ProFrac Holding Corp. (ACDC) Earnings Call Transcript

Greetings and welcome to the ProFrac Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, [ Michael Messina ], Senior Vice President of Finance.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for ProFrac Holding Corp.'s conference call and webcast to review our results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. With me today are Matt Wilks, Executive Chairman, Ladd Wilks, Chief Executive Officer, and Austin Harbour, Chief Financial Officer. Following my remarks, management will provide high-level color on the operational and financial highlights of the second quarter 2026, before opening up the call to your questions. A replay of today's call will be made available by webcast on the company's website at pfholdingscorp.com. More information on how to access the replay is included in the company's earnings release. Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, August 6, 2026. You are advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay listening or transmission. 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. 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. The listener or reader is encouraged to read ProFrac's Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be found on the website at SEC.gov or on the company's investor relations website section under the SEC filings tab to better understand those risks, uncertainties, and contingencies. 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 earnings press release, which can be found on the company's website. Now over to Mr. Matt Wilks, Executive Chairman of ProFrac.

Thank you, Michael, and hello, everyone. I'll kick off with some remarks on our overall performance, the broader market environment, and progress on our strategic priorities. I'll then hand it over to Austin, who will take you through the segment results in more detail. We're pleased to report that our second quarter results improved over Q1 results and again came in ahead of expectations. April carried forward the operational momentum we discussed on our last call. And while these levels moderated somewhat as we moved through May and June, utilization remained strong. As I'll discuss in a moment, the market backdrop remains constructive, and we continue to see an open window for more favorable pricing dynamics. Consistent with what we said on our last call, the majority of that benefit is layering in through the back half of the year rather than the second quarter itself. Looking ahead to the third quarter and the back half of the year, our approach to pricing is to be constructive, not aggressive. We do not plan to deploy incremental fleets speculatively, and any gains we capture from here are about building toward a stronger 2027 rather than chasing a near-term spike. Given the constructive activity backdrop, RFP season conversations are already underway sooner than usual. We intend to be well positioned through that process into 2027. To the extent we see incremental demand show up in the spot market later in the year, our preference is not to chase it with additional equipment, but rather to capture that value more durably through the RFP process. We expect efficiency to continue improving on a quarterly basis as calendar white space tightens further, and we're encouraged by the consistency building through the back half of the year. During the quarter, we experienced incremental competitive pricing pressure in sand in the West Texas region. While supply remains tight in both the South Texas and East Texas North Louisiana markets, we remain focused on translating more of our order book into long-term commitments and improving throughput. As we've spoken about in the past, the operating leverage inherent in our proppant business becomes increasingly evident as we drive higher utilization, and we continue to believe this business is capable of improved free cash flow as the efficiencies are realized. We continue to evaluate ways to further strengthen this business over time. From a regional perspective, South Texas continues to be our strongest performing market, both from a sell-through and a throughput standpoint. We did see some minor weather-related disruption in the quarter from flooding activity, though it was manageable. Looking ahead, we continue to see the Haynesville as an attractive growth market for us, both on the frac side and on the sand side. As gas-directed activity builds in support of LNG export capacity and power demand, we expect to see continued opportunity to increase activity across both of our core service lines. Zooming out to review the broader market environment, if there's one word that captures the last several months, it's volatility. We think that volatility itself is the signal worth paying attention to. Oil prices this year have ranged from a low in the first days of January to an April peak that was precisely double that trough. Within the second quarter alone, prices fell roughly 40% from their peak to a subsequent low, only to rally back nearly 40% off that low in the following weeks. That is not the behavior of a market that has found its footing. We point to the underlying cause. The conflict in the Middle East has continued to defy expectations of a long-term resolution. What has looked at various points like a path forward toward de-escalation has repeatedly given way to renewed military action, and recent weeks have brought further strikes. We continue to believe, as we've said on our prior calls, that this is not a transient supply shock but a structural shift in available global capacity. If anything, this extended period of uncertainty has only reinforced the case for domestic energy security. When global supply can swing this violently on geopolitical developments, the value of reliable, lower-risk North American production only becomes more apparent to operators, policymakers, and importers. We continue to see this dynamic as a structural tailwind for our business. Turning to our cost structure, we remain committed to the $100 million of annualized savings program we outlined at the start of the year. That program has three components. Labor-related reductions that we have targeted at $35 million to $45 million annualized, non-labor operating expense reductions that include SG&A and asset-level OPEX that together we have targeted at $30 million to $40 million. And lastly, capital expenditure efficiency that we've targeted at $20 million to $30 million. We continue to work through each of these initiatives, and we remain confident in the full program as these efforts mature over the balance of the year. Our vertically integrated model and asset management platform remain central to how we think about our competitive position, not just this quarter, but across the cycle. Our in-house manufacturing capability allows us to build, upgrade, and standardize equipment at a cost basis that's simply not available to others who rely on third parties. Our asset management program continues to be a meaningful driver of fleet reliability and uptime. These aren't new initiatives, but they remain foundational to how we compete, and we continue to see them as a durable source of advantage as the cycle evolves. Irrespective of where we are in the market cycle, we execute on a routine upgrade program converting diesel equipment to dual fuel and natural gas capable configurations. This quarter, we made the decision to accelerate a portion of that program while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital allocation. We're moving forward with additional engine orders ahead of our original schedule, given the continued strong demand we're seeing from operators for this higher specification equipment. We view this as an investment decision rather than a departure from our cost discipline. Upgrading this equipment now, while demand for high spec dual fuel capacity remains strong, reduces our repair and maintenance exposure over time, extends the useful life of these assets, and supports our strong positioning as we discussed earlier to discuss 2027 plans with our customers. Additionally, I want to touch briefly on our eBlender program that we introduced on our last call. Deployment continues to progress. With a few additional units placed into service since our last call, we're seeing the efficiency benefits we expected on the units we have deployed, including lower repair and maintenance spend as well as improved uptime relative to legacy equipment. By the end of the year, we expect to have deployed our new eBlender technology across our fleet. On technology, Machina continues to be central to how we think about subsurface data providers like Seismos. The platform doesn't just mean measure the frac. It acts on it while we're pumping. The near-term focus is uniformity, getting every cluster and every stage to take fluid the way it was designed to, rather than accepting the wide variance the industry has historically treated as normal. That's the foundation for prescriptive completions, designs that adjust in real time based on what the rock is telling us, rather than through a static pump schedule. We remain in active price discovery on the commercial model, and customer feedback from deployments continues to be encouraging as we structure value share going forward. We also continue to see real promise in Machina's application to acreage that operators have effectively set aside. In many cases nearby offset wells, wastewater infrastructure, where legacy completions create execution risk that leads operators to defer or shelve otherwise attractive locations. Machina's real-time subsurface intelligence and closed-loop control are designed to reduce that risk, which we believe can shift the economic calculus on certain locations and bring stranded inventory back into play without requiring the kind of upfront offset well infrastructure investment that sometimes runs as much as $1 million to $2 million. We'll continue to share more as our commercial discussions with customers progress. Wrapping up my opening comments, we delivered solid second quarter results, building on that momentum from earlier in the year despite a volatile macro backdrop. That volatility, if anything, has only reinforced the structural case for domestic energy security and the long-term tailwind it represents for our business. Our cost optimization program continues to advance, and we're deploying capital thoughtfully, including accelerating our engine upgrade program to position the business for durable efficiency gains. Our new eBlenders are yielding the capital efficiency benefits we expected, and incremental deployments remain on schedule. Machina continues to gain traction with customers, and we see real potential for it to unlock previously stranded inventory as commercial discussions progress. In addition, we strengthened our balance sheet this quarter through the ABL refinancing, giving us a longer runway, improved liquidity, and greater flexibility heading into the back half of the year.

