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Date

May 7, 2026, 11 a.m. ET

Call participants

  • Executive Chairman — Matt Wilkes
  • Chief Executive Officer — Ladd Wilkes
  • Chief Financial Officer — Austin Harbour
  • VP Investor Relations — Michael Messina

Takeaways

  • Revenue -- $450 million, an increase from $437 million in the prior year's first quarter.
  • Adjusted EBITDA -- $54 million with an 11.9% margin; without the $9.3 million weather impact, margin would have been approximately 13.6%.
  • Free cash flow -- Negative $25 million, compared to $14 million in the same period of 2025.
  • Cost savings realization -- Achieved the majority of the $100 million annualized savings target, including labor-related annualized savings in the $35 million-$45 million range, and non-labor SG&A reductions; most savings already reflected as of this quarter.
  • Capital expenditures -- $41 million, up from $37 million prior year; 2026 guidance is $155 million-$185 million including Flotek, $145 million-$175 million excluding Flotek.
  • Stimulation services segment revenue -- $407 million, up from $384 million; adjusted EBITDA $32 million with a 7.8% margin; sequential margin decline attributed to weather-related headwinds totaling $7.8 million.
  • Proppant production segment revenue -- $120 million, up from $115 million; adjusted EBITDA $7 million with a 5.4% margin, reflecting both operational challenges and lower sequential volumes compared with the previous quarter.
  • Manufacturing segment revenue -- $48 million, compared to $43 million last quarter; adjusted EBITDA $7 million, an increase from $4 million sequentially.
  • Flotek segment revenue -- $72 million (versus $43 million Q4); adjusted EBITDA $11 million, up from $10 million.
  • Fleet utilization and efficiency -- Maintained active fleet count in the low 20s; record March efficiency with average pumping hours per fleet over 600, and a peak of 682 hours for one Eagle Ford fleet.
  • Pricing dynamics -- CEO Ladd Wilkes said, "we've got active dialogue with customers on pricing improvement," and confirmed "material price increases" secured for most active fleets, to be realized through the rest of the year.
  • Customer mix shift -- Noted increasing activity and program commitments from private operators, with spot work rapidly transitioning into dedicated programs and rig activation.
  • Makena platform commercialization -- Customer feedback in early deployments has been "encouraging," and the company is in "active price discovery on the commercial model," exploring opportunities for reopening previously stranded operator acreage.
  • E-blend energy efficiency -- Internally designed modular e-blenders deployed in late 2025 are delivering capital efficiency benefits and a reported "98% reduction in MPT [mean productive time] associated with blenders" compared to legacy equipment.
  • Liquidity position -- $34 million in cash and cash equivalents, $108 million in total liquidity including $80 million available under the ABL; quarter-end borrowings under ABL at $116 million; total debt outstanding at $1.09 billion, majority due 2029.

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Risks

  • Reported "emerging cost pressures—pricing creep in chemicals, diesel, and diesel surcharges on product delivery," with specialty materials and steel costs also flagged as rising and being actively monitored.
  • Proppant production segment experienced "operational challenges and unplanned downtime," leading to lower utilization and a reduced adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.4% versus 13.9% in the prior quarter, with volume and profitability expected to be down sequentially into the second quarter.
  • Winter weather in early first quarter reduced consolidated adjusted EBITDA by $9.3 million, and segment EBITDA by $7.8 million in stimulation services and $1.5 million in proppant production.
  • Full deployment of new e-blenders faces some "lead-time delays," with completion of remaining units now pushed into early 2027.

Summary

ProFrac Holding Corp. (ACDC 7.71%) delivered revenue growth in all operating segments, while adjusted EBITDA margin was pressured sequentially by significant weather disruptions and proppant operational downtime.

Management articulated that most material cost savings from the ongoing optimization program are captured, with additional benefits set to increase through the year as automation and capital initiatives continue to mature. New pricing initiatives will implement throughout the second quarter and should further support profitability in the back half as customer commitments grow and market conditions tighten. Management confirmed robust operator demand, with fleet deployment discipline emphasized and significant spot work converting to dedicated programs, particularly among private operators.

