Helmerich and Payne Inc (HP) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome, everyone, to Helmerich & Payne's conference call and webcast for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. With us today on the call are John Lindsay, President and CEO; Kevin Vann, Senior Vice President and CFO; Trey Adams, Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Sales and Marketing; and Mike Lennox, Senior Vice President, Americas.

歡迎大家參加 Helmerich & Payne 2025 財年第三季電話會議和網路廣播。今天參加電話會議的有總裁兼首席執行官約翰·林賽 (John Lindsay)、高級副總裁兼首席財務官凱文·范恩 (Kevin Vann)、全球商業銷售和營銷高級副總裁特雷·亞當斯 (Trey Adams) 和美洲高級副總裁邁克·倫諾克斯 (Mike Lennox)。

Before we begin our prepared remarks, I'd like to remind everyone that this call will include forward-looking statements as defined under securities laws. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations will prove to be correct. Please refer to our filings with the SEC for a list of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements made during this call.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議將包括證券法所定義的前瞻性陳述。儘管管理階層認為此類前瞻性聲明所反映的預期是合理的，但無法保證這些預期將被證明是正確的。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，其中列出了可能導致實際結果與本次電話會議中前瞻性陳述的結果有重大差異的因素。

With that, I'll turn the call over to John.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給約翰。

Thank you, Todd. Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. Just over two decades ago, H&P took a bold step by investing in 32 FlexRigs that were built on spec, an investment that became the bedrock of our fleet. Looking back, the market was challenging at that time and that investment was heavily scrutinized. Ultimately, that leap carried us from the fourth to first in North America land drilling.

謝謝你，托德。大家好，感謝大家今天加入我們。就在二十多年前，H&P 邁出了大膽的一步，投資了 32 艘按規格建造的 FlexRig，這項投資成為了我們船隊的基石。回顧當時的情況，市場充滿挑戰，投資受到嚴格審查。最終，這一飛躍使我們在北美陸地鑽探領域從第四名躍升至第一位。

Today, fresh off our most recent acquisition, familiar headwinds are upon us. Volatile oil and natural gas prices driven by tariffs, shifting supply dynamics and geopolitical currents are once again challenging our strategic initiative. It took a few years under the spotlight of adversity, but ultimately, H&P led the industry on a path of innovation and unmatched performance. It showcased our unique safety culture, our people's deep expertise and gave rise to the new technologies that helped transform the business as we know it today.

今天，我們剛完成最近的收購，卻又遭遇了熟悉的逆風。受關稅、供應動態變化和地緣政治趨勢影響的石油和天然氣價格波動再次對我們的戰略主動性提出挑戰。雖然經歷了幾年逆境，但最終，H&P 引領產業走上了創新和無與倫比的業績之路。它展示了我們獨特的安全文化、員工的深厚專業知識，並催生了幫助我們改變當今業務的新技術。

Anchored by a clear long-term vision we remain steadfast in executing our global strategy that will keep us at the forefront of the drilling solutions industry. Our teams are laser focused on future growth and leveraging the advantages that H&P brings to the market.

我們秉承清晰的長期願景，堅定不移地執行我們的全球策略，這將使我們始終處於鑽井解決方案產業的前沿。我們的團隊專注於未來發展並利用 H&P 為市場帶來的優勢。

Now turning to our fiscal Q3 results. I was very pleased with our operating performance and progress made on multiple fronts. Our customer focus and hard work was evident in our industry-leading North American Solutions results, and we're gaining operating momentum in several areas around the world. We're making great progress on our debt and cost reduction goals and our integrated team is working well together.

現在來看看我們的第三季財報業績。我對我們的經營業績和在多個方面取得的進展感到非常滿意。我們以客戶為中心和辛勤工作的精神在我們行業領先的北美解決方案成果中得到了充分體現，並且我們在全球多個地區獲得了營運動力。我們在債務和成本削減目標方面取得了巨大進展，我們的綜合團隊合作良好。

I'm now going to turn the call over to Trey Adams, and he will provide a global sales, marketing and commercial update on our North America Solutions, international land and offshore segment performance and outlook. Trey?

我現在將把電話轉給 Trey Adams，他將提供有關我們的北美解決方案、國際陸地和海上部門業績和前景的全球銷售、行銷和商業更新。特雷？

Thank you, John. Our North American Solutions segment produced another great quarter with daily margins of $19,860 per day, highlighted by sequential quarter-over-quarter improvements in expense per day. Our NAS teams continue to focus on producing differentiated outcomes for customers. The journey to becoming an outcome and customer-focused firm did not happen overnight or over a few quarters. This customer-centric focus is truly embedded in everything we do every day.

謝謝你，約翰。我們的北美解決方案部門又取得了一個出色的季度，每日利潤達到 19,860 美元，每日費用較上季有所改善。我們的 NAS 團隊持續致力於為客戶提供差異化的成果。成為一家注重成果和以客戶為中心的公司並非一朝一夕或幾季就能實現的。這種以客戶為中心的理念已真正融入我們每天所做的每一件事。

We continue to advance both performance-based agreements and in our technology journey. Both performance-based agreements and technology aid in our ability to create customer value. Our digital applications are now at all-time highs for adoption and value creation. We now have advanced applications and automation working on essentially every rig in the US Lower 48 with app count growing 20% year over year. The drive for additional efficiencies continues along with lateral lengths and well complexity. Our customer-centric models, rig equipment, drilling expertise, technology portfolio and our people continue to place us at the center of this continued evolution.

我們將繼續推動基於績效的協議和技術進步。基於績效的協議和技術都有助於我們創造客戶價值。我們的數位應用的採用率和價值創造率目前都達到了歷史最高水準。現在，我們擁有先進的應用程式和自動化技術，幾乎可以運行在美國本土 48 個州的每一個鑽機上，應用程式數量年增 20%。隨著水平段長度和井筒複雜性的增加，對額外效率的追求也持續。我們以客戶為中心的模式、鑽機設備、鑽井專業知識、技術組合和我們的員工繼續使我們處於這一持續發展的中心。

In addition, our customers drive for safety and performance improvements uniquely positions H&P and our approach for further share capture and customer value creation. An example of this can be seen in the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin is down 12% year over year in total rig count. And over that same period, our share position in the Permian Basin has grown over 3 percentage-points.

此外，我們的客戶對安全性和效能改進的追求使得 H&P 和我們的方法在進一步佔領市場份額和創造客戶價值方面具有獨特的優勢。二疊紀盆地就是一個例子。二疊紀盆地鑽機總數較去年同期下降了 12%。在同一時期，我們在二疊紀盆地的市佔率增加了 3 個百分點以上。

On the International and Offshore Solutions front, we continue to enhance relationships around the globe. We are now active in effectively all of the major basins outside of Russia and China. Our teams continue to find growth opportunities in international markets, highlighted by near-term growth in South America and other key markets. The need for capital efficiency is not unique to the US shale market. Customers large and small all over the globe need the right partner to create long-term and sustainable growth. Our distinctive capabilities, along with our broad geographical footprint, put us in a great position to grow in the US and global markets.

在國際和離岸解決方案方面，我們持續加強全球關係。目前，我們實際上活躍於俄羅斯和中國以外的所有主要盆地。我們的團隊繼續在國際市場尋找成長機會，其中南美洲和其他主要市場的近期成長尤為突出。對資本效率的需求並非美國頁岩市場獨有。全球各地的大小客戶都需要合適的合作夥伴來創造長期可持續的成長。我們獨特的能力以及廣泛的地理覆蓋範圍使我們在美國和全球市場上佔據了有利地位。

I will now turn it back over to John Lindsay.

現在我將把發言權交還給約翰·林賽。

Thank you, Trey. As Trey mentioned, we are well positioned for growth around the globe. Our customer exposure and geographical footprint have never been this broad in our company's long history. While we are still absorbing some of the impact of the rig suspensions in Saudi, we are firmly committed to further growth in Saudi Arabia and in the Middle East. We believe that our foundation of the right rigs, relationships, people and approach will lead to incremental activity gains.

謝謝你，特雷。正如 Trey 所提到的，我們已做好在全球範圍內實現成長的準備。在我們公司悠久的歷史中，我們的客戶曝光度和地理覆蓋範圍從未如此廣泛。雖然我們仍在承受沙烏地阿拉伯鑽井平台暫停帶來的部分影響，但我們堅定地致力於在沙烏地阿拉伯和中東地區進一步發展。我們相信，正確的鑽孔機、關係、人員和方法的基礎將帶來活動的逐步收益。

I'm also encouraged by the progress on our KCA integration. We've adopted a deliberate phased approach, streamlining corporate back office and operational support functions while maintaining an appropriate pace at the rig level to maintain strong safety performance and deliver exceptional results to our customers. The initial phase of integrating our corporate and back office functions is nearly three-fourth of the way complete with most of the work targeted for completion in the first quarter of 2026. This focus has already unlocked meaningful cost synergies across our corporate functions.