Now over to Austin to expand on segment results in more detail. Thanks, Matt. In the second quarter revenues were $498 million, up from $450 million in the first quarter of 2026. We generated $69 million of adjusted EBITDA with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 14%, an increase from the $54 million or 12% of revenue we delivered in Q1. Free cash flow was negative $8 million in the second quarter, an improvement from negative $25 million in Q1. Turning to our segments, stimulation services revenues were $430 million in the second quarter, up from $407 million in the first quarter of 2026. Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 was $39 million, up from $32 million in Q1, with margins of 9% compared to 8% in Q1. Results reflected an improvement in efficiency, lack of material weather-driven delays as we experienced in Q1, and to a modest degree, improved pricing. We again maintained our fleet count in the low 20s during the second quarter, consistent with the disciplined approach we've held throughout this market cycle. This reflects our continued focus on returns over utilization for its own sake. While April carried forward the type of record efficiency levels we experienced in March, as we discussed on our last call, pumping hours per fleet moderated somewhat in May and June relative to those peaks. This was primarily a function of more white space in the calendar than we had anticipated entering the quarter. Pricing was up slightly sequentially. As we noted on our May call, the majority of our increases carried renegotiation windows that pushed the benefit into the third and fourth quarters. Proppant production generated $121 million of revenue in the second quarter, a touch higher than the $120 million of revenue we reported in the first quarter of 2026. Approximately 31% of volumes were sold to third-party customers during the second quarter versus 28% in Q1. During the second quarter and into the third, we continue to navigate incremental competitive pricing pressure in the proppant market, particularly in West Texas. We remain focused on operational improvements throughout the business while leveraging the potential we see in stronger markets, including the Haynesville and South Texas. Adjusted EBITDA for the proppant production segment was $6 million for the second quarter, broadly in line with Q1. On a margin basis, EBITDA margins were 5% in the second quarter versus 5% in Q1 2026. Total volumes were approximately 2.5 million tons. Our manufacturing segment generated second quarter revenues of $48 million, in line with the first quarter. Approximately 18% of segment revenues were generated from third-party sales compared to approximately 14% in Q1. Adjusted EBITDA for the manufacturing segment was $6 million compared to $7 million in Q1. Flotek generated second quarter revenues of $102 million, significantly higher than the $72 million reported in Q1. Approximately 42% of segment revenues were generated from third-party sales compared to approximately 25% in Q1. Adjusted EBITDA for Flotek was $19 million, or 19% of revenue, also improved relative to the $11 million reported in Q1. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $44 million in the second quarter, flat with Q1. Cash capital expenditures of $32 million in the second quarter were down from $41 million in the first quarter of 2026. Consistent with the outlook we issued on our May call, we continue to expect total capital expenditures in 2026, including Flotek spend, to be in the range of $155 million to $180 million. Excluding Flotek, we expect our CapEx to be in a range of $145 million to $175 million. Total cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2026, were approximately $19 million, including approximately $5 million attributable to Flotek. Total liquidity at quarter end was approximately $72 million, including $58 million available under the ABL. Borrowings under the ABL credit facility ended the quarter at $162 million, an increase from $116 million at first quarter end. On July 1st, we closed a new asset-based revolving credit facility with Eclipse Business Capital, and we think this transaction matters more than a typical refinancing headline might suggest. What we secured was a larger commitment, a longer runway, and improved advance rates against our collateral base, which together translate into increased relative liquidity versus our prior facility. This new $300 million facility replaces our previous $275 million ABL facility and extends our maturity profile. In addition to increasing total commitments by $25 million, the new facility incorporates the ability to request up to an additional $25 million of incremental commitments subject to lender approval and customary conditions. We've said repeatedly that our approach to the balance sheet is disciplined and opportunistic. This transaction is that philosophy in practice, and it leaves us better positioned. The majority of our debt maturities remain concentrated in 2029 and beyond, and we believe we're well positioned from a liquidity perspective as we move through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. At quarter end, we had approximately $1.1 billion of debt outstanding. We continue to manage the balance sheet the same way we always have, with discipline, an opportunistic mindset, and a focus on maintaining flexibility to act as conditions shift. With that, I will now turn the call over to Ladd.

