logo

RPC, Inc.

Q22026

7/30/2026

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Good morning and thank you for joining us for RPC, Inc.'s second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's call will be hosted by Ben Palmer, President and CEO, and Mike Schmit, Chief Financial Officer. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. I would like to advise everyone that this conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Schmitz.

speaker
Mike Schmit
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you and good morning. Before we begin, I want to remind you that some of the statements that will be made on this call could be forward-looking in nature and reflect a number of known and unknown risks. Please refer to our press release issued today along with our 10-K and other public filings that outline those risks, all of which can be found on RPC's website at www.rpc.net. In today's earnings release and conference call, we'll be referring to several non-GAAP measures of operating performance and liquidity. We believe these non-GAAP measures allow us to compare performance consistently over various periods. Our press release and our website contain reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. I'll now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Ben Palmer.

speaker
Ben Palmer
President and CEO

Thank you, Mike, and thank you for joining our call this morning. Before turning to our second quarter results, I want to briefly address the CEO succession announcement we made in June. As we announce, I plan to retire as president and CEO and step down from the board by the end of 2026, following 30 years with RPC. The board has initiated a search for my successor, which is expected to conclude before year end, and I will remain in an advisory capacity to support a smooth leadership transition. It's been the privilege of my professional life to spend the past three decades at RPC, Together with our talented team, we've built a diversified platform underpinned by strong brands, a low leverage balance sheet, and a disciplined focus on full cycle returns. I'm committed to working closely with the board to ensure continuity for our employees, customers, and shareholders. And in the meantime, our focus remains on disciplined execution, prudent capital allocation, and delivering long-term shareholder value. With that, let's turn to our second quarter results, and I'll provide you with a few operational highlights. While industry activity levels remained relatively subdued, RPC delivered sequential revenue growth and meaningful margin expansion driven by strong execution, improved job mix, technology adoption, and contributions from targeted investments. Within technical services, through tubing solutions, downhole tools revenues increased 10% sequentially. We saw broad-based strength with our Rocky Mountain region growing more than 20% sequentially. ThruTubing Solutions is a market leader in downhole completion tools with a portfolio of products supported by proprietary technologies in our patent portfolio. Over the last several years, we have introduced new motor sizes, new motor components, split-string tools, surface tools, and stage isolation products, just to name a few. These products have been well received and allow us to continue our market leadership. ThruTubing Solutions has introduced new sizes of its metal-on-metal power section called MetalMax along with expanding availability across districts. This has resulted in increased addressable market and improved MetalMax penetration. MetalMax's performance and design characteristics are enabling entry into new markets and applications previously served by traditional power section components. The product reduces the number of trips an operator has to make out of the hole, reducing non-productive time. Our through tubing solutions team completed multiple horseshoe wells in the Permian, exceeding 27,000 feet over the last several weeks. In addition to long lateral sections, these wells have added friction and complexities due to the turns. We collaborate with operators to package a solution that will drill out the well in the most efficient and reliable way. Through tubing solutions unplugged technology, which replaces traditional bridge plugs, continues to have success. During the quarter, we had several additional customers trial this product. Overall, our downhole tools business is benefiting from more complex and longer laterals that are well-suited for our technology solutions. Also within technology services, cut pressure controls revenues were up 8% sequentially, led by coil tubing, snubbing, and well control. Cut pressure control snubbing business was up 14% sequentially. We received a big bore snubbing unit during the quarter and began work in early June. The unit has since mobilized to a multi-project job. The Big Boar's design features make it ideally suited for cavern gas storage inspections, which is regulatory driven. This is part of our effort to continue diversifying beyond well completions. Coil tubing, our largest service line within cut pressure control, was up 6% sequentially. Coil tubing had the strongest growth in Elk City, which serves multiple basins, as well as growth in Pennsylvania and Michigan. We saw increased utilization across all of our larger diameter units with the 2 and 7H unit fully utilized. As part of our multi-year coil tubing strategy, we have accelerated our investments here. We now expect a total of three two and eight sevenths capable units by year end, with two coming from real trailer upgrades to previously modernized units and one from the previously delivered Trailblazer unit. These upgrades provide additional large diameter capabilities to be deployed to the highest return markets. While the wireline market conditions remain highly competitive, we have remained disciplined on pricing and continue to maintain a strong position with key customers. Intel wireline revenues were down 16% sequentially. Revenues were impacted by customer activity reductions and lost crews due to aggressive competitor pricing. Cut energy services pressure pumping business saw a 1% sequential revenue decrease. Revenues benefited from slightly improved pricing but was also offset by slightly lower pump hours. Job mix impacted revenues as we saw less fuel and M&S costs and revenues but benefited our profit margins. Our focus remains on continuing to earn an appropriate return on our equipment over a cycle, but without significant activity changes, we do not see meaningful increases in pricing. Currently, we have no plans to reactivate fleets at current levels. However, we are encouraged by easing gas takeaway constraints and the potential for 2017 E&P budgets to reflect a more supportive commodity price environment. Current oil prices are more supportive of activity levels. However, the volatility from geopolitical events creates a less certain environment for customer investment decisions. We believe operators are being cautious due to uncertainty around the duration and ultimate levels of commodity prices. We do not expect a significant change in activity near term, but we acknowledge the dynamic nature of the market and are in a position to respond. Our focus is on controllable factors, strong full cycle returns, and cash flow generation. With that, I'll now have Mike discuss the quarter's financial results.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

-

-