KCA 整合的進展也令我感到鼓舞。我們採取了深思熟慮的分階段方法，簡化公司後台和營運支援職能，同時在鑽井平台層面保持適當的速度，以保持強大的安全性能並為我們的客戶提供卓越的成果。我們的公司和後台職能整合的初始階段已完成近四分之三，大部分工作計劃於 2026 年第一季完成。這項重點已經為我們公司各職能部門帶來了有意義的成本綜效。

In Saudi Arabia, where we once ran two separate businesses, the merger has generated significant financial and operational gains. Our acquisition thesis is coming to life. We're leveraging a broader operational footprint and expanded customer base and our combined capabilities to differentiate H&P on the global stage.

在沙烏地阿拉伯，我們曾經經營兩家獨立的企業，合併帶來了顯著的財務和營運收益。我們的收購論點正在成為現實。我們正在利用更廣泛的營運範圍、擴大的客戶群以及綜合能力，在全球舞台上實現 H&P 的差異化。

Today, we're operating over 200 land rigs globally across major oil and gas basins and another 30 or so offshore management contracts. And we continue to serve our customers through customer-centric performance contracts and advanced technology rigs backed by digital solutions that drive safety and reliability.

如今，我們在全球主要油氣盆地營運 200 多個陸地鑽井平台，另外還擁有 30 多個海上管理合約。我們將繼續透過以客戶為中心的績效合約和以數位解決方案為後盾的先進技術鑽機為客戶提供服務，以提高安全性和可靠性。

Our financial profile remains robust, and Kevin will go into greater detail during his remarks. I would like to reference the last slide in our deck, slide 10, as that truly captures the H&P differentiated drilling business model. And to reinforce those points, we believe our global scale and innovative solutions are differentiating in the market. And those capabilities, along with our investment-grade balance sheet, sharp focus on cost and debt reduction and a long-standing sustainable dividend is a unique value proposition in our industry. This successful integration positions us to deliver superior value to our customers, our teams and our shareholders.

我們的財務狀況依然強勁，凱文將在演講中更詳細地介紹。我想引用我們簡報中的最後一張投影片，即第 10 張投影片，因為它真正體現了 H&P 差異化鑽井業務模式。為了強調這些觀點，我們相信我們的全球規模和創新解決方案在市場上具有差異化。這些能力，加上我們的投資等級資產負債表、對成本和債務削減的高度關注以及長期可持續的股息，是我們行業中獨特的價值主張。此次成功的整合使我們能夠為客戶、團隊和股東提供卓越的價值。

And now I'll turn the call over to Kevin.

現在我將把電話轉給凱文。

Thanks, John. Today, I will review our fiscal third quarter '25 operating results, which includes a full quarter impact from our KCAD acquisition, provide guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter, update remaining full year 2025 guidance where an update is needed and, finally, comment on our financial position.

謝謝，約翰。今天，我將回顧我們 25 財年第三季的經營業績，其中包括收購 KCAD 對整個季度的影響，為第四財季提供指導，在需要更新時更新 2025 年全年剩餘的指導，最後對我們的財務狀況進行評論。

Let me start with a few highlights. The company generated quarterly revenues of just over $1 billion for the second straight quarter. Total direct operating costs were $735 million and general and administrative expenses were approximately $66 million for the quarter, which represents a reduction of $15 million from the second. I will provide some additional color on the trajectory of our cost structure and the progress we have made against our cost initiatives later in my comments.

讓我先講幾個重點。該公司連續第二季的季度營收略高於 10 億美元。本季直接營運成本總額為 7.35 億美元，一般及行政支出約 6,600 萬美元，較第二季減少 1,500 萬美元。我將在稍後的評論中對我們的成本結構軌跡以及我們在成本計劃方面取得的進展提供一些額外的說明。

Gross capital expenditures for our second quarter were $97 million, which was down from the second quarter but in line with our expectations for the full year, and second quarter cash flow from operations was $122 million. Lastly, overall, the company generated $268 million in EBITDA versus $242 million last quarter.

我們第二季的總資本支出為 9,700 萬美元，低於第二季但符合我們對全年的預期，第二季的營運現金流為 1.22 億美元。最後，總體而言，該公司的 EBITDA 為 2.68 億美元，而上一季為 2.42 億美元。

Turning to our three segments, beginning with North American Solutions. We averaged 147 contracted rigs during the quarter, which was down a couple of rigs as compared to the second, however, pretty much in line with our expectations and the guidance that we provided during our last earnings call. The exit rig count was 141, which declined late in the quarter due to some churn, but is in line with the broader North American market conditions and consistent with our guidance during the last call. Segment direct margin was $266 million, which was right in line with last quarter but materially higher than our expectations.

轉向我們的三個部分，首先是北美解決方案。本季度我們平均簽約了 147 座鑽機，與第二季度相比減少了幾座，但基本上符合我們的預期以及我們在上次收益電話會議上提供的指導。退出鑽機數量為 141 台，由於一些客戶流失，該數量在本季度末有所下降，但與北美整體市場狀況相符，並且與我們上次電話會議中的指導一致。分部直接利潤為 2.66 億美元，與上一季持平，但大大高於我們的預期。

As Trey indicated, this outcome is a testament to our operations and sales team working side by side our customers and understanding the needed outcomes to help them achieve the results they desire. We recognize that there are factors that negatively weigh on overall market conditions such as continued uncertainty around tariffs and the possibility of lower commodity prices. However, we remain steadfastly focused on partnering with our customers to achieve the mutually successful outcomes that are required for all of us to generate acceptable returns on our investments.

正如 Trey 所指出的，這一結果證明了我們的營運和銷售團隊與客戶並肩工作，並了解所需的結果，以幫助他們實現他們想要的結果。我們認識到，有些因素會對整體市場狀況產生負面影響，例如關稅的持續不確定性以及大宗商品價格下跌的可能性。然而，我們仍然堅定不移地專注於與客戶合作，以實現互利共贏的結果，以便我們所有人都能獲得可接受的投資回報。

Our International Solutions activity ended the third fiscal quarter with 69 rigs working. As we stated in the press release, all 8 unconventional FlexRigs in Saudi Arabia have now commenced operations with margins continuing to improve as we further integrate operations with KCAD. As a whole, our International Solutions business generated direct margins of $34 million, which was up $7 million from the second quarter.

我們的國際解決方案業務在第三財季結束時共有 69 個鑽孔機在運作。正如我們在新聞稿中所述，沙烏地阿拉伯所有 8 台非常規 FlexRig 現已開始運營，隨著我們與 KCAD 進一步整合運營，利潤率持續提高。總體而言，我們的國際解決方案業務產生的直接利潤為 3,400 萬美元，比第二季增加了 700 萬美元。

Finally, to our Offshore Solutions segment, which generated $23 million in direct margins. With the inclusion of the KCAD's offshore business, we have added significant scale and geographic expansion to this segment. The business requires very little capital and generate steady cash flows from a set of blue-chip customers. We are extremely pleased with how this business is performing and the additional value being created by the team that came over with the acquisition.

最後，我們的離岸解決方案部門創造了 2,300 萬美元的直接利潤。隨著 KCAD 海上業務的納入，我們在該領域的規模和地理擴張都得到了顯著提升。該業務所需的資本很少，並從一群藍籌客戶產生穩定的現金流。我們對這項業務的表現以及收購後團隊所創造的額外價值感到非常滿意。

As we noted in the press release, we did record an impairment of a significant part of the goodwill that was recorded at the date of the closing of the acquisition. This write-down was largely driven by the drop in our equity price, which is obviously driven by several factors, including the market's interest and sentiment around the energy sector and the various subsectors within it. To be clear, we still believe that over the long term, the acquisition will provide the growth and shareholder value creation that was originally contemplated.

正如我們在新聞稿中指出的，我們確實記錄了收購完成之日記錄的很大一部分商譽的減損。此次減記主要是由於我們股價下跌所致，而股價下跌顯然受到多種因素的影響，包括市場對能源產業及其各個次產業的興趣和情緒。需要明確的是，我們仍然相信，從長遠來看，此次收購將帶來最初設想的成長和股東價值創造。

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 for North American Solutions, we expect to average between 138 and 144 contracted rigs or approximately flat to our exit rate. Again, we are focused on providing customer-centric solutions and believe direct margins in fiscal Q4 to range between $230 million and $250 million. The NAS team continues to exceed expectations in any given market conditions. I want to thank them for continuing to bring these amazing results that are obviously industry-leading.

展望北美解決方案 2025 財年第四季度，我們預計平均簽約鑽機數量將在 138 至 144 台之間，或與我們的退出率大致持平。再次，我們專注於提供以客戶為中心的解決方案，並相信第四財季的直接利潤將在 2.3 億美元至 2.5 億美元之間。無論在何種市場條件下，NAS 團隊的表現都超乎預期。我要感謝他們繼續帶來這些顯然是業界領先的驚人成果。

As we look toward the fourth quarter of fiscal '25 for international, we expect direct margins from our International Solutions to be between $22 million and $32 million. Further, we expect the average operating rig count to be between 62 and 66 contracted rigs. The guidance range includes the impact of the Saudi rig suspensions but also includes the margin improvement from the FlexRig business.