  • CEO Ladd Wilkes clarified that current pricing remains at "60% of where pricing was in 2022," indicating a "long way to go for price improvement" and targeting positive net income within the next few quarters.
  • Segment EBITDA performance diverged; stimulation services maintained stable margins after adjusting for one-time weather, while proppant production sustained material sequential margin compression due to operational inefficiencies and lower volumes.
  • The company is requiring "meaningful price increases" and "sufficient contract duration" before committing to accelerated deployment of additional upgraded fleets, implying continued capital discipline.
  • ProFrac highlighted that demand for its dual-fuel and electric fleets remains high, with "natural gas-burning equipment nearly sold out," and customers pursuing "fuel-efficient fleets" to mitigate rising diesel costs.
  • Makena's advanced well optimization—combining surface automation with subsurface analytics—may enable reactivation of previously non-economic acreage, directly addressing operator constraints without additional fiber installation costs.

Industry glossary

  • Makena: ProFrac's integrated well optimization suite combining real-time surface automation and subsurface diagnostics to maximize perforation performance and enable completion of previously stranded or uneconomic wells.
  • E-blender: Fully electric, modular blender designed by ProFrac for hydraulic fracturing operations, providing real-time repairability and substantial reductions in mean productive time and capital costs compared to legacy units.
  • DUC: Drilled but uncompleted well—an oil or gas well that has been drilled but not yet completed for production.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Michael Messina: Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for ProFrac Holding Corp's conference call and webcast to review our results for the first quarter ended 03/31/2026. With me today are Matt Wilkes, Executive Chairman; Ladd Wilkes, Chief Executive Officer; and Austin Harbour, Chief Financial Officer. Following my remarks, management will provide high-level commentary on the operational and financial highlights of the first quarter 2026 before opening up the call to your questions. A replay of today's call will be 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 the information reported on this call speaks only as of today, 05/07/2026.

You are advised that any time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay listening or transcript reading. Also, comments on this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws, including management's expectations of future financial and business performance. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views of ProFrac 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-Ks and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be found 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 Wilkes, Executive Chairman.

Matt Wilkes: Thanks, Michael, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin with some brief remarks on our overall performance, the broader market environment, and the progress of our strategic priorities. Ladd will then take you through our business results in more detail, followed by Austin, who will walk through the financials. We're pleased to report that our first quarter results exceeded our expectations that we discussed in March. Our exceptional operational performance as we progressed through the final month of the period drove outperformance for Q1 relative to some weather-driven challenges we faced to start the year.

Specifically, as we discussed on our Q4 call, harsh winter conditions across much of our operating areas created some operational disruptions that resulted in approximately 9 million of adjusted EBITDA impact. More importantly, market dynamics shifted meaningfully beginning in late February and early March with the onset of the '1, characterized by calendar tightening and a reduction in white space. More recently, we've begun to see work added to the calendar that was not scheduled prior to the Iranian conflict. Further, we're proud to note that our stimulation services team delivered record efficiency levels in March with operational momentum carrying into the second quarter.

As a near-term solution to oil supplies remaining elusive, exacerbating a material increase in oil prices, operator sentiment has continued to improve. Against the positive market trajectory, we're witnessing an open window for more favorable pricing dynamics. We are aware that pricing discussions are happening across the energy value chain, and our customers are highly engaged. We have taken a measured, deliberate approach focused on partnering with operators that will collaborate with us to generate appropriate returns through the cycle. We have successfully implemented price increases for the majority of our active fleets. These increases layer in throughout the latter half of the second quarter and into the back half of the year.

