率目標，但我們認識到，我們可能需要看到持續的改善並提高天然氣價格，以達到我們想要的利用率。我們認為這是一個上行機會，我們相信這個拐點正在越來越近。

Another one of our largest opportunities continues to be our e-fleet deployment. Recently, we completed a pad in the city limits of Midland and demonstrated the versatility, reliability and quiet nature of our e-fleet, which was actually our most efficient fleet in West Texas last month. These e-fleets are a meaningful component of our value proposition to our customers.

我們最大的機會之一仍然是我們的電子車隊部署。最近，我們在米德蘭市區完成了一個基地，並展示了我們的電子車隊的多功能性、可靠性和安靜性，這實際上是我們上個月在西德克薩斯州最高效的車隊。這些電子車隊是我們提供給客戶的價值主張的重要組成部分。

Our ability to provide customers with significant fuel savings, maintain high reliability and demonstrate efficient operations has made our e-fleets highly sought after and a critical part of our service offerings. We are building our e-fleet backlog and expect to have all the e-fleets deployed later in 2024.

我們能夠為客戶提供顯著的燃油節省、保持高可靠性並展示高效運營，這使得我們的電子車隊備受追捧，並成為我們服務產品的重要組成部分。我們正在積壓電子車隊，預計所有電子車隊將在 2024 年稍後部署。

I'm proud of the execution of our teams across the organization on the priorities we outlined during our last call, and I am proud of our momentum. We are heading in the right direction on each of our initiatives. At the customer level, we have successfully acquired a diverse customer base with approximately 70% of fleets operating for large efficient customers on a dedicated basis.

我為我們整個組織的團隊執行我們在上次電話會議中概述的優先事項而感到自豪，我為我們的勢頭感到自豪。我們的每一項舉措都在朝著正確的方向前進。在客戶層面，我們已成功獲得了多元化的客戶群，其中約 70% 的車隊專門為大型高效客戶營運。

We also continue to field new inbound requests for additional deployments with the highest demand being for electric and Tier-4 dual-fuel technologies. Regarding utilization, we saw a significant step up with our pressure pumping assets driven partly by our focus on working with highly efficient customers, but also the team's relentless focus on minimizing downtime at every opportunity.

我們也繼續應對新的額外部署請求，其中對電力和 Tier-4 雙燃料技術的需求最高。在利用率方面，我們看到壓力泵資產取得了顯著進步，部分原因是我們專注於與高效客戶合作，而且團隊堅持不懈地致力於抓住每一個機會最大限度地減少停機時間。

Finally strengthened by our vertical integration, our firm grip on cost is yielding improved results and margin across the company. This focus allowed us to achieve high incrementals quarter over quarter. As an example, in Q1, we made significant progress towards our goal and by March, we were able to dilute what we call controllable costs by 25% from our Q4 average.

最終，透過我們的垂直整​​合，我們對成本的嚴格控制正在改善整個公司的表現和利潤。這種關注使我們能夠實現季度環比的高增量。例如，在第一季度，我們在實現目標方面取得了重大進展，到 3 月份，我們能夠將我們所謂的可控成本比第四季度的平均水平稀釋 25%。

As a leader in the oilfield services industry, we are maintaining these priorities front and center for all of our teams. We will continue to execute on our strategic goals and maintain focus on our key priorities to create long-term value for our stakeholders, provide best-in-class services to our customers. We believe the industry is on a solid footing, and we are well positioned to ensure that our standing within the market continues to improve.

作為油田服務業的領導者，我們將這些優先事項作為我們所有團隊的首要任務和中心。我們將繼續執行我們的策略目標，並繼續專注於我們的關鍵優先事項，為我們的利害關係人創造長期價值，為我們的客戶提供一流的服務。我們相信該行業基礎穩固，並且我們有能力確保我們在市場中的地位不斷提高。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Ladd.

然後，我會將電話轉給拉德。

Thank you, Matt. I'll begin with an overview of our performance in each segment, starting with pressure pumping. I'm proud to report we achieved record efficiency levels in the first quarter for our Pressure Pumping segment. We generated roughly an 11% sequential improvement in pumping hours per fleet and that makes Q1 the most efficient quarter in ProFrac's history.

謝謝你，馬特。我將首先概述我們在每個細分市場的表現，從壓力泵開始。我很自豪地報告，我們的壓力泵部門在第一季實現了創紀錄的效率水準。我們每個車隊的泵送時間環比提高了約 11%，這使得第一季成為 ProFrac 歷史上效率最高的季度。

We continue to set numerous records for our customers. One of the most recent examples occurred in March when one of our fleets had an all-time record for a customer by pumping 675 hours. Efficiency across all our fleets was up nearly 30% in March over Q1 of 2023. A large portion of this is a product of the focus on efficiency for the entire industry. But this really demonstrates the commercial strategy that we employed by focusing on dedicated through-cycle customers.