Thank you, Austin. As you saw in our earnings press release this morning, I'm resigning my position as Chief Executive Officer of ProFrac. I'll take up the board seat that is being vacated by Mr. Sergey Krylov. I want to thank Mr. Krylov for his years of dedication and service to ProFrac and for the thoughtful and diligent stewardship he has brought to the board throughout his tenure. This transition will take effect tomorrow, August 7th. As a member of the board of directors, I'll continue to help guide the future of the company that I love and help build with an unwavering commitment to it. While I won't be involved in day-to-day decisions, I remain deeply devoted to this company and will always be available to its management and staff for guidance and support. ProFrac isn't just a company to me. It's part of my family's legacy, and I'll continue to do everything I can to ensure its lasting success. When I think about my time as CEO, my first thought is about the people. The best people in the world work here. We have incredible leaders and employees in every district, region, and division in the ProFrac Holdings family. And while our industry can be volatile at times, I believe the long-term future of our company and our industry has never been stronger. And I couldn't be more excited for Matt, who will become ProFrac's next CEO, while also continuing to serve as executive chairman. Since the founding of ProFrac, Matt has been one of the key drivers behind our growth and success. I have complete confidence that he will take ProFrac to new heights, and I couldn't be happier that he's the one leading our next chapter. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to the operator for Q&A.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Donald Crist with Johnson Rice. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, guys. I wanted to start on the pressure pumping side of the business. Throughout this earning cycle, we've heard many of your competitors talk about their fleets being mostly dedicated for '27 and the fact that not a lot of fleets have been added in relation to the increase in rig count. Can you just talk about what you're seeing out there and how you see '27 shaping up? Because as an analyst, I see a significant increase in pricing potential given that we have a lot more demand than supply out there today.