Based on these factors, we expect Q2 to trend higher sequentially. Ladd will provide more color in a few minutes. Stepping back to the broader market environment, what we're experiencing at the company level reflects a larger set of dynamics we believe are still in the early innings of North American energy services. We believe the geopolitical developments that emerged in late February fundamentally altered the global energy security-of-supply calculus. Beyond the immediate disruption to tanker traffic via the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, what's becoming increasingly apparent is the scale of damage to critical Persian Gulf infrastructure. The processing facilities, export terminals, and distribution networks that were impacted represent decades of engineering and capital investment.

Reconstruction timelines are becoming clearer, and they could be measured in years, not quarters. This isn't a transient supply shock. We believe it is a shift in available global capacity that will take considerable time to resolve. Further, this supply constraint is coinciding with a policy environment that increasingly appears to be pivoting decisively toward domestic energy security and infrastructure development. While it's early to predict specific legislative outcomes, the direction is clear, and it reinforces the case for a sustained call on North American production activity. Energy security has also become a more prevalent factor globally.

As importers revise their strategies regarding consistent, reliable access to hydrocarbons at scale, we believe these dynamics provide increased structural tailwinds to the North American energy industry as the lowest-risk producer of crude oil and LNG. Overlaying these macro developments is a North American demand picture that was already tightening. The production gap we flagged for several quarters has only widened, with operators running behind the activity curve required to offset natural decline. Meanwhile, on the gas side, the convergence of expanding LNG export capacity with accelerating power demand from data centers and industrial electrification is creating increased medium- and long-term demand. On the service side, the available capacity supply response has been notably restrained.

Years of capital discipline have limited new equipment from entering the market, while the natural attrition of aging fleets continues to reduce available capacity. The result is a tightening supply-demand balance for high-specification, high-efficiency service capacity coinciding with an inflection in operator activity. Our record efficiency performance in March reflects this evolution as we delivered a company record measured by pump hours per fleet. Our vertical integration model, dual fuel and electric fleet capabilities, and asset management platform position us to continue to enhance service quality and efficiency. We're focused on delivering value where operator demand is strongest, maintaining our disciplined approach to fleet deployment, and leveraging the technology differentiation that Ladd will discuss in more detail.

I'd like to spend some time discussing our approach to asset deployment. Of note, irrespective of market cycles, we execute a routine program upgrading diesel to dual fuel or natural gas-capable configurations. In the current market environment, as the call on equipment continues to increase, we have fielded a number of inbounds from operators seeking incremental assets and crews. In order to employ additional assets, we would need to accelerate our upgrade program and to do so, we have certain requirements that must be met. We will remain disciplined in our approach to capital allocation and fleet deployment. Importantly, our vertically integrated model and asset management capabilities uniquely enable us to respond rapidly to evolving market conditions.

As we discuss future activity with customers, the dialogue remains constructive. Suffice to say, there are numerous factors in play that bode well not only for an improved Q2, but an improved second half of the year and potentially beyond. While we're encouraged by the macro backdrop and the tightening we're seeing in the market, what ultimately positions us to capitalize on these dynamics is the work we've been doing internally to strengthen our cost structure and improve our operational efficiency. On our last call in March, we outlined our business optimization program, and I am pleased to report significant progress toward our goal.

On a year-over-year basis, and including our capital expenditure reduction in 2025, we have achieved the majority of our 100 million annualized savings target. Our labor-related cost reductions have been fully implemented and are running at an annualized savings rate at or above the midpoint of our 35 million to 45 million target range. On non-labor operating expenses, SG&A reductions have been implemented. Additionally, we continue to make progress on repair and maintenance and asset-level operating expense reductions. While some of our projects remain in earlier stages of implementation, they should accelerate as we move through the year. We continue to expect to achieve the full 30 million to 40 million range as these initiatives mature through the year.

On capital expenditure efficiency, we have already achieved, at a minimum and including the reduction in 2025, the high end of our targeted range of 20 million to 30 million. One element worth highlighting is our transition to internally designed, developed, commercialized e-blenders. Ladd will elaborate on this in his remarks. Taken together, these actions meaningfully improve our cost structure and position ProFrac to generate stronger returns through the cycle. Our internal execution on costs and capital efficiency is what keeps us competitive through the cycle, but competing effectively over the long term also requires technology that creates value that our customers cannot find elsewhere. And that brings me to Makena.