我們不斷為客戶創造無數記錄。最近的一個例子發生在 3 月份，當時我們的一支車隊創下了為客戶泵送 675 小時的歷史記錄。與 2023 年第一季相比，3 月我們所有機隊的效率提高了近 30%。這在很大程度上是整個產業注重效率的結果。但這確實體現了我們透過專注於全週期客戶而採用的商業策略。

This also highlights how amazing our team is. We have the best crews in the industry and are consistently putting up the best numbers for our customers. In the first quarter, we activated nine fleets, increasing our scale considerably. I'd like to reiterate that at scale, we believe we had the lowest costs in the industry.

這也凸顯了我們團隊的優秀。我們擁有業內最優秀的員工，並始終如一地為我們的客戶提供最好的數據。一季度，我們啟用了9支機隊，規模大幅擴大。我想重申，就規模而言，我們相信我們的成本是業界最低的。

On our last call, we laid out a path to generate mid to high -teens EBITDA per fleet exclusive of the profit division. And we achieved that. More importantly, in Q2, we expect to continue at that level and our average fleet count should be higher due to the full quarter impact of activated fleet.

在我們上次的電話會議中，我們制定了一條途徑，使每個機隊都能獲得中高雙位數的 EBITDA（不包括利潤部門）。我們做到了。更重要的是，在第二季度，我們預計將繼續保持這一水平，並且由於啟動機隊對整個季度的影響，我們的平均機隊數量應該會更高。

We believe this will lead to incremental improvement in adjusted EBITDA quarter over quarter. We have a unique, vertically integrated business that benefits from lower cost of scale, yielding superior returns, and we will continue to demonstrate that in our results.

我們相信這將導致調整後 EBITDA 季度環比逐步改善。我們擁有獨特的垂直整合業務，受益於較低的規模成本，產生卓越的回報，我們將繼續在我們的業績中證明這一點。

The Proppant segment is also making progress. We are a little behind schedule on the transformation our team has embarked on, primarily due to the weakness in natural gas activity and the impacts of weather. Overall, our objective remains the same. While our sales pipeline expanded rapidly in Q4 heading into Q1, weather and operational disruptions impacted results.

支撐劑領域也在取得進展。我們團隊開始的轉型有點落後於計劃，主要是由於天然氣活動疲軟和天氣影響。總體而言，我們的目標保持不變。雖然我們的銷售管道在第四季和第一季迅速擴張，但天氣和營運中斷影響了業績。

To address this, we have implemented a number of initiatives that will improve the utilization of our mines to ensure we can service the volumes we have in the pipeline. For example, our plant improvement in La Mesa completed in mid-March has enabled us to double the output and achieved 70% utilization.

為了解決這個問題，我們實施了一系列舉措，以提高礦山的利用率，以確保我們能夠滿足管道中的需求。例如，我們在 3 月中旬完成的拉米薩工廠改造使我們的產量翻了一番，利用率達到了 70%。

In South Texas, we are working on a similar plant improvement as demand there remains very strong. This transformation has led to some minor growing pains that we quickly overcame, and we are getting back on track. Despite the lower sequential results, we are seeing improved utilization each month in the second quarter.

在德克薩斯州南部，我們正在對類似的工廠進行改進，因為那裡的需求仍然非常強勁。這種轉變導致了一些小小的成長難題，但我們很快就克服了，並且正在回到正軌。儘管環比業績較低，但我們看到第二季每個月的利用率都有所提高。

Based on current visibility, we expect total volumes to recover to be at or above fourth quarter levels. In summary, we are positioning Alpine to produce higher throughput, higher utilization and lower cost per ton.

根據目前的情況，我們預計總銷量將恢復到或高於第四季的水平。總之，我們將阿爾派定位為生產更高的吞吐量、更高的利用率和更低的每噸成本。

Looking at our marketplace, we continue to believe our business segments are well-positioned to be the preferred providers for large multi-basin operators. These operators require service providers with sufficient scale to have custody over the supply chain and materials.

縱觀我們的市場，我們仍然相信我們的業務部門處於有利地位，可以成為大型多流域營運商的首選供應商。這些運營商需要具有足夠規模的服務提供者來託管供應鏈和材料。

This is exactly what we were built for appropriate. We believe there is a massive growing need for natural gas for a variety of end-purposes, both domestically and abroad. We continue to maintain a strong presence and reputation with customers in the gassier plays, and we believe this will benefit us in the long run.

這正是我們的目的。我們相信，國內外各種最終目的對天然氣的需求不斷增長。我們繼續在天然氣領域保持強大的影響力和客戶聲譽，我們相信從長遠來看這將使我們受益。

I want to thank our outstanding team for their hard work, dedication and commitment to safety. Throughout our organization, our people are executing on the three areas of focus that Matt outlined in his remarks. We firmly believe we have the right plans and initiatives in place with the best team in the industry. I'll now hand it over to Lance to provide more detail on our consolidated financial results.

我要感謝我們傑出的團隊的辛勤工作、奉獻精神和對安全的承諾。在我們整個組織中，我們的員工正在執行馬特在演講中概述的三個重點領域。我們堅信，我們擁有正確的計劃和舉措，並擁有業內最好的團隊。現在我將把它交給蘭斯，以提供有關我們合併財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Ed. Our first quarter revenues of $582 million represent a 19% sequential increase. We generated $160 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter for an overall EBITDA margin of 27%. First quarter EBITDA represents a 46% improvement sequentially and with incrementals of approximately 54%. Cash we generated in the quarter went primarily toward working capital and CapEx in conjunction with the scale-up of our fleets and mine improvements as well as to pay down approximately $23 million of outstanding debt.