展望25財年第四季的國際業務，我們預期國際解決方案的直接利潤將在2,200萬美元至3,200萬美元之間。此外，我們預計平均營運鑽機數量將在 62 至 66 個合約鑽機之間。此指導範圍包括沙烏地阿拉伯鑽井平台暫停的影響，也包括 FlexRig 業務帶來的利潤率提高。

Now turning to guidance for our Offshore Solutions segment. We expect to generate between $22 million and $30 million in direct margin in the fourth quarter with average management contracts and contracted platform rigs to be around 30 to 35. Outside of our core operating segments, we do have some businesses that generate direct margin. Collectively, those are expected to contribute between $0 million and $3 million in the fourth quarter.

現在轉向我們的海上解決方案部門的指導。我們預計第四季度的直接利潤將在 2,200 萬至 3,000 萬美元之間，平均管理合約和合約平台鑽機數量約為 30 至 35 個。在我們的核心營運部門之外，我們確實有一些業務可以產生直接利潤。預計這些業務總計將在第四季度貢獻 0 至 300 萬美元。

Now let me update a few full year '25 guidance items. As I stated previously, our CapEx spend was weighted to the front half of the year and we were fully expecting it to moderate for the balance of the year, which it has. However, we are slightly revising the full year capital spend to $380 million to $395 million, therefore increasing the lower end of the guidance as the full year number crystallizes in the last couple of months of the year. Although we are not ready to give 2026 capital guidance, the number will be coming down from the 2025 levels. With the current level of rig activity and the continued savings that Mike and his team are finding to drive our maintenance cost per rig down, we expect the absolute capital spend to moderate over the '25 levels.

現在讓我更新一些 25 年全年指導計畫。正如我之前所說，我們的資本支出集中在今年上半年，我們完全預期它會在今年剩餘時間放緩，事實也確實如此。不過，我們將全年資本支出略微修改為 3.8 億美元至 3.95 億美元，因此隨著全年數字在今年最後幾個月逐漸明朗，我們將提高指導的下限。雖然我們還沒準備好給予2026年的資本指導，但這個數字將會從2025年的水準下降。鑑於目前的鑽機活動水準以及 Mike 和他的團隊不斷節省的成本，我們預計絕對資本支出將在 25 年水準上保持適度。

As for depreciation, general and administrative and research and development expenses, we are not changing our guidance numbers from those estimates we provided during the second quarter earnings call. For cash taxes paid, we are lowering the top end of our guidance to $220 million. We are still assessing the impact of the recently passed Big Beautiful Bill, but we do expect that to be a material benefit for us going forward. Lastly, we are expecting $25 million in interest expense for the fourth quarter.

至於折舊、一般及行政開支和研發費用，我們不會改變第二季財報電話會議上提供的預測數字。對於支付的現金稅，我們將指導金額上限下調至 2.2 億美元。我們仍在評估最近通過的《大美麗法案》的影響，但我們確實希望這將為我們未來的發展帶來實質的利益。最後，我們預計第四季的利息支出為 2500 萬美元。

As we stated last call, we have been aggressively seeking and capturing synergies post close of the acquisition. We also engaged in a full analysis of the necessary cost structure to support the expanded H&P business in the future. As a result of the analysis, we set a goal to reduce G&A and R&D costs by $50 million to $75 million, which was inclusive of both synergies and the absolute rightsizing of the organization to manage the business going forward. I am pleased to say that we have identified $50 million of cost savings so far, for which we expect to see the full benefit of starting in 2026.

正如我們上次所說的那樣，我們一直在積極尋求和實現收購完成後的協同效應。我們也對支持未來擴大 H&P 業務所需的成本結構進行了全面分析。根據分析結果，我們設定了將一般行政管理費用和研發成本減少 5,000 萬美元至 7,500 萬美元的目標，這既包括協同效應，也包括組織的絕對精簡，以便管理未來的業務。我很高興地說，到目前為止，我們已經確定了 5,000 萬美元的成本節約，我們預計從 2026 年開始就能看到全部效益。

Lastly, I just want to emphasize that we are now anticipating by the end of this calendar year, we will have paid $200 million on the $400 million term loan, which is an increase to our previous expectation.

最後，我只想強調的是，我們預計到今年年底，我們將支付 4 億美元定期貸款中的 2 億美元，這比我們之前的預期有所增加。

And with that, I'll turn it back to the operator to open it up for questions.

說完這些，我將把話題轉回給接線生，以便大家提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Doug Becker, Capital One.

道格·貝克爾（Doug Becker），Capital One 公司。

John, you mentioned you're committed to further growth in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East more broadly. You have a full quarter of the KCA assets under your belt. You're laser-focused on growth. Just curious if you could provide some more color on how H&P might start to grow the international business from fiscal fourth quarter level that's been laid out.

約翰，你提到你致力於沙烏地阿拉伯和中東地區的進一步發展。您已擁有 KCA 資產的四分之一。您全神貫注於成長。我只是好奇，您是否可以提供一些關於 H&P 如何從已經規劃的第四財季水平開始發展國際業務的更多資訊。

Sure, Doug. Before I answer that, I also wanted to mention that during the opening remarks, Todd had made reference to Mike Lennox and Trey Adams being here. Many of you have met them, but just to be clear, they're members of my team. They're in the -- really in the trenches every day dealing with -- Mike's got responsibility for North America Solutions and South America. Trey's got everything commercially globally. They've been on the road a couple of times with Kevin and I, but -- so many of you have met them but not everybody has. So I just wanted to put that context.

當然，道格。在我回答這個問題之前，我還想提一下，在開幕詞中，陶德提到了麥克·倫諾克斯和特雷·亞當斯也在這裡。你們中的許多人都見過他們，但需要明確的是，他們是我的團隊成員。他們每天都在一線處理各種事務——麥克負責北美解決方案和南美業務。Trey 擁有全球的商業實力。他們曾與凱文和我一起巡迴過幾次，但是——你們中的很多人都見過他們，但並不是每個人都見過他們。所以我只是想說明這個背景。

As far as growth in Saudi there continues to be opportunities. There's a tender that will be coming out. I guess it may be actually out now. There's other opportunities for growth in Saudi. I think all of that is going to be a 2026 type timing. I don't see anything necessarily going back in 2025, but I do think there's great opportunities for 2026. And I think when you consider with our prepared remarks talking about the value proposition that we provide and that desire from NOCs around the world and IOCs around the world for a different operating model and being able to perform at a different level. Trey, do you have anything you want to add?

就沙烏地阿拉伯的成長而言，仍然存在機會。即將有招標。我想現在它可能已經出來了。沙烏地阿拉伯還有其他成長機會。我認為所有這些都將是 2026 年類型的時間。我認為 2025 年不一定會有什麼回頭，但我確實認為 2026 年有很大機會。我認為，當您考慮到我們準備好的評論，談論我們提供的價值主張，以及世界各地的國家石油公司和國際石油公司對不同營運模式和能夠在不同水平上運作的渴望時。特雷，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yeah. I'll just carry on there, John, just share that, absolutely, we're tracking a lot of opportunities coming through the region in the Middle East. What's different in the from too from where we were 6, 7, 8 months ago to where we are today is we have the right people, right assets on the ground to participate in those tenders meaningfully. And what John just described, getting the 8 FlexRigs into Saudi was a big win for us.

是的。約翰，我會繼續說下去，當然，我們正在追蹤中東地區的許多機會。與 6、7、8 個月前相比，我們今天的不同之處在於，我們擁有合適的人才和合適的資產，可以有效地參與這些招標。正如約翰剛才所描述的，將 8 台 FlexRig 運送到沙烏地阿拉伯對我們來說是一個巨大的勝利。

We're going to continue to advance relationships across the region more broadly. And those conversations are deeper than what we've ever had because of the right fit rigs, right people and the scalable operation that we have on the ground. So we're tracking quite a bit of activity. It's premature to get into some of the details associated with those tenders, but we're very active in them, and we feel very confident that our value proposition will be shown through.

我們將繼續更廣泛地推動該地區的關係。由於我們擁有合適的鑽孔機、合適的人員以及可擴展的實地操作，這些對話比我們以往進行的對話更加深入。所以我們正在追蹤相當多的活動。現在談論這些招標的一些細節還為時過早，但我們對這些招標非常積極，並且我們非常有信心我們的價值主張將會得到體現。

That definitely sounds encouraging. Are you able to say if there's any ongoing conversations about when the suspended rigs might go back to work? Or is that still up in the year?

這聽起來確實令人鼓舞。您能否透露一下，目前是否正在討論暫停的鑽孔機何時可以恢復工作？或者說今年仍然如此？

Doug, what I continue to hear is that the worst is behind us. There's -- we just don't know what the timing is. And I think it's really more of a budgeting issue than anything at this point. And so we don't have anything additional to share again. I think the easiest thing for us, to just get our lines wrapped around, is that it's a 2026 time frame is what we would be looking at is probably the best way to approach it. And again, hopefully, there are some opportunities along the way. We've got people on the ground and a lot of good things going on. But until we -- I think we're just going to need a little bit more time to pass.