On our last call, we introduced Makena in considerable detail as a unified completion optimization platform combining ProPilot 2.0 surface automation with Seismos subsurface intelligence. In summary, Makena is ProFrac's integrated well optimization suite that brings pre-stage design, field execution, post-stage diagnostics, and historical analysis into a cutting-edge real-time unified feedback control framework that actively intervenes to increase perforation performance by up to 33%. What I want to share is where things stand and the dimension with opportunity that has come into sharper focus as we have been in front of customers. The headline is that we are in active price discovery on the commercial model.

Customer feedback from testing-stage deployments has been encouraging, and that feedback is informing us of how we think about structuring the value share. We will have more to say as this process matures. What has become increasingly clear through those customer conversations is that Makena's most compelling application may be in unlocking acreage that operators have effectively set aside. A portion of stranded inventory may be uneconomic due to complications in frac design impacted by existing adjacent infrastructure. Offset wells, wastewater infrastructure, and legacy downhole completions can collectively create constraints that may force operators to conclude that fewer locations are economic to produce. Makena may address this issue directly.

Ladd will explain what that looks like on location, but the strategic point is this: we believe this platform has the potential to bring previously stranded inventory back into play for our customers. To conclude my opening comments, we delivered a strong Q1, exceeding our expectations. Despite a weather-impacted start, the business performed well with increased completions momentum through the end of the quarter. Our cost optimization program continues to advance. We have achieved the majority of our 100 million run-rate target. The macro backdrop is working in our favor. Energy security has moved to the front of the conversation, and that has direct and tangible implications for domestic completions activity and the operators we serve.

Makena, our complete well optimization suite, is gaining traction in the market with more customers inquiring about closed-loop well optimization capabilities. As a continuous improvement engine, Makena may potentially offer operators the ability to economically complete stranded locations. And finally, Q2 is shaping up to be a meaningful step forward. Some operators are pulling work forward, helping to eliminate white space in frac calendars. The market has tightened, and we see it tightening more as the year unfolds. With natural gas-burning equipment nearly sold out, we are in active discussions with customers and have achieved price increases on the majority of our fleets. Discussions with operators remain active, and we will remain disciplined on fleet deployments.

Let me now turn it over to Ladd, who will get into the operational details.

Ladd Wilkes: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Picking up from Matt, I'll begin with a deeper look at our Stimulation Services results. We maintained our fleet count in the low 20s during the first quarter, consistent with the disciplined approach we've held throughout this market cycle. Pricing was generally stable sequentially. In March, we delivered record efficiency performance with average pumping hours per active fleet exceeding 600 hours. I'd like to commend one fleet in particular that recorded an exceptional 682 pumping hours in the Eagle Ford in March, working for a supermajor on a dedicated contract. We have sustained efficiency levels through April and into May.

On the activity front, we're seeing operators add to their previously scheduled work while also securing availability on the calendar later in the year. These dynamics reflect the tighter equipment market as Matt alluded to earlier. We expect the tightening completions landscape to drive a more balanced pricing structure that will flow through to the bottom line. However, it is worth noting that we are also monitoring some emerging cost pressures—pricing creep in chemicals, diesel, and diesel surcharges on product delivery, and certain specialty materials where feedstock is exposed to the current macro environment is starting to materialize. Steel costs are something we're watching as well. Importantly, our customers and vendors see the same dynamics and understand them.

That shared awareness is part of what is making our pricing conversations constructive. Cost pressures are not a surprise to anyone at the table. We are applying the same discipline to fleet deployment that we've spoken about for some time now and are not chasing spot work. Our strategy of maintaining an active fleet count in the mid to lower 20s positions us well to capitalize on improving market conditions. Although we are in active dialogue to potentially increase fleet deployments, as Matt previously noted, we will remain disciplined in our approach. Before I continue on to proppant, I want to expand on Matt's point about the benefits we're seeing from our electric, or e-blenders.

