WhiteHawk Minerals Corp Class A

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the White Hawk Minerals second quarter 2026 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to John Rigovino. Please go ahead.

Good morning. And welcome to White Hawk Minerals' second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Before we begin, please note that today's discussion may include forward-looking statements regarding the company's financial condition, results of operations, and future performance. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Please refer to White Hawk's SEC filings for a statement of discussion around these risk factors. The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements except as required by law. We may also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are billed in yesterday's earnings release on our website. With me on the call today are Daniel Herz, Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey Slotterback, Chief Financial Officer. I'll now turn the call over to Daniel.

Thanks, John. Good morning and welcome to the inaugural White Hawk Minerals second quarter earnings call. It's good to be back. To quote Plato from the Republic, the beginning is the most important part of the work. Plato's original meaning is, of course, much deeper than business and relates to education, character, and the formation of the soul. I do believe this quote is directly applicable to White Hawk Minerals now. We must create the right character and soul of our company, a character rooted in working every day to deliver for our shareholders, protecting the downside while benefiting meaningfully from the significant upside potential. And we are off to an excellent start. White Hawk is uniquely positioned across our 3.6 million gross unit acres to benefit directly from the largest operators and the most economic natural gas basins with zero capital expenditures and minimal operating expenditures. This positions us to benefit from the tremendous work and capital deployment by EQT, Range, CNX and Carrow, Expand and others, resulting in significant cash flow and dividends to our shareholders. That means shareholders are directly tied to these operators while receiving significant returns through dividends and reinvestments through acquisitions of additional minerals and royalties. We have previously discussed the two-prong acquisition strategy, strategic or larger acquisitions, and ground game acquisitions. Since our initial public offering just two months ago, we have executed on both prongs. signing definitive agreements for acquisitions totaling nearly $112 million. Those acquisitions focused in the Marcellus Shale and Amesville Shale are expected to add approximately 16 million cubic feet per day in 2027, which we expect will add approximately $17 million of incremental cash flow. Further, We expect these assets to generate even more production and cash flow in 2028, placing the acquisition squarely within and even to the low side of our six to seven times acquisition cash flow multiple previously discussed. When I consider the potential for White Hawk Minerals, I see several ways for us to succeed. First, our strategic and ground game acquisition strategy. Second, The exposure we have to the two most economic natural gas basins in the U.S. Third, our mineral and royalty ownership benefiting from the largest natural gas producers in the U.S. And fourth, the medium and long-term significant tailwinds behind natural gas. While I consider these areas the primary drivers of value of White Hawk, I first and foremost balance that with protecting the downside risk. Something we focus on every day and something I believe we have done a very good job at through our balance sheet and natural gas hedging strategy. I will discuss each of these drivers in more detail shortly, but first I want to briefly review our second quarter operation results and then later on hand it off to Jeff Slotterback, our Chief Financial Officer, to review the financial results. We delivered a strong second quarter with net production of approximately 70 million cubic feet equivalents per day of natural gas. This was an increase of 57% over the same period in 2025 and a 9% increase over the first quarter of 2026. We generated this production from our more than 11,500 producing wells. We have more than 500 gross line of site wells positioning us for solid production from our asset base over the next year. We have then benefited from our more than 9,000 gross identified undeveloped locations across our 3.6 million gross unit acres. In the Marcellus Shale, 96% of our production came from EQT, Range, CNX, and Antero. White Hawk currently receives royalties on 43% of their combined gross production. That is, White Hawk receives 43% of their combined gross production. In the Hainesville Shale, 