道格，我不斷聽到的是，最糟糕的時期已經過去了。有——我們只是不知道時間是什麼時候。我認為目前這更多的是一個預算問題。因此我們沒有什麼可以分享的了。我認為對我們來說最簡單的事情就是把我們的路線繞起來，這就是我們要考慮的 2026 年的時間框架，這可能是解決它的最佳方法。再次希望，這一路上能有一些機會。我們已派人前往實地，並開展了許多好事。但直到我們——我認為我們還需要一點時間。

Grant Hynes, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的格蘭特海因斯。

So you talked about performance contracts making up about 50% kind of active rigs and obviously driving outperformance in the quarter. But could you maybe highlight what types of customers have been sort of the primary adopters of this contracting and maybe where the next leg of adoption might be?

所以您談到了績效合約佔活躍鑽機的 50% 左右，並且顯然推動了本季度的優異表現。但是，您能否強調哪些類型的客戶是這種合約的主要採用者，以及下一步的採用可能在哪裡？

Yeah, Grant, this is Mike. I'll start with it and then maybe hand it over to Trey. So on the performance contracts, really, it's all types. And so you get your small privates, your mids and then your large majors. And we're participating with them and always -- but really, it starts with getting in understanding what outcomes are looking to achieve and then aligning on those. And so we've had great success doing that and continue to see that as a tool that we'll use going forward.

是的，格蘭特，我是麥克。我會先從它開始，然後也許將其交給 Trey。因此，就績效合約而言，實際上有各種類型。這樣，你就得到了小型私人企業、中型企業和大型企業。我們一直在與他們合作——但實際上，首先要了解他們想要實現什麼結果，然後根據這些結果進行調整。因此，我們在這方面取得了巨大的成功，並將繼續將其視為我們未來將使用的工具。

Yeah. And the only comment I would make, this is Trey, in addition to what Mike just shared is you've probably seen our performance contract percentages stay around 50% for, it's probably been 8 quarters now, and it's been relatively range bound. But I don't think that, that's totally encompassing what we're providing at a larger scale and across what I would consider the vast majority of our customer conversations today. So as Mike pointed out, every conversation we have with the customer is attributable to a goal or an outcome that they're looking to achieve.

是的。而我唯一想說的是，這是 Trey，除了 Mike 剛才分享的內容之外，您可能已經看到我們的績效合約百分比保持在 50% 左右，到現在可能已經 8 個季度了，並且一直處於相對區間波動。但我不認為這完全涵蓋了我們在更大範圍內提供的內容以及我認為今天我們與絕大多數客戶對話的內容。正如麥克指出的那樣，我們與客戶的每一次對話都與他們想要實現的目標或結果有關。

Half of those today were being remunerated on, delivering of that outcome. There's the other vast majority of those that were coming in and were creating differentiated value in getting compensated differentially for that value creation. So I think that number is a bit misleading because it doesn't fully encompass the conversations that we're having every day with customers and the value that they're seeing with working and partnering with H&P.

今天其中有一半的人都得到了報酬，並實現了這一成果。另外絕大多數人加入並創造了差異化價值，並因這種價值創造而獲得了差異化的報酬。所以我認為這個數字有點誤導，因為它沒有完全涵蓋我們每天與客戶進行的對話以及他們與 H&P 合作所看到的價值。

Got you. And maybe just as a follow-up. I mean are there any pockets internationally where you're having conversations with customers about these types of contracting models just as obviously has been successful in North America?

明白了。或許只是作為後續行動。我的意思是，在國際上，您是否正在與客戶討論這類承包模式，就像在北美顯然已經取得成功一樣？

Absolutely. We're having those conversations. They're going on today. We're putting our toe in the water in several markets today where we have those type of agreements taking shape. We have early stages of an agreement in the Middle East today that's arranged similar to what we have in the United States. And so we're seeing a lot of interest. Obviously, the IOC clients that have global scale are looking to translate what's happening in the US shale abroad. And then conversations with NOCs and other smaller customers across the globe, they're very interested and want to better understand how we can partner and align. So yes, early days, but absolutely ongoing.

絕對地。我們正在進行這些對話。他們今天就要出發。目前，我們正在多個市場進行嘗試，並正在形成此類協議。我們今天在中東達成的協議處於初期階段，其安排與美國類似。因此我們看到了很大的興趣。顯然，具有全球規模的國際石油公司客戶正在尋求將美國頁岩氣的發展推廣到國外。然後與全球各地的國家石油公司和其他小客戶進行對話，他們非常感興趣並希望更好地了解我們如何合作和協調。是的，雖然還處於早期階段，但絕對正在進行中。

Eddie Kim, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的 Eddie Kim。

So you're guiding to an average rig count in the Lower 48, about 141 rigs at the midpoint or about a 4% sequential decline, which is below the industry-wide rig count decline and a little bit less severe than what some of your peers have been telegraphing. Any thoughts you can provide on that relative outperformance in your rig count on your expectations for the fiscal 4Q? I know you highlighted some market share gains. But is it bad? Is it maybe the mix of your customer mix? Just any thoughts there?

因此，您預測美國本土 48 個州的平均鑽井數量約為 141 個，環比下降約 4%，低於全行業鑽井數量的下降幅度，並且比一些同行預測的下降幅度要小一些。您對鑽機數量的相對優異表現以及對第四季財報的預期有何看法？我知道您強調了一些市場份額的成長。但這很糟糕嗎？這可能是您的客戶組合的混合嗎？有什麼想法嗎？

Yeah, I'll start and then again hand it over to Trey. But we've got a great customer mix and, again, we're aligned to their outcomes. We made investments for the last several years to drill these more complex, longer lateral wells. And so that's really where it's shifting to, and so we're very well positioned. And I think we've had resilience with our rig count and our margins, everything that we're doing as a result of those investments that we've made in previous years.

是的，我會開始，然後再把它交給 Trey。但我們擁有出色的客戶組合，而且我們與他們的結果保持一致。過去幾年，我們進行了投資，以鑽探這些更複雜、更長的水平井。這就是真正的轉變方向，所以我們處於非常有利的位置。我認為，我們的鑽機數量和利潤率都具有韌性，我們所做的一切都是前幾年進行的投資的結果。

Got it. Great. My follow-up is just thoughts on oil basins versus gas basins in the Lower 48. I mean your rig count has been fairly steady so far this year. But does that makeup maybe change what we've seen some oil rigs come off but about equally offset by gas rigs coming on? And just your thoughts on gas activity for the remainder of this calendar year. We've seen a steady ramp-up in gas rigs just industry-wide. Do you expect that to continue based on the conversations you're having? Or is the next move up in gas rigs really going to take place maybe in early 2026? Just your thoughts there would be great.

知道了。偉大的。我的後續只是對美國本土 48 州的石油盆地與天然氣盆地的看法。我的意思是，今年到目前為止，您的鑽孔機數量一直相當穩定。但是，這種結構是否會改變我們所看到的一些石油鑽井平台的關閉，而天然氣鑽井平台的啟用卻幾乎抵消了這些影響的現象呢？您對今年剩餘時間的天然氣活動有何看法？我們看到整個產業的天然氣鑽井數量穩定上升。根據你們的談話，你們預期這種情況會持續下去嗎？或者天然氣鑽井平台的下一次升級真的會在 2026 年初發生嗎？只要你這樣想就很棒了。

Yeah. No, I think you're spot on, right? We've had a pullback, slight pullback in the old plays. We've seen a slight uptick in the natural gas plays, specifically the Haynesville, Marcellus, that is somewhat offset. I mean just to acknowledge it, we've had a few rigs moved from the oil plays over to the gas play. So those rigs are hot rigs that are staying working. There may be a slight continuation of that going forward. I don't think it's a drastic jump. I think it's smaller in rig count, but we expect that to continue.

是的。不，我認為你說得對，對嗎？我們在舊劇中出現了回調，輕微的回調。我們看到天然氣產量略有上升，特別是海恩斯維爾和馬塞勒斯的產量，但有所抵消。我的意思是，承認這一點，我們已經將一些鑽井平台從石油鑽井轉移到了天然氣鑽井。所以這些鑽孔機都是正在持續運作的熱門鑽孔機。未來這種情況可能會稍微持續下去。我不認為這是一個巨大的飛躍。我認為鑽機數量較少，但我們預計這種情況會持續下去。

I think the -- this is John. I think there's also just obviously a global trend towards natural gas, and there's a lot of opportunities in the Middle East. And so I think being able to leverage our experience, whether it's performance, whether it's leveraging our technologies, there's huge opportunities for us as more gases being drilled internationally.

我認為——這是約翰。我認為全球顯然正在走向天然氣趨勢，中東地區有很多機會。因此，我認為，能夠利用我們的經驗，無論是性能，還是利用我們的技術，隨著國際上越來越多的天然氣被鑽探，我們將面臨巨大的機會。

Derek Podhaizer, Piper Sandler.

德里克波德海澤、派珀桑德勒。

Just sticking on the North America guide. The range of 138 to 144, like Kevin mentioned in the prepared remarks, is flat with the exit rate. Maybe could you just help us understand what brings you down to the lower end of the range versus the higher end of the range as we start thinking about next quarter. Is that a gas versus oil, commodity price-driven, basin-driven customer driven? Just maybe some more color around the top end and bottom end of that range.