First and foremost, our internally designed and manufactured electric blenders are completely modular, enabling faster repairs and reducing the need for redundancy. While some parts and lead-time delays may push full deployment of the remaining e-blenders into early 2027, capital efficiency benefits are already materializing on the units we deployed in late 2025. And we expect meaningful second-order savings from reduced repair and maintenance expenses as the full fleet is deployed and legacy units are retired. Moving to proppant production, the first quarter presented some challenges for this segment, as we noted on the March call. Beyond the winter storm experienced in the quarter, we experienced some operational issues that affected production levels.

While completion activity increased, particularly in March, these headwinds resulted in lower sequential Q1 volumes versus the strong performance we delivered in the fourth quarter. Operational challenges and unplanned downtime have negatively impacted utilization and sales into the second quarter. As a result, we expect volumes to be down from the first quarter. We're focused on returning to the execution levels that drove our strong fourth quarter results—namely, we are optimizing mine investments in both South and East Texas to increase utilization and throughput. The operational leverage in this business remains the key driver. When we can maximize production efficiency and maintain high uptime, profitability follows.

Beyond the segment results, I want to pick up on Makena where Matt left off and touch on the acreage opportunity he described. When an operator looks at completing a well in a complex subsurface environment, that is, one with nearby offset wells, wastewater disposal infrastructure, legacy completions in close proximity, they face a practical dilemma. The frac design that could optimize production from that wellbore may carry increased execution risk. In some cases, the well sits as a DUC, or is deferred. Our platform potentially enables the ability to pursue a more optimized design in these environments, with real-time subsurface intelligence guiding the execution and closed-loop control reducing the exposure to unintended downhole consequences.

Ultimately, Makena may shift the economic calculus on certain uneconomic locations and open up a broader swath of developable inventory. From a competitive standpoint, I will simply note that the ability to deliver this capability without requiring upfront infrastructure investment in adjacent or offset wellbores is a meaningful practical differentiator. Approaches that depend on fiber installation in offset wells could cost up to $1 to $2 million. We are working through price discovery with customers on how to appropriately capture the value Makena creates. That process is ongoing, and we look forward to providing more color as it develops. With that, let me hand it over to Austin to walk through the numbers.

Austin Harbour: Thank you, Ladd. In the first quarter, revenues were 450 million, up slightly from 437 million in 2025. We generated 54 million of adjusted EBITDA with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.9% compared with 61 million in the fourth quarter, or 14% of revenue. The impact of the winter weather storm resulted in an estimated 9.3 million reduction to consolidated adjusted EBITDA. Pro forma adjusted EBITDA margin would have been approximately 13.6%, in line with Q4 2025 and an improvement of approximately 350 basis points versus Q3 2025. Free cash flow was negative 25 million in the first quarter versus 14 million in 2025.

Turning to our segments, Stimulation Services revenues were 407 million in the first quarter, improved from 384 million in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 was 32 million, in line with the 33 million we reported in Q4, with margins of 7.8% compared to 8.7% in Q4. As noted earlier, harsh weather conditions impacted us in the first several weeks of the year and were an estimated 7.8 million headwind to Stimulation Services adjusted EBITDA. Pro forma for the weather impact, segment margins were slightly improved from the fourth quarter, as well as an increase of approximately 370 basis points versus Q3 2025.

Our Proppant Production segment generated 120 million of revenue in the first quarter, a touch above the 115 million of revenue we reported in 2025. Approximately 28% of volumes were sold to third-party customers during the first quarter versus 39% in Q4. Adjusted EBITDA for the Proppant Production segment was 7 million for the first quarter versus 16 million in Q4. On a margin basis, adjusted EBITDA margins were 5.4% in the quarter versus 13.9% in Q4 2025. Winter weather had an approximately 1.5 million impact on adjusted EBITDA. In addition to weather, lower throughput and sales volumes and an increase in tons per share and sold-through third-party mines impacted results.