謝謝你，艾德。我們第一季的營收為 5.82 億美元，比上一季成長 19%。我們第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.6 億美元，整體 EBITDA 利潤率為 27%。第一季 EBITDA 季增 46%，增量約 54%。本季我們產生的現金主要用於營運資金和資本支出，以及擴大我們的船隊規模和礦山改進，以及償還約 2,300 萬美元的未償債務。

Stimulation services revenues were up 28% to $517 million in the first quarter, driven primarily by the higher number of active fleets and improved efficiencies, partially offset by a single digit reduction in pricing as we migrated toward highly efficient through cycle customers.

第一季刺激服務收入成長了28%，達到5.17 億美元，這主要是由於活躍車隊數量增加和效率提高所推動的，但隨著我們向高效的自行車客戶遷移，定價出現了個位數的下降，部分抵消了這一影響。

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment was $125 million, which was up approximately 116% sequentially. Margins also improved to the segment's highest level seen since the first quarter of last year. The results of the stimulation segment, in particular stand is evidence that our strategy and cost structure are working for us with incrementals in excess of 50% demonstrated in the quarter.

該部門調整後 EBITDA 為 1.25 億美元，比上一季成長約 116%。利潤率也提高至該部門自去年第一季以來的最高水準。刺激部門的結果，特別是立場證明，我們的策略和成本結構正在為我們發揮作用，本季的增量超過 50%。

This segment was also impacted by approximately $5 million of reactivation costs and approximately $9 million in shortfall expense related to our supply agreement with Flotek. A profit protection segment generated revenues of $78 million during the quarter. Total revenue was down sequentially due to lower tonnage sold on the heels of weaker natural gas activity and the impacts of weather and certain operational limitations.

該部門還受到約 500 萬美元的重新啟動成本和約 900 萬美元的與我們與 Flotek 供應協議相關的缺口費用的影響。利潤保護部門在本季創造了 7,800 萬美元的收入。由於天然氣活動疲軟、天氣影響和某些營運限制導致銷售噸位下降，總收入環比下降。

Average pricing per ton also came down slightly, but pricing appears to be stable going forward. Approximately 70% of the volumes in the proppant segment were sold to third party customers during the first quarter, which is in line with our commercial strategy to focus on customers where we can add the most value.

每噸平均價格也略有下降，但未來價格似乎穩定。第一季支撐劑領域約 70% 的銷售量出售給第三方客戶，這符合我們專注於能夠增加最大價值的客戶的商業策略。

Adjusted EBITDA for the segment totaled $28 million. The lower EBITDA was driven by lower volume and prices, coupled with a predominantly fixed cost structure. The manufacturing segment generated revenues of $43.5 million, up approximately 28% from the fourth quarter. Approximately 78% in this segment was inter-company.

該部門調整後的 EBITDA 總額為 2,800 萬美元。EBITDA 較低的原因是產量和價格較低，加上主要是固定的成本結構。製造部門的收入為 4,350 萬美元，比第四季成長約 28%。該細分市場中約 78% 是公司間的。

The increased sales in the first quarter were a result of increased fleets and hours pumped at the stimulation services segment, resulting in higher consumable usage. Adjusted EBITDA for the Manufacturing segment was $4.4 million, which was up compared to $1.8 million in the fourth quarter. Margins improved in the first quarter, largely due to the absorption of costs through higher output and lower cost per unit as we start to see the benefits of our initiative to reduce third-party reliance for certain production activities.

第一季銷售額的成長是由於增產服務部門的機隊和工作時間增加，導致消耗品使用量增加。製造部門調整後的 EBITDA 為 440 萬美元，高於第四季的 180 萬美元。第一季的利潤率有所提高，這主要是由於透過提高產量和降低單位成本吸收了成本，因為我們開始看到我們減少某些生產活動對第三方依賴的措施的好處。

Selling, general administrative costs were $51 million in the first quarter compared to $59 million last quarter. No one category of spending drove the sequential decline, but rather our general focus on cost-conscious behavior is yielding results.

第一季的銷售和一般管理成本為 5,100 萬美元，而上季為 5,900 萬美元。沒有哪一類支出導致了連續下降，但我們對成本意識行為的普遍關注正在產生結果。

Cash capital expenditures totaled $59.9 million in the first quarter, a sequential increase driven by our higher fleet count and other growth-related initiatives related to fleet upgrades and mine improvements. Approximately $22 million was incurred in prior periods and held in accounts payable, but later paid in the first quarter of this year.