只需遵循北美指南。正如 Kevin 在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，138 到 144 的範圍與退出率持平。當我們開始考慮下個季度時，也許您能幫助我們了解是什麼導致您的預算處於範圍的低端而不是高端。這是天然氣還是石油、商品價格驅動、盆地驅動的客戶驅動？也許只是在該範圍的頂端和底端周圍增加了一些顏色。

Yeah. Some of it -- I mean, I'd say we're going to -- it fluctuates down. We expect to bring some out as potential high-grading opportunities arise, which we do expect that to to play out.

是的。其中一些 — — 我的意思是，我想說我們將會 — — 它會出現波動。我們期望在潛在的高評級機會出現時能夠帶來一些成果，我們確實期望這些機會能夠實現。

Yeah, I mean I would layer in and just say, I mean the largest impact to us is that there's a big commodity price shift or move and I need to see some private E&P pull back. But with what we have in front of us right now. We feel pretty comfortable and confident. Even if there was a large consolidation that occurred in the next few months, we wouldn't see the impact of that towards until towards our first fiscal period or beyond. So I think we're pretty comfortable absent of a big commodity move.

是的，我的意思是我會分層地說，對我們來說最大的影響是大宗商品價格發生巨大變化或變動，我需要看到一些私人 E&P 撤退。但就我們目前面臨的情況而言。我們感覺非常舒適和自信。即使未來幾個月發生大規模整合，我們也要等到第一個財政期間或之後才能看到其影響。因此我認為，在沒有商品大幅波動的情況下，我們感到相當安心。

Okay. Fair enough. Maybe switching over to KCA. Just, John, you mentioned the tenders, obviously, a 2026 event. But how should we think about incremental activity for H&P? I mean, would this be a pull for the legacy FlexRigs? It's great to see that all 8 are working now. I think you had one KCA rig working in the Jafurah, I'm not sure. But how do we think about the interplay between what would be more of the pull? Would it be some of the suspended KCA rigs are you able to move into Jafurah? Or would this be a pull of the legacy HP FlexRigs that you have right now? Just trying to think about the opportunities set where you would pull that from, specifically in Jafurah?

好的。很公平。也許會轉向 KCA。剛才，約翰，你提到了招標，顯然，這是 2026 年的活動。但是我們應該如何看待 H&P 的增量活動呢？我的意思是，這會對傳統的 FlexRigs 產生吸引力嗎？很高興看到現在所有 8 個人都在工作。我認為你們有一台 KCA 鑽機在 Jafurah 工作，但我不確定。但是，我們該如何看待兩者之間的相互作用，從而產生更大的吸引力呢？一些暫停營運的 KCA 鑽孔機是否可以移至 Jafurah？或者這會是您現在擁有的傳統 HP FlexRigs 的拉動嗎？只是想想你會從哪裡獲得這種機會，特別是在 Jafurah？

Sure, Derek. Yeah, there are additional KCA -- legacy KCA rigs that are working in Jafurah. And we think there's additional opportunities there. Just in general, the rigs that more than likely that will be going back to work are going to be gas focused. I mentioned that earlier. And so whether it's in Jafurah or whether it's in more conventional gas basins, we've got a great fleet to approach those opportunities with. But I don't see any at this stage necessarily being FlexRig. It will all be the legacy KCA fleet.

當然，德里克。是的，還有額外的 KCA——傳統的 KCA 鑽機正在 Jafurah 工作。我們認為那裡還有其他機會。總體而言，最有可能恢復工作的鑽井平台將專注於天然氣開採。我之前提到過這一點。因此，無論是在賈富拉還是在更傳統的天然氣盆地，我們都擁有一支強大的船隊來抓住這些機會。但目前我認為還沒有必要採用 FlexRig。這些都將是傳統的 KCA 機隊。

Ati Modak, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的阿蒂·莫達克（Ati Modak）。

John, can you give us a sense of the direction we should think about in terms of the margins in North America in the context of all the conversations you're having with the customers with this oil versus gas, on the performance-based contracts as well versus the trajectory of the rig count, say, into '26? .

約翰，您能否告訴我們，在您與客戶就石油與天然氣、基於績效的合約以及鑽機數量（例如到 26 年）的軌跡進行的所有對話中，我們應該考慮北美利潤率的方向？。

Yeah, I'm going to let Mike jump on that.

是的，我會讓麥克來做這件事。

Yeah, Ati, I think there's resilience in those margins for a few reasons. One, on the revenue side, we mentioned the performance contracts. We think, again, that's a great tool that aligns with our customers. So when they see value, we receive value as well. Our digital solutions, our technology is continuing to grow and expand on our rigs, which is helping aid in the success we've seen in drilling longer, more complex laterals. I mentioned earlier, but we've made in previous years investments in our rig fleet and specifically in automation, our engine power solutions that we have and in tubulars. That will continue to have upside with that revenue.

是的，阿蒂，我認為這些利潤率具有彈性，原因有幾個。首先，在收入方面，我們提到了績效合約。我們再次認為，這是一個與我們的客戶相符的絕佳工具。因此，當他們看到價值時，我們也會獲得價值。我們的數位解決方案、我們的技術在我們的鑽機上不斷發展和擴展，這有助於我們在鑽探更長、更複雜的水平井方面取得成功。我之前提到過，但我們在前幾年對我們的鑽機隊進行了投資，特別是在自動化、我們的引擎動力解決方案和管材方面。這將繼續帶來收入的成長。

And then on the expense side, we've been having a lot of focus, as Kevin had mentioned, just on the cost efficiency efforts. And so we're starting to bear some of those fruits now. And we're leveraging our scale, our scale domestically, our scale as a global organization. We're going to continue to do that. So I think they're staying power within those margins for North American Solutions.

然後，在費用方面，正如凱文所提到的，我們一直非常關注成本效益的努力。現在我們開始收穫一些成果。我們正在利用我們的規模，我們的國內規模，我們作為全球組織的規模。我們將繼續這樣做。所以我認為他們能夠為北美解決方案保持利潤空間。

I appreciate that. And then on the free cash flow cadence, you increased the paydown targets also, assuming that most of that is free cash flow. Is there any asset sale baked into that? And what's a reasonable way to expect the CapEx and free cash flow cadence of conversion going forward, let's say, into the next year? I know it's early, but any directional comments you can provide?

我很感激。然後，在自由現金流節奏上，您還增加了還款目標，假設其中大部分是自由現金流。其中是否包含任何資產出售？那麼，如何合理地預期未來（比如說明年）的資本支出和自由現金流轉換節奏呢？我知道現在還為時過早，但您能提供什麼指導性的評論嗎？

Yeah. The additional term loan extinguishment that we're expecting by the end of the year, raising that from $175 million to $200 million, that's just coming from organic operational cash flows. No asset sales in there. That's just our base business generating, as Mike mentioned, as we focus not only on the revenue side but we're focused on the cost side, we're going to be able to generate a little higher cash flows that we're going to -- obviously, as we stated before, our primary objective at this point is to not only create customer value, but it's to get the balance sheet back down to about 1 times of leverage.

是的。我們預計到今年年底，額外的定期貸款償還將從 1.75 億美元增加到 2 億美元，這筆錢僅來自有機營運現金流。其中沒有資產銷售。這只是我們的基礎業務生成，正如麥克提到的，因為我們不僅關注收入方面，還關注成本方面，我們將能夠產生更高的現金流 - 顯然，正如我們之前所說，我們目前的主要目標不僅是創造客戶價值，而且還要將資產負債表的槓桿率降至約 1 倍。

When you think about -- again, we're not giving guidance for 2026. But when you think about where we're going to end this year, we've got a clear line of sight of paying off the additional $200 million on that term loan, call it, by the third calendar year of next year. And then we've got another -- our first tranche of bonds will be due in December of 2027. We won't sit around long. We've already got that in sight. And so again, the long-term goal is to get our overall leverage down to about 1 times.

當你考慮——再說一次，我們不會給出 2026 年的指導。但當你考慮我們今年要如何結束的時候，我們就會清楚地看到，我們將在明年的第三個日曆年償還這筆定期貸款的額外 2 億美元。然後我們還有另一筆——我們的第一批債券將於 2027 年 12 月到期。我們不會坐太久。我們已經看到了這一點。因此，我們的長期目標是將整體槓桿率降至 1 倍左右。

And so one of the drivers -- and I said it in my prepared remarks, but one of the drivers is just our CapEx spend coming down. Without giving clear articulation into what 2026 is going to look like from a capital spend, I know from the maintenance side, we came down this year. We're getting down to levels that I think were kind of the pre-COVID levels, and I could let Mike elaborate a little bit more on this. But just the overall kind of necessary capital spend and the level rig activity that we're anticipating for next year. Our overall capital spend is going to moderate quite a bit next year.

因此，其中一個驅動因素——我在準備好的發言中提到過，但其中一個驅動因素就是我們的資本支出下降。雖然沒有明確說明 2026 年的資本支出狀況，但我知道從維護方面來看，今年我們的支出有所下降。我認為，我們已經回到了疫情之前的水平，我可以讓麥克對此進行更詳細的說明。但我們預計明年的整體必要資本支出和鑽機活動水準將會如此。明年我們的整體資本支出將會大幅放緩。

Jeff Leblanc, TPH.

傑夫·勒布朗，TPH。

I just want to see if you could provide some color on the rig churn in the North American market. And then specifically, the public data would suggest that you have been able to add a couple of rigs to new customers on a go-forward basis, and just trying to speak to that success. Anything there opportunities should continue over the balance of the year?