Our Manufacturing segment generated first-quarter revenues of 48 million versus 43 million in the fourth quarter. Approximately 14% of segment revenues were generated from third-party sales compared to approximately 18% in Q4. Adjusted EBITDA for the Manufacturing segment was 7 million, up from 4 million in Q4. Flotek generated first-quarter revenues of 72 million versus 43 million in the fourth quarter. Approximately 25% of segment revenues were generated from third-party sales compared to approximately 26% in Q4. Adjusted EBITDA for Flotek was 11 million, up from 10 million in Q4. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were 44 million in the quarter compared to 43 million in the fourth quarter. We are reaping the early benefits of our savings initiatives.

As Matt alluded to, we have achieved the majority of the savings on a year-over-year basis and including the reduction in capital expenditures in 2025. We anticipate realizing the remainder of the savings as we progress through the year. Turning to the cash flow statement, cash capital expenditures of 41 million in the first quarter were up from 37 million in 2025. Consistent with the outlook we issued on our March call, we expect total capital expenditures in 2026, including Flotek spend, to be in the range of 155 million to 185 million. Excluding Flotek, we expect our CapEx to be in the range of 145 million to 175 million.

As Matt highlighted, we have strict criteria that must be met first before we will take action or commit ourselves to accelerating our fleet upgrade program. In addition to meaningful price increases, sufficient contract duration is also necessary. We are quite pleased with how constructive our customers have approached our ongoing and dynamic dialogue on these fronts. Turning to cash, total cash and cash equivalents as of 03/31/2026 were approximately 34 million, including approximately 6 million attributable to Flotek. Total liquidity at quarter end was approximately 108 million, including 80 million available under the ABL. Borrowings under the ABL credit facility ended the quarter at 116 million, an increase from 69 million at year end.

At quarter end, we had approximately 1.09 billion of debt outstanding, with the majority not due until 2029. Our approach to the balance sheet remains the same—disciplined, opportunistic, and focused on maintaining the flexibility to act as market conditions evolve. As we noted on our last call, we completed two financing transactions in the weeks following year end: a 25 million additional issuance of 2029 senior notes to Beal Bank in January and a six-month extension on our senior secured revolving credit facility extending it to September 2027. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to further strengthen our liquidity and capital structure. That concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, please open up the line for Q&A.

Operator: Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. Our first question comes from the line of Dan Kootz with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.

Analyst: Hey, thanks. Good morning. So, just wanted to square a couple of comments on pricing. In the press release and in the prepared remarks, there were a few times that kind of “balanced pricing” was mentioned or operator dialogue indicating balanced pricing, which I kind of interpret as, you know, you guys had flagged that you'd seen pricing headwinds and interpret down pricing as kind of more flattish. But then there were a few points where you mentioned increasing pricing across part or majority of the fleet. So I was hoping you could help us square those two comments.

Maybe it has to do with different timelines or different types of assets in the fleet, but yeah, if you could clarify that, that'd be really helpful.

Ladd Wilkes: Yes, that's different timelines. As you look at Q4 to Q1 sequentially, pricing was stable. But as we transition into Q2 and into the rest of the year, we've got active dialogue with customers on pricing improvement. Much of this we've already secured, and you'll see some of the pricing show up in Q2 and then completely show up in the back half of the year. These are material price increases, and it's not just the commodity environment and the Iran war, but mostly because of how tight the market is on available horsepower.

Analyst: Great. Yep, that all makes sense. That's helpful. And then maybe just looking at the second quarter, appreciate that there's a lot of puts and takes, but it seems like there's a lot more that's a tailwind sequentially. So you flagged cost headwinds, but you have the consolidated, I think it was 9 million weather impact, you have price improvements, you flagged the frac calendar tightening—and that's even versus, I think you said, March was kind of a record efficiency period. And then I guess lastly, you have the full run-rate cost savings.