第一季現金資本支出總計 5,990 萬美元，由於我們增加的機隊數量以及與機隊升級和礦山改進相關的其他增長相關舉措推動了連續增長。大約 2200 萬美元是前期產生的，並保存在應付帳款中，但後來在今年第一季支付。

We continue to expect to incur between $150 million and $200 million in maintenance CapEx for the year, along with approximately $100 million on growth-related CapEx. Despite the 23% increase in fleet count and 11% improvement in efficiencies, cash used for working capital was only $24 million. We continue our focus on rightsizing the inventory, which provided a $16 million benefit to working capital this quarter.

我們仍預期今年將產生 1.5 億至 2 億美元的維護資本支出，以及約 1 億美元的成長相關資本支出。儘管機隊數量增加了 23%，效率提高了 11%，但用於營運資金的現金僅為 2,400 萬美元。我們繼續專注於調整庫存規模，這為本季的營運資金帶來了 1,600 萬美元的收益。

In addition, we were able to reduce our DSOs by approximately four days to help offset the AR build required for the ramp up in activity levels. Total cash and cash equivalents at March 31 was $28 million, including $5 million attributable to Flotek. Total liquidity at quarter end was approximately $167 million and borrowings under the ABL ended the quarter with $138 million.

此外，我們能夠將 DSO 減少大約四天，以幫助抵消活動水平上升所需的 AR 構建。截至 3 月 31 日，現金及現金等價物總額為 2,800 萬美元，其中 Flotek 歸屬於 500 萬美元。季度末的流動性總額約為 1.67 億美元，ABL 下的借款額為 1.38 億美元。

While the emphasis on our strategic initiatives has already begun to bear fruit in 2024, we see opportunity for improvement ahead. We remain focused on operational execution, efficiencies and providing best-in-class services to our customers. We believe we will continue to improve our relative positioning to drive shareholder value in 2024 and beyond.

雖然我們對策略性舉措的重視已在 2024 年開始取得成果，但我們看到了未來的改進機會。我們仍然專注於營運執行、效率並為客戶提供一流的服務。我們相信，我們將繼續改善我們的相對定位，以在 2024 年及以後推動股東價值。

That concludes our formal remarks. Operator, please open the line for questions.

我們的正式發言到此結束。接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions) Blake McLean, Daniel Energy Partners.

（操作員說明）Blake McLean，Daniel Energy Partners。

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my call.

早安.感謝您接聽我的電話。

Morning.

早晨。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, I was hoping maybe you guys could just speak to some of the market dynamics on the Frac side. I mean, obviously, you guys saw really nice sequential improvement in EBITDA per fleet. How you see that progressing over the course of the year? Maybe any more color you can provide on that increase in profitability and the split between cost cuts and absorption? Just any more color you could share on that and on the market sort of generally?

是的，我希望你們能談談壓裂方面的一些市場動態。我的意思是，顯然，你們看到每個機隊 EBITDA 的連續改善非常好。您認為這一年的進展如何？也許您可以就盈利能力的提高以及成本削減和吸收之間的劃分提供更多的資訊？您可以分享更多關於該產品和市場上的顏色嗎？

Definitely. So when you look at the graph, when the gas market was falling off, you had budgets reset on the early side. And so we saw a nice migration there and a relatively stable fleet count for the industry. We expect it to be relatively stable for the remaining part of the year, with the exception to that being a bounce-back in natural gas prices. If we see that within, you'll see fleet count grow.

確實。因此，當您查看圖表時，當天然氣市場下跌時，您會在早期重置預算。因此，我們看到了那裡的良好遷移以及該行業相對穩定的機隊數量。我們預計今年剩餘時間將相對穩定，但天然氣價格反彈除外。如果我們在內部看到這一點，您就會看到機隊數量成長。

Right. And then on the on the profitability side, the improvements there, you talked about absorption and you talked about cost cuts. How should we think about the weight of each of those and the additional opportunities for kind of Q2, Q3 and Q4 on that front?

正確的。然後在盈利能力方面，那裡的改進，你談到了吸收，你談到了成本削減。我們該如何考慮其中每一項的權重以及第二季、第三季和第四季在這方面的額外機會？

Definitely. Most of it was through absorbing the costs. The operating leverage that we have in this business is tremendous. Vertical integration gives us a very, a more fixed nature to our cost structure relative to our peers. Some of them have more variable our cost structure. So when we pump more, we're more efficient and we have more fleets out there running. We're able to absorb those costs in a much broader way, and I think Q1 showcases that.

確實。其中大部分是透過吸收成本來實現的。我們在這項業務中擁有巨大的營運槓桿。相對於同行，垂直整合使我們的成本結構具有非常、更固定的性質。其中一些使我們的成本結構更加可變。因此，當我們抽更多的水時，我們的效率就會更高，我們有更多的車隊在運作。我們能夠以更廣泛的方式吸收這些成本，我認為第一季就展示了這一點。

And then maybe, thank you. Maybe just one more. I was hoping to ask. You guys have obviously a lot of insight into the gassier basins. And I was wondering if you could share any color on conversations you're having with operators? Things they're focused on, things they're looking at -- anything that might give just some more insight into how you're thinking about the world for the back half of this year into 25?