我只是想看看您是否可以提供一些有關北美市場鑽機流失的資訊。然後具體來說，公開數據表明您已經能夠在未來為新客戶添加一些鑽孔機，並試圖證明這一成功。今年剩下的時間還有哪些機會值得繼續？

Sure. Well, that's why I've got these guys here to talk more about that because there is a lot of churn. Teams are doing great work in keeping rigs working. And if you have any...

當然。好吧，這就是為什麼我讓這些人來這裡進一步討論這個問題，因為有很多人流失。團隊在保持鑽孔機正常運轉方面做出了巨大努力。如果你有任何...

Yeah. On the churn front, I mean, we're seeing it really from all but I would primarily categorize it as with the private. But the good thing is we've been able to find those homes -- a lot of those rigs homes with either privates or others that are looking to high grades?

是的。在客戶流失方面，我的意思是，我們確實從各個方面看到了這一點，但我主要將其歸類為私人客戶。但好消息是我們已經能夠找到這些房屋——許多這些鑽孔機房屋都是私人的，或是其他尋求高等級的房屋？

Yeah. This is Trey. I'll just comment and say our teams did a fantastic job of stringing together programs. There's a lot of short-term duration programs that are out there that are well timed, but you have to have the conversation and relationship and rapport with those clients to be well positioned in the front of the queue to grab that opportunity. Our teams stay in front of those and do a great job.

是的。這是特雷。我只想評論一下，我們的團隊在串聯項目方面做得非常出色。有很多短期規劃時機很好，但你必須與這些客戶進行對話、建立關係並建立融洽的關係，才能排在隊伍的最前面，抓住這個機會。我們的團隊始終處於領先地位並表現出色。

And then as you think about new clients and customers in the US Lower 48, many of those relationships have been formed up over the last 10, 20 years. There's a lot of new companies and -- but there's a relatively constrained E&P community. And so we keep a good beat and our teams stay very focused on maintaining those key relationships. So we don't expect that to change, and we think there will be continued churn and we felt like we're well suited to manage it.

然後，當您想到美國本土 48 個州的新客戶和顧客時，您會發現其中許多關係都是在過去 10 年到 20 年內建立的。有很多新公司，但 E&P 社群相對受限。因此，我們保持良好的節奏，我們的團隊非常專注於維護這些關鍵關係。因此，我們不希望這種情況改變，我們認為客戶流失還會持續，而且我們覺得我們很適合管理這種情況。

Keith MacKey, RBC.

基斯·麥基（Keith MacKey），加拿大皇家銀行。

Jumping around a little bit between calls, so apologies if this has been answered. But the guidance of up to 144 rigs for fiscal Q4 obviously implies that you could potentially add some rigs on average. So would this -- if this were to be the case, would that be more a result of better churn management? Or do you think you'd actually be adding net new rigs in the Lower 48?

通話之間有點跳動，所以如果這個問題已經得到回答，請見諒。但第四財季預計鑽井數量將達到 144 座，這顯然意味著平均而言可能會增加一些鑽井數量。那麼，如果情況確實如此，這是否更多的是更好的客戶流失管理的結果？或者您認為您實際上會在美國本土 48 個州增加淨新鑽機數量嗎？

Yeah. I'll take that one. I think it's a combination, right? We're going to obviously have to manage churn really, really well in the near term to hit the upper end of that guide. In addition to that, right, we have opportunities out there that we're chasing and we're continuing to stay close to. So there's some incremental adds that we baked into that higher number. Obviously, if the commodity price range holds firm, we feel comfortable that we'll be able to continue to accrete. But that's where that number comes from. It comes from great churn management and the addition of a handful of rigs that we're having conversations currently with.

是的。我要那個。我認為這是一個組合，對嗎？顯然，我們必須在短期內非常好地管理客戶流失，才能達到該指南的上限。除此之外，我們還有許多機會，我們正在追逐，並且會繼續保持下去。因此，我們將一些增量添加到這個更高的數字中。顯然，如果大宗商品價格區間保持堅挺，我們就有信心能夠繼續增值。但這個數字就是從這裡來的。它來自於出色的客戶流失管理以及我們目前正在討論的少量鑽機的增加。

Okay. Understood. And can you just talk a little bit about what you're seeing in the competitive landscape in the Lower 48? We've been hearing rig rates still in that low to mid-30 range, although there's lots of variation within that range and around that range. Can you just talk about what you're seeing as far as are you being asked to compete on price more than you normally would based on competitive bids and things like that? Or what does the landscape really look like in this environment?

好的。明白了。您能否簡單談談您所看到的美國本土 48 個州的競爭格局？我們聽說鑽機率仍然在 30 的低點到中位數範圍內，儘管在這個範圍內和這個範圍內存在著許多變化。您能否簡單談談您所看到的情況？您是否被要求在價格上進行比平常更多的競爭？這些競爭主要基於投標等等？或者說，在這種環境下，景觀到底是什麼樣子的？

Yeah, I'll start. We're not immune to the industry-wide pricing pressures. But again, we're pricing our rigs based on the value that we're delivering for our customers. And so we can align with commercial performance-based contracts to align to those, and that rewards us when we perform above our peers.

是的，我這就開始。我們也無法免受整個產業定價壓力的影響。但同樣，我們是根據為客戶提供的價值來定價的。因此，我們可以與基於商業績效的合約保持一致，當我們的表現優於同行時，我們會獲得獎勵。

And the other nugget I'll share is the market for super-spec and top-end rig performance remains pretty constrained. And if you look at and you filter in active rigs, inactive super-specs for the last year, super-spec utilization rates still above 80%. And if you go basin to basin, that super spec utilization rate even climb further from there. In addition to that, 70% of those inactive rigs are in the hands of four primary drilling providers in the US Lower 48. So we feel like what we provide, and going back to Mike's comment, is differentiated. We align the value, and we're focused on our customers through every part of the conversation and equation.

我要分享的另一個要點是，超規格和高端鑽機性能的市場仍然相當受限。如果你查看並篩選去年活躍鑽井平台和非活躍超級規格，超級規格利用率仍然高於 80%。如果你從一個盆地到另一個盆地，那麼超級規格利用率甚至會進一步攀升。除此之外，70% 的閒置鑽井平台掌握在美國本土 48 州的四家主要鑽井供應商手中。因此，我們覺得我們所提供的，以及回到麥克的評論，是有區別的。我們調整價值，並透過對話和等式的每個部分關注我們的客戶。

I mean this has been a result of many, many years of our strategy and focusing on delivering better outcomes, leveraging technology, leveraging digital solutions. There's a huge safety component and element here in the things that we're working on. So it's really a function of just the overall teams and our people being able to continue to deliver for customers, and it's been fun to be a part of.

我的意思是，這是我們多年來策略的成果，我們專注於提供更好的成果、利用技術、利用數位解決方案。在我們正在進行的工作中，安全因素非常重要。因此，這實際上只是整個團隊和我們的員工能夠繼續為客戶提供服務的功能，並且成為其中的一員很有趣。

Blake McLean, Daniel Energy Partners.

布萊克·麥克萊恩，丹尼爾能源合作夥伴。

So look, a lot of good color. I appreciate that. A lot of good detailed questions have been asked. So maybe I'll just, here in the back of the queue, maybe I'll just ask you guys kind of a bigger picture question and specifically on crude and when we talked about natural gas and things, people feeling better there both domestically and internationally.

瞧，有很多好看的顏色。我很感激。已經提出了很多很好的詳細問題。所以也許我只是在隊伍的後面，也許我只會問你們一個更大的問題，特別是關於原油，當我們談論天然氣和其他東西時，國內和國際的人們感覺更好。

I was hoping maybe you could just rip a little bit on customer mindset on the crude side, kind of moving parts and volatility over the last kind of quarter or so. I was just hoping you could share, do you feel like folks are generally more comfortable with kind of oil outlook back half of this year into next year than they were, say, a quarter ago? Just anything you could share on customer conversations and how they're thinking about crude.

我希望您能從粗略的角度，稍微分析一下客戶心態，了解過去一個季度左右的變動和波動情況。我只是希望您能分享一下，您是否覺得人們對今年下半年至明年的石油前景比一個季度前更有信心？您可以分享有關客戶對話的任何內容以及他們對原油的看法。

Yeah, I'll start and then others can lean in. I think it differs from conversation with customer to customer, right? And you have many of our large customers that are looking through cycles and planning through cycles, identifying the right partners who they know we'll be there and be foundational elements to their value creation over time. And so those customers and conversations are looking beyond the end of calendar 2025 and much further out.

是的，我先開始，然後其他人可以加入。我認為與客戶的對話有所不同，對嗎？我們的許多大客戶都在研究週期並進行規劃，尋找合適的合作夥伴，他們知道我們會在那裡，並成為他們長期創造價值的基礎要素。因此，這些客戶和對話的目光都放在了 2025 年底甚至更遠的未來。

Obviously, with privates, those conversations are a little bit more sensitive in terms of what crude outlook you have. But the longer that crude continues to remain relatively stable and range bound, it gives those customers comfort to keep their programs going and to bring rigs online. So I think it's varied dramatically from customer archetype to customer archetype.