58% of our production came from Xpand, Mitsubishi Adamas, Comstock, and Tokyo Gas. White Hawk currently receives royalties on 45% of their combined gross production. For the quarter, approximately 55% of our production came from the Marcellus and Utica shale in Appalachia, with an additional 25% from our Hainesville shale assets. Our line of site wells carry a similar basin weighting. And of course, as a reminder, we receive royalties on 13% of total U.S. natural gas production, making us what I believe is the premier natural gas mineral and royalty owner. Now, to dig in deeper on how I expect White Hawk to succeed and outperform. With respect to our acquisition strategy and opportunities, we see between $3 billion and $5 billion of strategic acquisition opportunities in front of us in the Marcellus, Utica, and Haynesville shale. These are larger opportunities owned by private equity firms or funds later in their fund life. We have limited competition for these opportunities, and I believe our acquisition announcement today demonstrates the depth of our relationships and ability to execute. Furthermore, the ground game opportunity where we buy from individual mineral owners is well over 35 times our existing asset base, or over $30 billion. We currently own a 0.51% Royalty interest on our gross acreage position out of an average 17% royalty rate. And of course, there are additional minerals surrounding our position that we are interested in purchasing. To that point, given our massive footprint, we have tremendous data on our operators and on all of the wells on our position and the surrounding position, which I believe provides a unique data advantage. And not only do I believe it is a significant advantage to have the amount of information that we have, some of our operators agree and have entered into partnerships with us to buy on the ground ahead of the drill bit in defined areas. Opportunities that augur well for Whitehawk's acquisition future. Next, being exposed to the two most economic natural gas basins has several benefits to Whitehawk. First, development activity remains robust in both high and low natural gas price environments, which helps mitigate downside of White Hawk. Second, because we are in a power race, situating new natural gas power generation next to the most economic areas not only makes sense, it is exactly what is currently happening. There are 21 announced new or planned natural gas power plants to support data center and AI power demand surrounding our Appalachian assets, which is expected to add 7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas demand in the Marcellus Shale by 2031. Finally, having our production and footprint in the Hainesville Shale gives us direct access to the growing liquefied natural gas export market. Currently, there are 14 billion cubic feet per day of LNG export facilities under construction, which should be online by 2030. So, in total, we expect 21 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas demand growth by 2031, much of which will be met by growth in the Marcellus, Utica, and Haynesville shale. Our current and future production is tied to the largest natural gas producers in the United States. These operators spend billions of dollars per year developing our position, working with power companies, hyperscalers, LNG export facilities, and many others to ensure both production and demand is balanced, not just over the next year, but over the next decade and beyond. benefiting from EQT range Antero CNX and Expand uniquely positions White Hawk to benefit from their expected growth. And finally, the macro tailwinds of natural gas are very strong. I often say I want White Hawk to do well when prices go up and when prices go down. But with that said, when we look out over the next five years, it is extremely encouraging. I have touched on this already, but when we look at the demand growth from LNG exports and power generation for data centers and AI, we see a natural gas price environment which will demand higher prices to incentivize operators, power operators, to develop their position more quickly to meet that demand. It is that simple, and White Hawk Minerals will benefit. So we are off to a good start. But let's be clear, we are just getting started. There is a lot more to do on the acquisition side. We will remain disciplined, but we will take advantage of the opportunities as they come. Our asset base will then be even larger when the macro tailwinds develop into a higher natural gas price environment, which would further drive shareholder returns beyond just the immediate accretion to cash flow and net asset value per share. And in the meantime, We will continue to work to drive our cash flow per share and grow our dividends to shareholders. With that, I will hand it over to Jeff to review the financial results.