然後也許，謝謝。也許只剩下一個了。我正想問一下。你們顯然對含氣盆地有很多了解。我想知道您是否可以分享您與接線員的對話中的任何顏色？他們關注的事情、他們正在關注的事情——有什麼可以讓你更深入地了解你如何看待今年下半年到 25 歲的世界？

Yes, certainly. There are several operators that we're talking to where we see some opportunities in Q3, Q4. It's still early on, but what we're seeing on the forward curve is encouraging, but we're remaining very conservative with it, sticking to our guns and we don't want to get overly bullish and lean into it too much or too soon.

是的，當然了。我們正在與幾家營運商交談，我們在第三季、第四季看到了一些機會。現在還處於早期階段，但我們在遠期曲線上看到的情況令人鼓舞，但我們仍然非常保守，堅持我們的觀點，我們不想過度看漲並過度依賴它。

But we're in constant communication with these operators and think that they're doing a phenomenal job of being disciplined with the market that they have. And we look forward to their activity picking up towards the back half of this year.

但我們一直與這些業者保持溝通，並認為他們在遵守市場紀律方面做得非常出色。我們期待他們的活動在今年下半年回升。

Okay. Thank you, guys very much for the time this morning.

好的。非常感謝你們今天早上抽出時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Stephen Gengaro, Stifel.

史蒂芬·根加羅，斯蒂菲爾。

Thanks. Good morning, everybody. Two things for me. One is on the fleet count. Are we right that it's probably in the in the low to mid 30s right now? Is that approximately how many back to fleet left?

謝謝。大家早安。對我來說有兩件事。一是艦隊數量。我們現在可能在 30 多歲左右，對嗎？大約還有多少人返回艦隊？

Yes.

是的。

Okay, thanks. And when we look at the current makeup of your fleet between electric dual fuel and two are older diesel. Can you give us a rough breakdown and maybe even sort of talk about, I assume it's the lower emission assets, which are basically close to fully utilized. Can you give us any details around that?

好的謝謝。當我們看看您的車隊目前的組成時，有電動雙燃料和兩種舊柴油。您能否給我們一個粗略的細分，甚至可以談談，我認為這是較低排放的資產，基本上接近充分利用。您能給我們一些細節嗎？

We won't get too detailed with it, but without a doubt. Customers prefer fuel efficiency. I think that the value that's provided by dual-fuel fleets as well as e-fleets and the overall fuel savings, I mean, it displaces a lot of diesel.

我們不會太詳細地介紹它，但毫無疑問。客戶更喜歡燃油效率。我認為雙燃料車隊和電動車隊提供的價值以及整體燃料節省，我的意思是，它取代了大量柴油。

This is an area that we focused on because this allows us to lower the cost for our customers, but without having a detrimental impact to our financials. So this is a trend that we expect to continue seeing. However, there are many customers that prefer diesel or diesel fleets. And that's really driven by the associated gas associated with some of these oily basins and the costs of bringing these other options to the field.

這是我們關注的一個領域，因為這使我們能夠降低客戶的成本，但不會對我們的財務產生不利影響。因此，我們預計這一趨勢將持續出現。然而，有許多客戶更喜歡柴油或柴油車隊。這實際上是由與其中一些含油盆地相關的伴生氣以及將這些其他選項引入油田的成本所推動的。

Okay. All right.

好的。好的。

I think you really see that across the industry as well. This is where the majority of the growth capital in this space is going. And it's almost all of it's going to upgrading equipment to more fuel-efficient configuration.

我認為您在整個行業也確實看到了這一點。這是該領域大部分成長資本的去向。而且幾乎全部都是為了將設備升級為更省油的配置。

Great. And then just one final for me. You've been involved with this in the past. But when we think about industry dynamics and potential for future consolidation, how do you think about allocating capital between either building new assets to replace older assets or potentially M&A?

偉大的。然後對我來說只有一場決賽。你過去曾參與過這件事。但是，當我們考慮產業動態和未來整合的潛力時，您如何考慮在建立新資產以取代舊資產或潛在的併購之間分配資本？

I mean, we're in the market. We see things that are out there, and we're interested in value, but that value is few and far between. And I think the best way to think about us is just we take it very patient approach to the market. We generally avoid a transaction unless we see a tremendous amount of value coming with it.

我的意思是，我們在市場上。我們看到外面的東西，我們對價值感興趣，但這種價值卻很少。我認為看待我們的最好方法就是我們對市場採取非常耐心的態度。除非我們看到交易會帶來巨大的價值，否則我們通常會避免交易。

Great. Thanks for the color.

偉大的。謝謝你的顏色。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Saurabh Pant, Bank of America.

索拉布潘特，美國銀行。

Hi, good morning, Matt and Ladd, Lance. Maybe I'll start with a follow up. I think, Matt, you said in your prepared remarks, you expanded your portfolio with highly efficient customers, which is obviously commendable and that's what you should be doing. Can you give us a little color Matt, Ladd, maybe on how much visibility do you have as we look forward for the next three to six months?