So, anything you could help us with a bit more specifically about how you're thinking about the second quarter on the top line or on the profitability EBITDA line?

Ladd Wilkes: Yeah. I'll let Austin jump in on some of this. But essentially in Q3, we launched our cost savings initiatives, which have been extremely successful—most of which we've fully realized to this point—but we think there's more to gain there, especially on the R&M side and on the maintenance CapEx side, just from optimizing our procedures, our control of assets through asset management, and then by implementing automated resources for the automated controls on our equipment. We're finding incredible benefits across our entire fleet in how our fleet operates. And many things that we thought were ordinary-course failures we're finding are now preventable failures from just doing the software update.

So we're pretty excited about what our frac automation is doing for our cost structure and what it's teaching us about our equipment and what we can control. We expect to see further savings from there. And then we had a slow start to the year—some of it was schedule from customers, but a lot was weather delays. That compressed our schedule in the back half of Q1 and into Q2. As well as the Iranian war bringing the spot work forward, bringing DUCs forward, really tightened up and eliminated white space in our calendar, combined with a real move from operators on planning activity going into the second half.

That increase in activity has tightened the market to a point where there's limited availability of horsepower and has put us in a good spot to have conversations with our customers about pricing. And not just from a supply and demand standpoint, but also from a fuel standpoint—diesel prices have gone up tremendously, and the demand for fuel-efficient fleets has increased. With that, we've been able to have very constructive, collaborative conversations with our customers where we talk about fuel savings, and we can deliver them a friendlier cost structure for their budget while also getting an increase for ProFrac.

So it's been a really constructive dialogue that has allowed us to focus on our partnership and preserve and reinforce the strong relationships that we have with each customer.

Austin Harbour: And I think, Dan, when we look at the cost and cash savings initiatives, if you think about the 100 million, we're about 65% to 70% of that already showing up going back to Q4 and then Q1 this year, and that's without a full-year impact of those initiatives being implemented. In addition to that—and both Matt and Ladd touched on this—we're investing more so in the back half of the year in our e-blender fleet and program, and there was a little bit of a delay to that program given some supply chain issues and long-lead items.

But once those start to feather in, we anticipate more savings both on the CapEx side and ultimately on the R&M side as well. So when you take those together, we haven't updated guidance beyond the 100 million at the midpoint, but I do think as we move through the year and get those fully implemented, we'll see some upside to that total number. With respect to Q2, echoing Matt's comments: the increases feather in throughout the quarter and then become more pronounced as we move into the back half of the year.

In addition to that, where we're seeing a lot of demand and activity on the completion side unfold in real time, we've still got some work to do on Alpine just given some of the operational issues and some of the unplanned downtime that we faced not just in Q1, but in early Q2 as well. So you've got a little bit of offset there, but net-net we will be up in Q2 versus Q1.

Ladd Wilkes: One thing I'd say about the e-blenders as well is not only are they better for our cost structure and save us money on CapEx, but when you look at the efficiencies that they gain, we've seen about a 98% reduction in MPT associated with blenders when utilizing these e-blenders. So they're incredibly reliable. When they do have issues, you can address them immediately on location, and you don't have to send them back to a shop to get rebuilt. It's far superior to what's been available historically on the market.

Analyst: Got it. Do you think you'd be up more than the 9 million weather impact in Q2 versus Q1 sequentially on the EBITDA line?

Austin Harbour: Yeah, I think that's safe to say.

Analyst: Great. Alright. Thank you both. Really appreciate it. I'll turn it back.

Ladd Wilkes: Thanks, Dan. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Patrick O'Leary with Stifel. Please proceed with your question.

Analyst: Hey, it's Pat on for Steven Juguera. Thanks for taking the questions. I know you touched on pricing in the opening remarks and from Dan's question, but I was wondering if you can give any color about where current pricing sits versus maybe the last few years, and any way to quantify what to expect over the next few quarters?