Thank you, Daniel, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you all joining us today for WhiteHawk's first earnings call as a public company. Over the next several minutes, I'll walk you through our second quarter results, starting with our operating revenue and cash flows, I'll also cover the initiation of our quarterly dividend and close with a look at our balance sheet and liquidity before we open the line for questions. During the second quarter of 2026, our average realized natural gas price for the quarter was $3.43 per MCF, including hedge settlements, compared to a $2.42 per MCF before the effect of those hedge settlements. For context, Henry Hub first of the month pricing averaged $2.90 per MMBTU. For the quarter, our natural gas volumes were 96% hedged at $4.02, while our oil volumes were 83% hedged at $62. We had a substantial portion of our expected production on a rolling basis, specifically to protect our downside, secure predictable cash flows, and enhance the visibility of our dividends. On a forward-looking basis, we look to lock in, through fixed price swaps, 90% of our production for the next 12 months, 80% of our production for the following 12 months, and 60% of our production in year three. The intent is to keep protecting our downside while retaining exposure to the upside from our acquisition strategy, our operators' continued development of their positions, and the long-term tailwinds for natural gas supply and demand. Moving to our financial results, our operating revenue, which includes the realized gains on our hedging instruments, was $25.7 million for the second quarter. Total asset cash flow was $22.4 million for the quarter, including the $3.3 million, or 52 cents, per MCFE of operating expenses incurred during the period, which are included within revenue on our income statement. Total asset cash flow for the second quarter represented a 10% increase from $20.4 million realized in the first quarter of this year. On a GAAP basis, our total revenue was $29.1 million, including an additional $6.7 million in unrealized mark-to-market hedge gains. Our adjusted EBITDA, which is effectively comprised of our asset cash flows less G&A expenses, was $20.7 million for the second quarter after giving effects to our $1.78 million of G&A expense, which excludes certain non-recurring IPO and other transaction-related costs. Below EBITDA, let me cover our financing costs and taxes for the period, which our earnings release presents as adjusted for the effects of the IPO. Concurrent with the closing of the IPO, we reduced our senior notes to $75 million outstanding, which bore interest at an 8.5% effective rate, giving an implied net interest expense of $1.6 million for the quarter. Also pro forma for the IPO, we have $46 million of Series B preferred stock outstanding, which pays a 10% coupon for $1.2 million for the quarter. During the second quarter, We paid $550,000 of estimated cash income taxes during the period related to 2026. In total, our cash available for distribution for the second quarter was $17.4 million, or 63 cents on a per share basis, based on our $20.7 million of adjusted EBITDA for the period. Adjusted EBITDA, cash available for distribution, and cash available for distribution per share are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations to their most directly comparable GAAP measure are available in our earnings release and on our website. On a GAAP basis, net income for the period, which includes costs associated with our IPO and the internalization of our former external manager, specifically a $21.7 million non-recurring loss on the extinguishment of debt 15.8 million of non-recurring management and incentive fees, and a 1.7 million non-cash change in the fair value of our earn-out liability resulted in a net loss of 39.2 million. Which brings me to our dividend week. On August 12th, our board approved the initiation of our first quarterly cash dividend at a rate of 50 cents per share, or $2 per share on an annualized basis. This initial dividend has been prorated for the period from the closing of the IPO on June 10th through quarter end, resulting in an initial declared dividend of 11 cents per share. That dividend is payable on August 28th to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 24th. Our 50-cent dividend implies 1.3 times coverage by cash available for distribution per share on a full quarter basis, and David Hoffman. Finally, before opening the line for questions, let me turn to our balance sheet and liquidity. In June, Whitehawk completed its IPO, generating gross proceeds of over $220 million, including our exercise of the green shoe over allotment. With the IPO proceeds, We repaid more than $162 million in debt in total, reducing our notes outstanding to $68.7 million at quarter end. We fully retired $37.8 million of our Series B preferred equity and additionally redeemed approximately $10 million of our Series B preferred equity. We exited the quarter with net debt of just $55.5 million and maintained an undrawn $150 million revolving credit facility. As of quarter end, we were .67 times levered. In order to fund the approximately $112 million in acquisitions signed since our IPO, we have received commitments to fund a $50 million We are committed to a conservative balance sheet and we target long-term leverage of approximately one time adjusted EBITDA. Maintaining that discipline protects our dividend Preserves our flexibility to act quickly on acquisition opportunities and is fundamental to how we intend to build long-term, per-share value for our shareholders. With that, I thank you for your time this morning. Rebecca, can we please open the line for questions?