嗨，早上好，馬特和拉德，蘭斯。也許我會從跟進開始。我認為，馬特，你在準備好的演講中說過，你透過高效的客戶擴展了你的投資組合，這顯然是值得稱讚的，這就是你應該做的。馬特、拉德，您能為我們提供一些資訊嗎？

I'm especially taken in light of the completion deferrals that we are seeing in the gas basins? Or how much should we worry about the potential white space in the gassy basins in the mix three to six months?

我特別考慮到我們在天然氣盆地看到的竣工延期？或者我們應該在多大程度上擔心三到六個月內含氣盆地中潛在的空白區域？

Yes. There's a lot to unpack there and good morning, and thank you for joining our call.

是的。還有很多東西要解開，早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。

We've got some availability, but we look at the market in a very disciplined way and won't put fleets to work unless it fits in our overall strategy. There's certainly benefits to scale and our ability to absorb costs. So when we look at opportunities, we want to make sure that we are -- when we deploy these, we deployed in a very disciplined way.

我們有一些可用性，但我們以非常嚴格的方式看待市場，除非符合我們的整體策略，否則不會讓車隊投入使用。規模化和我們吸收成本的能力當然有好處。因此，當我們尋找機會時，我們希望確保在部署這些機會時，我們以非常嚴格的方式進行部署。

And one of the things that also comes with our vertical integration is that if we get into a situation where there's no fleets available, it becomes tight, really tight from gas markets coming back, we can respond to that quickly too and solve any issues and meet the needs of our customers, even if that means that we end up with a undersupplied market in 2025.

我們的垂直整​​合也帶來的一件事是，如果我們遇到沒有可用船隊的情況，天然氣市場回來後就會變得緊張，非常緊張，我們也可以快速做出反應並解決任何問題，滿足客戶的需求，即使這意味著我們最終會在2025 年出現供應不足的情況。

Okay. I got it. And just a quick clarification. I think, Lance, you mentioned, I think you said $9 million in shortfall cost payable to Flotek. Should we expect that to continue in the second quarter and the in the foreseeable future, just given the volume expectations you have right now?

好的。我得到了它。快速澄清一下。我想，蘭斯，你提到過，我想你說過應付給 Flotek 的 900 萬美元的短缺成本。考慮到您現在的銷售預期，我們是否應該預期這種情況會在第二季和可預見的未來繼續下去？

So we're working to expand our chemical profile with our customers and get that to where we need to be. And so we expect to reduce it. But it'll take it take a little bit of time as we ramp that up.

因此，我們正在努力與客戶一起擴展我們的化學品概況，並將其實現我們需要的目標。所以我們希望減少它。但隨著我們加大力度，這需要一些時間。

Okay, perfect. And then just one last one for me. I think this was Matt. You said in your prepared remarks that you expect to have all your fleets deployed by, I think you said later in '24, you said by the end of '24. But just a quick clarification on that. Is that a comment on your deployed electric fleets because I think you have a couple of electric fleets that were partially completed. Are you talking about those as well?

好的，完美。然後是我的最後一件事。我認為這是馬特。您在準備好的演講中表示，您希望在 24 年稍後部署所有艦隊，我想您在 24 年底之前說過。但只是對此進行快速澄清。這是您部署的電動車隊的評論嗎，因為我認為您有幾個部分完成的電動車隊。你也在談論那些嗎？

Yes, we're talking about those as well. So when we look at the remainder of this year and the recent success -- we've set up the most efficient fleet we had in West Texas was in the city limits of Midland, where there's a great deal of sensitivity towards noise. And it's right there in front of everybody's offices.

是的，我們也在談論這些。因此，當我們看看今年剩下的時間和最近的成功時，我們在德克薩斯州西部建立了最高效的車隊，位於米德蘭市範圍內，那裡對噪音非常敏感。它就在每個人辦公室的前面。

It was on full display for the industry. And so I think what we're seeing from that is a great deal of excitement and really showcasing for the overall market to what these things are capable of, that you should expect the same efficiencies from e-fleet with fuel savings and that there's not really any compromises.

為業界充分展現。因此，我認為我們從中看到的是極大的興奮，並真正向整個市場展示了這些東西的能力，您應該期望電子車隊具有相同的效率並節省燃料，並且沒有真的有任何妥協。

These are as good or better than a conventional fleet and will deliver you the results that you need, net fuel savings and a quieter profile so that you can work in these sensitive areas where people are trying to sleep and live. So we're very excited about that. We're seeing a lot of inbounds and expect to have every e-pump that we have in an active status working for customers.

它們與傳統車隊一樣好甚至更好，將為您提供所需的結果、淨燃油節省和更安靜的外形，以便您可以在人們試圖睡覺和生活的敏感區域工作。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。我們看到了大量的入庫，並希望我們擁有的每個電子泵都處於活躍狀態，為客戶服務。

Yes, I'll just add to that. When we're when we're talking about fleet growth, they will not come from pricing reductions. That's going to come from these differentiated offerings that we have, like whether it's e-fleets, hybrid fleet, or dual fuels. These are not going to come from slugging it out over pricing over conventional diesel fleets. It's going to come from these offerings that the market wanted.