Yes, I believe that's a fair assessment. We've seen a lot of demand, a very disciplined operator group. Just 2026 budgets have been set. Everybody's relatively stay disciplined to that. We've seen a lot of tightness in the schedules and to build around that capital budget from these guys. There's been some private operators that have come back and increased activity. As we look into 2027, we see 2027 as being a nice step up. We're at the very beginning of RFP season. It's already started, it's been brought forward. One of the benefits of the RFP season starting so much earlier is, you know, I think a lot of these operators want to get in early and lock things down while they can, while they know that they can. As RFP season progresses, we expect to see it better. You know, really start pushing pricing. And as everybody realizes how much availability there isn't, realize how tight the market is. There's not a lot of spare capacity. And as you move through RFP season, it's going to be pretty interesting to see how this plays out as we guide into 2027. Still early in the process, but we expect with RFP season kicking off early this, that once 2027 budgets are set and we've got better visibility into it, we don't think that we have to wait for 2027 for that environment. It will happen in this second half. We already see a stronger second half than what we had in the first half. A lot of the pricing that we pushed for earlier in this quarter are going into effect in Q3 and Q4. And we believe that there will be additional opportunities as we move through RFP season. Typically, what you see in a transition in the market like we have today, as we move through '26 into '27, we expect '27 activity to get pulled forward very quickly after the conclusion of RFPs. So it's a pretty interesting time. Pretty excited to see this play out the way that it is. I think we've got a really disciplined peer class that has not gone in on a speculative bet to build out equipment, build out capacity. You know, we think the world of our customers and they're disciplined. So are we. If they increase CapEx, I think the service base will respond, but we will not speculate and build into that.

And just to follow up on your opening remarks, but it sounds like you're going to be very disciplined and not add any fleets on spec. But when would the decision point come in? If rates went up 15% or 20% across your entire fleet from where they are today or are going to be in the third quarter, would that be the right point for a decision point to add more fleets to satisfy demand out there?

I don't believe so. I think an increase of 15% to 20% would accelerate some upgrades, but I don't think that it would really trigger a build cycle. You know, I think more than ever, and I can't speak for my peers, but they appear to have the same behavior and outlook on this, but what we need is certainty and a commitment. And we're not going to go in and chase short-term economics. We need long-term, stable pricing environment so that we can get a total return and full cycle returns. New build economics is not something that you speculate on. This is a very challenging industry. We need reliable, consistent returns and outcomes. And so if we have customers that come in and make the appropriate commitments long term with a true commitment, then I think that really changes everything. It's more so about the stability than it is the economics. Economics obviously have to be there, but we're not going to just go in and build because the spot market is where we want it.

Yes, I think to add to what Matt's saying, I think it's tenor coupled with the market pricing and the economics, right? And that certainty and that longevity is really what we're looking for before we push the button on adding incremental capacity. So it needs to be both. And I think the industry as a whole is in an interesting spot. I mean, you know, there's a lot of technology and you're at this point of diminishing returns, there's no more hours in the day where efficiency is just incredible. And it's not just something that you can brag about or talk about. It's something that's expected and it should be.

The only place to go from here is to focus on better recoveries, better execution, and what can technology bring for good partnerships. And I think that you'll start seeing more of that from not just the operators, but the service companies that they partner with, where you're collaborating on services. Better rates, better production, better execution, and the technology that's available with frac automation and closed loop frac, you know, we're very excited to see the transformation that this industry is about to go through. And I think that that factors into it as well. We're looking for partners. We'll build it. You know, we'll line it all out. We're not afraid to deploy capital for the right relationships and commitments and for the right returns. But technology is a big part of it too. And I think we're starting to see all of this line up and these conversations. These types of partnerships, that's what we've focused on over the last year or two, and it's really coming into fruition. And we look forward to updating not only our shareholders, but the overall market. This industry is about to break out and change what everybody thinks or expects from it.

I appreciate that color. And as an analyst that covers both Flotek and y'all, I'm going to ask a question you probably don't want to answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway. You know, given the tightness in your financial flexibility and the amount of appreciation in Flotek stock, you've been very smart to hold on to it to date, but would you consider peeling off some shares here to promote your financial flexibility going forward and increase the float on Flotek? Just any thoughts around that?

We can't comment to any particular behavior. I think we manage our portfolio as a portfolio and we're economic animals. But at the same time, that's a phenomenal business. We're so proud of those guys over there. We're excited about their future. We're excited to be a part of it, to be a part of what they're building. And we're excited to be a part of their future for a very long time and continue to support them. I think that there's a lot of synergies, a lot of collaboration between the two organizations that's not going to change.

I had to try anyway. I appreciate the color. I'll turn it back.

Definitely. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Daniel with Daniel Energy Partners. Please proceed with your question.

Ladd, good luck on your next steps. If you find yourself on the street looking for a job, give us a call. First question is about the RFPs. Matt, you alluded to they're coming in early. I'm just curious if you've had the chance to dig into the RFPs and look to see how many are coming from public players? And what are they asking for next year? And is that more than what they're running today?

So with the guys that are starting early, you know, we can only guess why they're starting early. We think that it's just to make sure that they haven't locked down. It's about certainty. And if you're worried about tightness, you don't want to be last. You don't necessarily have to be first, but you can't be last. And I think from here on, it's only going to get tighter and tighter. And so the companies that lead off are going to get, most likely, the best economics. As we progress further into RFPs, we'll be able to give you better color on additional activity. But I think this early on, the main indicator is just how early it is.