顯然，對於私人談話來說，這些談話對於你的粗魯觀點來說會更加敏感一些。但原油價格保持相對穩定和區間波動的時間越長，這些客戶就越有信心繼續進行他們的專案並讓鑽井平台繼續投入使用。所以我認為不同的客戶原型有很大的差異。

And I think also if you look at where the '26 curve is trading versus where it was trading, where the spot price was three months ago when we had our second quarter earnings call, I mean, again, I think everyone's still sitting and waiting, thinking about their '26 budgets. We still have some time that will pass between now and which they formalize them. But I think just overall, it's a much more constructive environment. And having one set on the E&P side, you feel a whole lot better when crude is trading in the mid- to high 60s than we did, I think, three months ago when we were sub-60.

而且我認為，如果你看一下 26 年曲線的交易情況與三個月前我們召開第二季度收益電話會議時的現貨價格情況，我的意思是，我認為每個人仍然坐著等待，思考他們的 26 年預算。從現在到他們正式確定這些措施還需要一些時間。但我認為總體而言，這是一個更具建設性的環境。在 E&P 方面有一套系統，當原油交易價格在 60 多美元時，你會感覺好很多，我想，比三個月前原油價格低於 60 美元時要好得多。

Well, in different reports, you see on the outlook for crude production in the US and does it continue to increase, does it begin to flatten out and decline? And there's some prediction that the production begins to decline. So a lot of variables out there.

那麼，在不同的報告中，您看到了美國原油產量的前景，它會繼續增加嗎？還是會開始趨於平穩下降？有人預測產量將開始下降。因此存在很多變數。

Marc Bianchi, TD Cowen.

馬克·比安奇 (Marc Bianchi)，TD Cowen。

I was curious about the North America margin performance. It's been really good versus your guidance the last couple of quarters. And you talked about some execution and some performance contracts driving that, I think. But maybe you could talk to us a little bit about kind of how you put the outlook together. Is there sort of a base case assumption and then it's been a lot of performance -- surprising performance contract stuff? Or do you just take a more conservative view on performance? And if you can beat that, that's great. Just maybe help us understand kind of the base case going into fiscal 4Q and the variables that could cause it to be above or below.

我對北美的利潤率表現很好奇。與您過去幾個季度的指導相比，情況確實很好。我認為，您談到了一些執行情況以及推動這一進程的一些績效合約。但也許您可以跟我們稍微談談您是如何形成這種觀點的。是否存在某種基本情況假設，然後會出現很多表現——令人驚訝的績效合約內容？或者您只是對性能持更保守的看法？如果你能戰勝它，那就太好了。也許可以幫助我們了解財政第四季的基本情況以及可能導致其高於或低於的變數。

I'll start and then hand it over. But really, I want to start with thanking our employees. We have -- they have been executing. We set goals and they have far exceeded those goals. And so really proud of our teams that are out there. And I mentioned some cost efficiency efforts. We continue to see some of those will hang around and some of them won't. Maybe they're on a timing -- seasonal timing is the way I'd maybe describe that. But really proud of how they're executing. And so I'll turn it over to somebody else and maybe get more in the details on how we form it up.

我先開始，然後交給你。但實際上，我首先要感謝我們的員工。我們已經——他們一直在執行。我們設定了目標，而他們已經遠遠超越了這些目標。我為我們在那裡的團隊感到非常自豪。我提到了一些成本效益的努力。我們繼續看到其中一些會繼續存在，而另一些則不會。也許他們處於一個時間安排上——我可能會用季節性時間來描述這一點。但我真的為他們的表現感到自豪。因此，我將把它交給其他人，並可能更詳細地了解我們如何形成它。

Yeah. I think the key there is we do start from a bottoms-up approach. We have firm contracts. We've been into conversations with our customers. As Trey mentioned, we're sitting on the same side of the table as they are trying to figure out what the desired outcomes are. And so when you think about the overall market sentiment, obviously, as we were just talking about, it's improved since the last quarter.

是的。我認為關鍵在於我們確實採取自下而上的方法。我們有固定的合約。我們一直在與客戶交談。正如 Trey 所提到的，我們坐在桌子的同一邊，他們正在試圖弄清楚期望的結果是什麼。因此，當您考慮整體市場情緒時，顯然，正如我們剛才所說，自上個季度以來，市場情緒有所改善。

I mean there's still some headwinds that we're facing. And so the slight guide down is a reflection of the overall value proposition that we're providing, and some of that may have shifted from a day rate to a performance bonus incentive and some -- when we're estimating those performance bonus incentives, we can't count on achieving the top end of that bonus range every single time. And so again, we think that if you were to do the math and look at the average kind of margin, what we're anticipating for the fourth quarter, we think it's reasonable.

我的意思是我們仍然面臨一些阻力。因此，略微下降的指導反映了我們提供的整體價值主張，其中一些可能已經從日薪轉變為績效獎金激勵，而當我們估算這些績效獎金激勵時，我們不能指望每次都能達到該獎金範圍的最高水平。因此，我們再次認為，如果你進行計算並查看平均利潤率，我們對第四季度的預期是合理的。

But any time you throw a target out to Mike and his team, they seem to always find a way to beat it. But we can't always count on that. But quarter after quarter after quarter, his team continues to deliver.

但無論何時你向麥克和他的團隊提出一個目標，他們似乎總能找到辦法解決。但我們不能總是依賴這一點。但一個季度又一個季度過去了，他的團隊仍然繼續取得成果。

Yeah. Great to see. On the international side, one really simplistic question and then I have another broader one. But just on the rig count guide for the fiscal 4Q, what is the exit rate there just so we can kind of understand what's happening with maybe the KCA rigs that are dropping off? And then what else is happening within the portfolio?

是的。很高興看到。在國際方面，我有一個非常簡單的問題，然後我還有另一個更廣泛的問題。但是，僅根據第四季度的鑽井數量指南，那裡的退出率是多少，以便我們能夠了解 KCA 鑽井數量下降的情況？那麼投資組合內還發生了什麼事？

I think 62.

我認為是 62。

Yeah, 62 is the exit rate.

是的，退出率為 62。

And I can touch on just some general activity, right? So obviously, there's a lot going on right now. And if you think broadly across our international fleet, we continue to see a good amount of tender activity and opportunities in the Middle East. Over the near term, you'll see increased and improved activity and some of our other focused areas and markets, right? We have some activity increases planned in South America.

我可以談一些一般的活動，對嗎？顯然，現在有很多事情發生。如果你廣泛考慮我們的國際船隊，我們會繼續看到中東地區有大量的招標活動和機會。在短期內，您會看到我們其他一些重點領域和市場的活動增加和改善，對嗎？我們計劃在南美洲增加一些活動。

As we sit here today, we're going to have another rig going into Australia. We're looking at growth in regions outside of the Middle East right now. I mean we're having great conversations with IOCs outside of the Middle East as well. So that is where some of that fluctuation in variability comes in that guide. But what I'll reinforce is that the difference of H&P today where we were 6 to 8 months ago is that we're a truly global company and have a lot of opportunities that we're tracking across geographies.

當我們今天坐在這裡時，我們將有另一個鑽井平台進入澳洲。我們目前正在關注中東以外地區的成長。我的意思是我們也與中東以外的國際石油公司進行了很好的對話。這就是為什麼指南中出現一些變化波動的原因。但我要強調的是，今天的 H&P 與 6 到 8 個月前的不同之處在於，我們是一家真正的全球性公司，並且擁有大量跨地域追蹤的機會。

And so we're going to continue to see movement in wins in some geographies that may not hit the headline like US or the Middle East, but we're continuing to chase and find ways to accrete activity.

因此，我們將繼續看到一些可能不會成為頭條新聞的地區（如美國或中東）取得勝利，但我們將繼續追逐並尋找累積活動的方法。

Yeah. And I think if you think about the number of rigs that we're operating during the third quarter, it was -- it didn't include the additional nine rigs that we announced that were suspended back in early June. Those went off work in July -- call it, July 1. And to Trey's point, the guidance isn't a complete one-for-one down as a result of those suspensions. We're actually seeing some really positive kind of work and wins coming out of all the various countries that Trey just mentioned. Some really good stuff going down in Argentina. Mike and his team are leading those efforts. And I think the conversations are really good with customers down there.

是的。我認為，如果你想想我們在第三季度運營的鑽井平台數量，這還不包括我們在 6 月初宣布暫停營運的另外 9 座鑽井平台。這些人從七月開始休假——就叫 7 月 1 日吧。正如 Trey 所說，由於這些停賽，指導價格並不是完全一對一下降。我們實際上看到了 Trey 剛才提到的各個國家開展的一些非常積極的工作並取得了勝利。阿根廷確實發生了一些好事。麥克和他的團隊正在領導這些工作。我認為與那裡的顧客的交談非常愉快。

Yeah, absolutely. Maybe to expand on Argentina. We have nine rigs operating today in Argentina. Lots of conversations, as some of you all know, as they build out the infrastructure to get the gas out of the Vaca Muerta there. We're positioned. We had four rigs down there, very well suited FlexRigs that can go to work. So we're in a good position. And I'd say we're early innings down there as we -- as they're adopting technology and continue to start using that down there, I think we'll have some good win behind ourselves.