是的，我就補充一下。當我們談論機隊成長時，它們不會來自降價。這將來自我們擁有的這些差異化產品，例如電動車隊、混合動力車隊或雙燃料車隊。這些不會來自於與傳統柴油機隊的價格爭奪。它將來自市場想要的這些產品。

Yeah, essentially creating value and offering value to our customers, where our customers see savings, but it comes from the value proposition that we bring.

是的，本質上是為我們的客戶創造價值並提供價值，我們的客戶可以看到節省，但它來自我們帶來的價值主張。

Right. No, that's very helpful. Always good to see demandful versus just a pricing based supply push. So fantastic. Okay, Matt, Ladd, Lance, thank you. I'll turn it back.

正確的。不，這非常有幫助。總是很高興看到需求旺盛，而不是僅基於定價的供應推動。太棒了。好的，馬特、拉德、蘭斯，謝謝你們。我會把它轉回來。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Don Crist, Johnson Rice.

唐克里斯特、約翰遜賴斯。

Morning, guys. I wanted to ask a more macro question. Given the horsepower requirements of today to pump 20-plus hours, a traditional fleet is no longer a 45,000 or 50,000 horsepower.

早安，夥計們。我想問一個更宏觀的問題。考慮到當今泵送 20 多個小時的馬力要求，傳統車隊不再是 45,000 或 50,000 匹馬力。

Matt, I'm curious just your opinion as to, if that premise is true where you need 50-plus thousand horsepower just to service and pump those amount of hours per day, where we are from a macro perspective? Are we pretty balanced in the fleet today? Just given those extra hours requirements?

馬特，我很好奇你的看法，如果這個前提是真的，你需要 50 多千馬力來每天服務和泵送這麼多小時，從宏觀角度來看我們處於什麼位置？我們今天的機隊相當平衡嗎？只是考慮到這些額外的時間要求嗎？

Yes. So I mean, it really depends which basin you're in. I think the higher pressure puts higher requirement on your fleet where you need more redundancy. Because this is about managing around equipment failures and when they fail, how do we solve for that. So there's not a interrupt interruption in the service quality at all.

是的。所以我的意思是，這實際上取決於你所在的盆地。我認為更高的壓力對您的車隊提出了更高的要求，您需要更多的冗餘。因為這是關於設備故障的管理，當它們發生故障時，我們如何解決。所以服務品質根本不存在中斷。

And so typically, you would see anywhere -- if you really to pump 100 barrels a minute, you'd really only need 14 pumps, but one of your pumps is going to fail while you're pumping. So, you probably have 18 in line and then two on a standby and then four and a maintenance rotation. That's on typical zipper work. And you should be able to pump 21, 22 hours a day doing that with that configuration.

通常情況下，您會在任何地方看到 - 如果您真的每分鐘泵送 100 桶，您實際上只需要 14 個泵，但其中一個泵會在您泵送時發生故障。因此，您可能有 18 人排隊，然後兩人待命，然後四人輪流進行維護。這是典型的拉鍊工作。使用該配置，您應該能夠每天 21、22 小時進行吸奶。

But when you get into higher pressure, you're going to need a little bit more redundancy or when you see simul-fracs. Some of the simul-fracs are 180 barrels a minute. If you've got both sides run in. And so that puts a higher requirement on the number of pumps. The number of pumps you have in line has more to do with how many barrels minute you're pumping and then the pressure has to do with how much redundancy you need to keep those that number of pumps pumping.

但是，當您遇到更高的壓力時，或者當您看到同時壓裂時，您將需要更多的冗餘。一些同步壓裂速度為每分鐘 180 桶。如果兩邊都跑了。這就對泵浦的數量提出了更高的要求。管線中的泵浦數量更多地與您每分鐘泵送多少桶有關，然後壓力與您需要多少冗餘來保持這些數量的泵浦泵送有關。

So I think you'll probably see a pretty wide scale of how much horsepower is required. Some people have higher failure rates. When you take care of your equipment and you have maintenance redundancy, incredible cycle times, we run our business like, our maintenance team like its pit road. If you get your cycle times down really quick and see a pit stop in two seconds.

所以我想你可能會看到需要多少馬力的範圍相當廣泛。有些人的失敗率更高。當您照顧好您的設備並且擁有維護冗餘和令人難以置信的循環時間時，我們的業務就像我們的維護團隊就像維修站道路一樣。如果您很快縮短循環時間並在兩秒鐘內看到進站。

We love looking at the IndyCar. In the 90s, it took almost ten seconds for a pit stop to get a full set of tires and fuel. But nowadays, there are under two seconds in some instances. So that's what we focus on. We want to get the highest utilization out of our assets we want the tightest cycle times in maintenance and to consistently deliver the best performance without cutting corners or putting ourselves in a bind.

我們喜歡看印地賽車。90年代，進站需要近十秒才能換上全套輪胎和燃油。但如今，在某些情況下不到兩秒。這就是我們關注的重點。我們希望從我們的資產中獲得最高的利用率，我們希望維護週期最短，並始終如一地提供最佳性能，而不偷工減料或讓自己陷入困境。

Under no circumstance do we want to see rate fall below the designed rate for our customers. It's not just pump time. It's service quality and delivering the customer the spec that they require.

