Sam Sledge
Analyst · Bank of America
Thanks, Matt, and good morning, everyone. The results we generated in the first quarter of 2026 demonstrate the resilience of our business model. Despite weather-related disruptions that significantly impacted revenue and profitability during the quarter, we delivered positive financial results in our completions business, particularly when measured by adjusted EBITDA less incurred capital expenditures. These results highlight the strength of our industrialized model, which is the result of strategic investments, disciplined asset deployment and rigorous cost management. The strategic actions we implemented throughout 2025 to protect our assets and rightsize our cost structure are now delivering measurable benefits, positioning us for success in the current market environment. We'll continue to leverage the industrialized nature of our completions business to drive expansion of PROPWR, which we expect to fuel future earnings growth and further strengthen our value proposition. With respect to the broader environment, we're still in the early stages of assessing the global and domestic implications of the Iran war. While uncertainty remains, we're starting to see signs of recovery across the broader North American oilfield services sector given a strengthening commodity backdrop that is driving early pricing and activity tailwinds across our completions business. Importantly, structural tightening in the completions market continues to intensify, driven by ongoing attrition, particularly among smaller and less disciplined competitors. This trend was already emerging prior to the onset of the Iran war and has since accelerated with the recent increase in demand for U.S. frac activity. Notably, there was already very little spare frac equipment capacity even before the conflict began, further amplifying current market constraints. These dynamics, combined with ongoing capital investment discipline and pricing discipline have tempered any plans to expand capacity both within ProPetro and among our close peers in the completion space. Collectively, these factors have created a more constructive supply and demand environment for our business over time. We do recognize the impact that the Iran war has created for our business. However, the market remains volatile, and we expect this uncertainty to persist until there is more clarity on the disruptions in the Middle East and the subsequent impacts on global supply and demand dynamics. While external conditions are beyond our influence, we remain focused on what we can control, our commitment to operational excellence, exercising rigorous cost discipline and deploying capital strategically. Our stable and industrialized business model ensures our positioning not only to navigate this volatility, but also to maximize opportunities and emerge stronger as conditions stabilize. Turning briefly to our fleet. Due to the significant diesel to natural gas price discount currently at play in the Permian Basin, we've seen an uptick in demand for next-generation natural gas burning fleet. Currently, approximately 75% of our fleet is next generation, spanning our Tier 4 DGB dual-fuel and FORCE electric fleet. Recently, we've also added a small number of 100% natural gas burning direct drive units that operate at the highest performance standard and complement our existing fleet. These additions are measured and are not intended to expand our overall capacity in the environment, but rather to further enhance our portfolio. We anticipate adding a few more units later this year to capture targeted demand as it required. As we look ahead, early indications suggest that the floor for crude prices has risen and is becoming more stable, which is constructive for our business. Due to the strong demand for next-generation natural gas burning fleet, we're currently sold out across our Tier 4 DGB dual-fuel and FORCE electric fleet, and accordingly expect to run approximately 12 fleets in the second quarter, up from the approximately 11 in the first quarter. Importantly, we do have a few additional Tier 2 diesel fleets available, which we will deploy only if opportunities meet our economic return threshold. Given disciplined deployments and limited capacity in the completions market, we're well positioned to quickly capitalize on new opportunities as they emerge. Now moving over to PROPWER. We've made significant progress across several key initiatives this past quarter, highlighted by our recent announcement of a new strategic framework agreement with Caterpillar. This agreement enables PROPWER to acquire up to approximately 2.1 gigawatts of additional power generation capacity over the next 5 years. When combined with the approximate 550 megawatts previously ordered and upon successful delivery of assets under this agreement, PROPWER is positioned to have approximately 2.6 gigawatts of power generation capacity delivered by year-end 2031 and fully deployed in 2032. Our nearly 20-year strategic partnership with Caterpillar has been instrumental in shaping our long-term growth plan for PROPWER. This collaboration enables us to pursue shared success while providing PROPWER with reliable access to high-quality assets even amidst the challenges of an exceptionally constrained supply chain. Together, we're well positioned to capture the future opportunities and drive mutual value. This agreement underscores PROPWER's leadership in deploying innovative energy solutions, and we're excited about the transformative potential it brings to our company. To support our upsized order backlog, we have built a robust commercial pipeline. Demand for reliable and low-emission power solutions remains very strong, fueling continued growth across the data center, industrial, and oil and gas sectors. Notably, we're pleased to report major advancements representing several hundred megawatts of high potential data center opportunities in a select portion of our data center commercial pipeline. While specific details are contingent on finalizing agreements, these developments highlight our expanding leadership and strategic positioning in the digital infrastructure market. Additionally, we are engaged in advanced contract negotiations for approximately 100 megawatts to support oil and gas microgrid projects with deployment expected later this year. These commercial developments will rapidly expand our total committed capacity beyond the approximately 240 megawatts currently committed under contract. We are confident in PROPWER's future growth and expect to secure additional contracts throughout 2026 as we extend and deepen relationships with both new and existing partners. The majority of future megawatts are anticipated to be contracted within the data center and industrial sectors, driven by their larger load requirements and long-term strategic commitment. Importantly, our near-term focus also remains on disciplined execution, deploying and scaling PROPWER across our contracted customers with a strong emphasis on derisking deployment and building a resilient operational foundation to support sustainable long-term growth and profitability. As we continue to deploy capital to grow PROPWER, we remain committed to maintaining financial flexibility and a strong balance sheet. Our preferred source of funding continues to be free cash flow generated from our completions. This is supplemented by our strong balance sheet, proceeds from our recent equity offering and access to flexible financing arrangements, including our Caterpillar financing facility and lease financing structures that we already have in place. Given the recent increased orders, we will continue to actively pursue low-cost capital and flexible financing solution to support PROPWER's growth. Looking ahead, while we're still in the early days for PROPWER, we've already made significant progress to secure customer commitments and have real momentum and real operation that allow us to negotiate additional contracts from a position of strength and proven service quality. As the demand for reliable low emissions power solutions continues to grow, we expect PROPWER to continue to scale and deliver increasing returns over time. Our approach remains consistent. We're staying nimble and disciplined, while continuing to lean into the opportunity we see at PWER. Stepping back, the strategy we've been executing over the past several years is now working. Our completions business continues to generate resilient financial results and provides the foundation to fund growth, while PROPWER represents a high growth and high return on investment vehicle that we are just beginning to scale. Importantly, ProPetro is a strong company pursuing value-enhancing growth opportunities from a position of strength. We maintain a healthy balance sheet that provides us with the flexibility to invest in PROPWER. At the same time, we're beginning to see tailwinds emerge in our completions business with early signs of tightening supply and improving pricing dynamics. We have a strong balance sheet, first-class customers and a first-class team that continue to execute at a high level while operating safely, efficiently and productively. Taken together, we believe we're well positioned to execute through the current environment and create meaningful long-term value.