Ladd Wilkes: I'd say from the peak in 2022 compared to where we are now, we're probably at 55% to 60% of where pricing was in 2022, and you would need essentially an 80% or 90% increase to get back to that level. I don't know if we'll ever get back to that point, but you also have a much more efficient industry as well. The number of pump hours you get per fleet and the number of hours you can put up on a daily basis is substantially higher than what it was in 2022. So we can do a lot more with a lot less. But with that being said, we've got a long way to go for price improvement.

Our number one goal is to generate positive net income and to get there as quickly as possible, without stressing our partnerships that we've worked so hard to establish. I think that's a reasonable goal that can be accomplished within the next couple of quarters.

Analyst: And then just a quick one. Could you talk about frac sand pricing and any way to think about pricing through year end?

Ladd Wilkes: The sand market has been tightening up. In South Texas, it's extremely tight. East Texas is improving as well. West Texas has started climbing also. All the way across the board, sand has become a really tight commodity, and there's without a doubt pricing improvement. I won't get into specifics because each one of these regions is unique and has its own drivers, but I'd say with no exception, every market is quickly improving, not just on price but in volume.

Analyst: Right. Thanks. Appreciate the uniqueness of the regions, and that's all for me. I'll turn it back.

Ladd Wilkes: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Bill Austin with Daniel Energy. Please proceed with your question.

Analyst: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Good morning. So, just thinking about this, as you guys evaluate inquiries for incremental frac spreads, can you help us frame the mix between public and private operators? Has that composition shifted meaningfully?

Ladd Wilkes: We've seen a lot of new activity coming on from private operators. Without a doubt, there's a lot of spot work out there that's come out of the woodwork. We're even seeing some private operators bring on full dedicated programs, which is what we focus our commercial efforts on. We talk to everybody and work with everybody regardless of the size of their program, but our ability to cover spot work is really associated with the core of our business and whether or not we have white space. We're not going to activate a fleet so that we can string together a lot of spot pads. We focus on our core—committed, dedicated, reliable, and consistent schedules.

What we run into from our high efficiencies is that sometimes we outrun people's programs and we end up with a few gaps in the calendar. That's where the spot work is so valuable for us. It allows us to squeeze those jobs in whenever we outrun our steady customers' schedules. You need a healthy mix of the two. What we're seeing right now is a disproportionate amount of spot work that has come to market all at the same time, and it's quickly transitioning into committed programs and rig activation. We like the way the market's framing up.

We're still in the early innings, but for us to get out and start activating fleets and committing capital to tailoring this equipment for the customer's unique needs, we need to see a stronger signal and some commitment from the customer to help in those efforts. We don't want to deploy capital on spec. We're not going to. We're remaining disciplined. Our core focus is to make sure that we maintain control of our cost and our disciplined approach to operations. With that, I think we end up with plenty of opportunities to address every one of our customers' needs.

When you look at pricing and where it's going and how quickly it's readjusting, I think this is a win-win scenario for our customers as well as our bottom line and our ability to address those needs quickly. Pricing is coming up, but we're not going to chase and we're not speculating on where it's going. We are ready. We've got high-quality assets that are ready to go, and with direct signal, we'll respond accordingly. But that signal isn't coming from our own macro analysis; it's coming direct from our customers who are committed to their programs, and there should be no ambiguity related to how active they want to be. This “drill baby drill,” we think it's pretty close.

That doesn't factor into any of the guidance that we've provided. I think in very short order this year, we'll see positive net income. I think everything's there for us to deliver that. It's just working with our customers to make sure that they're getting what they need and that our relationships are strong. I think this is the perfect environment to see the service industry and the economic outlay for the service industry restored—and to do it at a time when our customers are in a good spot as well.

Analyst: Great. Thanks.

Operator: We have no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Matt Wilkes for closing comments.

Matt Wilkes: Thanks, everybody, for joining our call. We look forward to the next one and are very excited about the positive results that we're seeing in ProFrac, and especially excited about the coming quarters. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day.