在任何情況下，我們都不希望看到費率低於為客戶設計的費率。這不僅僅是泵時間。這是服務品質並為客戶提供他們所需的規格。

I appreciate that. And just from a macro perspective, given the excess horsepower that's required to swap pumps out [provide] seat replacement, et cetera, do you think we're fairly balanced today? And ask that in terms of if we get a 15 or 20 fleet uplift in demand from gas basins, could we see a significant tightening across the industry in a matter of a couple of fleets going back to work? Or is there enough slack horsepower in the industry today to where we can absorb an uplift of a few fleets, but not maybe 15 or 20?

我很感激。僅從宏觀角度來看，考慮到更換幫浦[提供]座椅更換等所需的多餘馬力，您認為我們今天相當平衡嗎？並問，如果天然氣盆地的需求增加 15 或 20 個船隊，我們是否會看到整個產業在幾個船隊恢復工作的情況下出現大幅緊縮？或者，當今行業是否有足夠的閒置馬力，我們可以吸收一些車隊的增加，但可能不是 15 或 20 個？

I definitely think that's fair. It's pretty nasty out there if you don't have scale and if you don't have the vertical integration that we do. I think our vertical integration allows us to absorb costs, dilute costs on a per pump hour basis. It also means that we don't have to cut corners or deferred maintenance CapEx or anything like that.

我絕對認為這是公平的。如果你沒有規模，如果你沒有我們所做的垂直整合，那就非常糟糕了。我認為我們的垂直整​​合使我們能夠吸收成本，稀釋每泵小時的成本。這也意味著我們不必走捷徑或推遲維護資本支出或類似的事情。

And I think this is the type of environment where and you'll see that with various players across the space where they're deferring maintenance and potentially seeing a higher level of attrition than the historical norm. You add to that a bounce back in gas prices and you could see a tightening of the market that goes beyond, a bit beyond the available horsepower.

我認為在這種環境中，你會看到整個空間中的各種玩家都推遲了維護，並且可能會看到比歷史正常水平更高的人員流失率。再加上汽油價格的反彈，你可能會看到市場的緊縮程度超出了可用馬力的範圍。

And with that, you do also see more simul-fracs. When you look at the fleet count on a year-over-year basis, how much, how many of those fleets are simul-frac pumping at higher rates requiring more redundancy? And I think your line of questioning is exactly right. It's set up for a tighter market. But what we focus on is working with customers to make sure that they don't feel that squeeze and making sure that they're able to accommodate any issues that come along and that they're not on the wrong end of that trend.

這樣，您還會看到更多的同時壓裂。當您逐年查看船隊數量時，您會發現其中有多少船隊以更高的速率同時進行壓裂泵送，需要更多的冗餘？我認為你的提問是完全正確的。它是為更緊張的市場而設置的。但我們重點關注的是與客戶合作，確保他們不會感到壓力，並確保他們能夠適應出現的任何問題，並且不會站在這一趨勢的錯誤一邊。

I appreciate the color. I agree. I think if we add a minimal amount of fleets here, we could see a significant uplift in pricing going forward, but I'll turn it back in queue. Thank you.

我很欣賞它的顏色。我同意。我認為，如果我們在這裡添加最少量的機隊，我們可能會看到未來價格的大幅上漲，但我會在隊列中將其退回。謝謝。

Yes, I'll say one thing to that as well. What we focus on and what's so important for our customers is that they see some certainty to their CapEx and that they're working with partners that can deliver them a reliable product at a great price with no surprises. And when you see supply constraints, it's easy for us to look at that and get really excited about prices going up. But like our customers, stability and reliable cash flows are the most important thing for us.

是的，我也會對此說一件事。我們關注的以及對我們的客戶來說如此重要的是，他們看到了資本支出的一定確定性，並且他們正在與合作夥伴合作，能夠以優惠的價格為他們提供可靠的產品，不會出現意外。當你看到供應限制時，我們很容易看到這一點並對價格上漲感到非常興奮。但與我們的客戶一樣，穩定和可靠的現金流對我們來說是最重要的。

And so when we look at the path forward, we see these as opportunities to create long-lasting partnerships with our customers and deliver them reliable pricing that they can count on and maybe take some of the spike out of the out of the upswing, but it certainly takes a little bit of the bite out of out of any pullbacks in the cycle.

因此，當我們展望未來的道路時，我們將這些視為與客戶建立長期合作夥伴關係的機會，並為他們提供可以信賴的可靠定價，並可能在經濟上升期中消除一些高峰，但這肯定會減輕週期中任何回調的影響。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question-and-answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Wilks for any final comments.

謝謝。女士們先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我將把發言權交還給威爾克斯先生，徵求最後的意見。

Thank you, everybody. We appreciate your time today. Very excited about this quarter, but more excited about what this year brings. And we just thank you for your time, and we look forward to carrying on and continuing these results. So thank you.

謝謝大家。我們非常感謝您今天抽出時間。對本季非常興奮，但對今年帶來的東西更興奮。我們非常感謝您抽出時間，我們期待繼續取得這些成果。所以謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。