是的，絕對是如此。也許可以擴大到阿根廷。目前我們在阿根廷有九個鑽井平台在運作。正如你們中的一些人所知，他們在那裡建造基礎設施，以便將天然氣從瓦卡穆埃爾塔輸送出去，因此進行了許多對話。我們已就位。我們在那裡有四台鑽孔機，非常適合可以投入工作的 FlexRigs。因此我們處於有利地位。我想說，我們在那裡處於早期階段，因為他們正在採用技術並繼續在那裡使用，我認為我們會取得一些不錯的勝利。

Okay. That's great. Maybe just to follow on to that real quick. On the margin side, so there's a lot of moving pieces with, I thought the Saudi KCA rigs were pretty good margin and those are dropping off, but you've got these other rigs that are picking up. And then we've got the FlexRigs in Saudi where there was some start-up costs, and it seems like that's maybe gone away or in the process of going away. Should we view this sort of September quarter margin in international as a low point and it has good chance of getting better from here? Or how does that dynamic look as we roll through the next few quarters?

好的。那太棒了。也許只是為了快速跟進這一點。在利潤方面，有很多變動，我認為沙烏地阿拉伯 KCA 鑽井平台的利潤相當不錯，而且這些鑽井平台的利潤正在下降，但其他鑽井平台的利潤正在回升。然後我們在沙烏地阿拉伯擁有了 FlexRigs，那裡有一些啟動成本，但似乎這些成本可能已經消失或正在消失。我們是否應該將國際市場 9 月季度的利潤率視為一個低點，而且以後很有可能會好轉？或者在接下來的幾個季度中，這種動態會如何發展？

Yeah. This is Kevin. And I do think -- I wouldn't -- I hate to call it a low point, but I definitely feel like we're at an inflection point in terms of just the amount of gross margin that can be generated out of that international business, obviously, with the rig suspensions and all the work that Trey mentioned earlier that we're currently chasing across the whole Middle East but really chasing across the globe. We do have -- we do see a line of sight in improving the margins that we're realizing on our FlexRig business in Saudi.

是的。這是凱文。我確實認為——我不會——我不想稱之為低谷，但我確實覺得我們正處於一個轉折點，就國際業務所能產生的毛利率而言，顯然，隨著鑽機暫停和 Trey 之前提到的所有工作，我們目前正在整個中東地區追逐，但實際上是在全球範圍內追逐。我們確實看到了提高沙烏地阿拉伯 FlexRig 業務利潤率的前景。

And so there's just -- it seems like there's a lot of positive momentum outside of just absolute number of rigs working over there, but there's just the work that we're doing and improving. As we continue to integrate all the operations in Saudi, we're seeing a lot of pretty good improvement. It might take a few more quarters to get it up to like the full -- what's the expected ongoing run rate that those teams across the historical legacy KCAD employees and then the FlexRig start-up employees that we had been working on getting those margins going, getting that business started. It just continues to improve quarter after quarter.

因此，除了那裡正在作業的鑽機的絕對數量之外，似乎還有很多積極的勢頭，但我們正在做和改進工作。隨著我們繼續整合沙特的所有業務，我們看到了許多相當不錯的進展。可能還需要幾個季度才能達到全面水平 - 這些歷史悠久的 KCAD 員工團隊以及我們一直致力於提高利潤率、啟動業務的 FlexRig 新創員工的預期持續運行率是多少。它只是每個季度都在不斷改善。

David Smith, Pickering Energy Partners.

大衛史密斯 (David Smith)，Pickering Energy Partners。

Starting with just a housekeeping question, and I wanted to make sure I understood correctly that fiscal year CapEx guidance is $380 million to $395 million, and $362 million was spent in the first nine months of fiscal '25. That kind of implies a step down to like $25 million or $26 million at the midpoint for fiscal Q4, which makes me feel like I'm missing something obvious.

先從一個常規問題開始，我想確保我正確理解了財政年度的資本支出指導價為 3.8 億美元至 3.95 億美元，而 25 財年前 9 個月的支出為 3.62 億美元。這意味著第四財季中期該數字將降至 2500 萬美元或 2600 萬美元，這讓我感覺我忽略了一些顯而易見的東西。

No, you're not. We were -- the CapEx for 2025 was heavily, heavily weighted to the first two or three1 quarters. We won't be spending much in terms of CapEx really on the North American side during the fourth quarter. And what rolls through the fourth quarter will primarily be related to some stuff that we've got going on in international. It's not dollar-for-dollar commensurate decline as these rigs have been -- in terms of level and rig activity, there is some money that was being spent that's still coming through associated with the rig activity that we had prior to these suspensions. But it's coming to a pretty quick halt and decline during the fourth quarter. So no, you're not missing anything. But it is -- we do feel comfortable about the guidance.

不，你不是。我們—2025 年的資本支出很大程度上集中在前兩個或三個季度。在第四季度，我們在北美方面的資本支出實際上不會太多。第四季的進展主要與我們在國際上進行的一些工作有關。這並不是像這些鑽井平台那樣出現一美元對一美元的相應下降——就水平和鑽井平台活動而言，在暫停之前，我們花費的一些資金仍然透過鑽井平台活動獲得。但在第四季度，這一趨勢迅速停止並出現下降。所以，你沒有錯過任何東西。但事實是——我們確實對該指導感到滿意。

Appreciate that. I want to extrapolate that through '26, even though you said '26 is coming down. I also wanted to circle back on the cost reduction targets for $50 million to $75 million. Your fiscal Q3 SG&A was basically in line with the trailing four quarter average before the merger closed. It was $15 million lower than last quarter with the merger closing in mid-January. I just wanted to clarify how we should think about that $50 million to maybe get into $75 million of identified cost savings relative to what's actually been achieved in the fiscal Q3 performance.

非常感謝。我想透過 26 來推斷這一點，儘管你說 26 正在下降。我還想重新討論 5,000 萬至 7,500 萬美元的成本削減目標。您的財政第三季銷售、一般及行政開支與合併結束前的四個季度平均值基本一致。由於合併於一月中旬完成，因此比上一季減少了 1500 萬美元。我只是想澄清一下，我們應該如何看待這 5000 萬美元，相對於第三季度財政業績實際實現的成果，可能實現 7500 萬美元的已確定成本節約。

Yeah. The fiscal Q3 performance, obviously, we had some severance costs and other costs that we recorded as restructuring costs. And so you'll see those separate in another line item on the income statement. But that run rate of $66 million is obviously a reflection of not only some of the reductions that we've already had, the synergies that we've already captured. But it also, I think, speaks to what the possibility is for 2026 which, again, we've clearly identified $50 million of run rate savings in -- that we will implement and have effectively executed all the decisions that we need in order to start 10/1 with a $50 million run rate.

是的。從第三季的財務表現來看，顯然，我們有一些遣散費和其他成本，我們將其記錄為重組成本。因此，您會在損益表的另一個項目中看到它們分開。但 6600 萬美元的運行率顯然不僅反映了我們已經實現的一些削減，也反映了我們已經獲得的協同效應。但我認為，這也說明了 2026 年的可能性，我們再次明確確定了 5000 萬美元的運行率節省 - 我們將實施並有效執行我們需要的所有決策，以便以 5000 萬美元的運行率開始 10/1。

There's still more meat on that bone. We still have some more work to do, some more analysis to do. I think that will be a combination of synergies and just overall cost reductions as we think about what's the right necessary corporate structure to support the business going forward. But I can't -- I'm claiming victory on the $50 million. I don't want to claim victory on anything above $75 million, but I think somewhere in between $50 million and $75 million is pretty achievable as what we're -- given what we're thinking now.

骨頭上還有更多的肉。我們還有一些工作要做，還有一些分析要做。我認為這將是協同效應和整體成本削減的結合，因為我們正在考慮什麼是支持未來業務發展的正確必要的公司結構。但我不能——我要宣布我已贏得 5000 萬美元的勝利。我不想宣稱任何超過 7500 萬美元的勝利，但我認為，根據我們現在的想法，5000 萬到 7500 萬美元之間的某個數字是相當有可能實現的。

It appears that we have no further questions at this time. I'll turn the call back to John Lindsay for closing remarks.

目前看來我們沒有其他問題。我將把電話轉回給約翰·林賽 (John Lindsay) 來做結束語。

Thank you, Raisa. Thank you again for joining us today. Again, just to reiterate, we believe our global scale and innovative solutions are differentiating in the market. We've seen examples of that. And those capabilities, we believe, will continue to expand globally along with our investment-grade balance sheet, sharp focus on cost and debt reduction and a long-standing sustainable dividend as a unique value proposition in our industry. So again, thank you for joining us today. Thank you.

謝謝你，賴莎。再次感謝您今天加入我們。再次重申，我們相信我們的全球規模和創新解決方案在市場上具有差異化。我們已經看過這樣的例子。我們相信，這些能力將隨著我們的投資等級資產負債表、對成本和債務削減的高度關注以及長期可持續的股息作為我們行業的獨特價值主張而繼續在全球範圍內擴展。再次感謝您今天加入我們。謝謝。

This concludes today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連線。