We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. to withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from Wayne Cooperman with Cobalt Capital. Please go ahead.

Hey guys, congratulations, good first quarter.

I guess my question is, you know, given this is a pretty strong case to be made for gas to be a lot higher in the future, at what point do you modify your hedging program or do you just think that the futures curves will get it right and you'll just ride the curve higher over time? Yeah, I think that's what you should continue to expect from us is that We will layer in, as Jeff laid out, 90%, 80%, 60% on a rolling basis. We meet as a hedge committee monthly and review it. And then, of course, as gas prices rise, we expect our operators to respond with increased production above levels that we were hedged at, so we'll benefit from that increased production. and we, you know, oftentimes, sometimes we root for lower prices because it offers opportunities like we've been executing on to buy more assets at what we think are attractive prices and then benefit over the, you know, three, four, five year period in a substantially increased asset base.

Thank you.

Thank you, Wayne.

Your next question comes from Michael Celia with Stevens Inc. Michael, please go ahead.

Good morning, guys. I wanted to ask about your slide five with your acquisitions. I think there were two strategic acquisitions that you did with San Jacinto here, and were those any of the nine that you had identified that you talked about when you prior to your IPO, and maybe just how you would characterize those acquisitions, what you acquired relative to what you've done in the past.

Yeah, thanks, Mike. I think, so one, yes, this was part of what I would characterize as half a billion dollars of immediate opportunities in front of us that we had identified on the The page that you're talking about we see as we talk about three to five billion of larger deals, but we really saw 500 million plus immediately in front of us. As a reminder for those less familiar new information, we've done a number of transactions with this group. And in fact, this asset in Appalachian in particular, we bought 20% of it. Back in 2024. So we've owned a portion of this asset, which is the best way we think to do due diligence is to own the asset for multiple years, understand it intimately. And then we've purchased through the announcement last night, or we've entered an agreement to purchase and another large portion of that asset. So actually there's still more potentially for us to buy there, which is very exciting. And then that's the vast majority of the $105 million, but there's also an asset in the Hainesville that they owned that we've been monitoring for several years as well and trying to buy. So this was a great opportunity for us to put the assets together. in our two primary areas and acquired them.

Very good. And I want to see how you're thinking about the balance sheet heading into the end of the year. You talked about your goal keeping leverage around one times with these acquisitions and Looks like you might move a little bit above that near the end of the year. Just how you're thinking about what's your appetite for more acquisitions given what sounds like a robust market and pay balance that with the leverage you look like you're going to have at the end of the year.

Yeah, so I mean we have a number of I think we think attractive tools that have allowed us to grow over time. We're targeting below one times leverage. I would think about our business, the base business, and then the ground game acquisitions and beyond our ability and really our expectation to grow our EBITDA so we end up nicely below one times leverage over time. So we feel really good about where we are. I think we feel even better about where we're headed.

Very good. Thanks, Daniel.

Thank you.

Your next question comes from Noel Parks with Tuhi Brothers. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning. You know, one of the things that's kind of developed over the last couple months is there are signs of, I guess, increasing number of big producers Heading towards more of an integrated gas model, buying or buying back midstream infrastructure. And I'm just curious, your thoughts on it, either broadly or if you have more specific instances where you think it could be called for. And does that... figure into your investment decision with you as you look to expand.

Yeah, I think you're really touching on something that positions us in a unique way in that we are so well tied to the largest U.S. natural gas producers. 49% of EQT's production pays us royalties. 57% of Expand's production in the Hainesville pays us royalties. So we want to be not just in the core of the most economic natural gas basins in the U.S., we want to be exposed to the largest, most well-capitalized operators. And very specifically to that, it's because of their, I would say, integrated model that and ability to achieve the highest price for natural gas for us as the mineral owners. So we spend no capital obviously on midstream acquisitions or infrastructure of size, but we benefit from their pricing that they're able to achieve. So I think, I mean, we've obviously track our operators very closely. We're in regular direct communication with them. You know, I think it's a trend very much worth watching. It's a trend we benefit from. I think you're going to see it beyond midstream, and I think it bodes well for us.

Great, thanks. And among your operators, when it comes to the data center power market opportunity, which we all know is going to be large, It's tough to sort of decide what order of magnitude it will ultimately be, but are your operators pretty much aligned in their view on sort of the quantity of power in the various regions and the timing of when that will be needed, or are there any sort of contrarian views among the guys you're dealing with?

Well, it's very interesting the way you I don't think there are much in the way of contrarian views. I think there are certain operators that are doing a better job at taking advantage of the opportunity in front of them. Obviously, you do a very good job of assessing who the better operators are at taking advantage of the data center and AI power We like to align ourselves with those best-in-class operators who are, we think, taking better advantage of those opportunities. But, I mean, I think you'll have noted in my remarks, you know, I was commenting at 7 BC at the day of in-base and power demand growth. We obviously see and hear from our operators the potential for significantly more than that. But we think, you know, when we peel back the story and try to take a very conservative outlook at what the demand side is going to look like in Appalachia and around the U.S. on the power side, and looking at gas turbine generation, and then later on the LNG export, We really see a robust environment over the next five years. But as I said, again, Dwayne, we anchor ourselves in protecting the downside, delivering our cash flow, delivering our dividend, and then as we have in our past companies, let the positive tailwinds come to us. We do that. I think we're going to do extremely well here at White Hawk Minerals.

Great. Thanks a lot. Thank you.

If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. Your next question comes from Selman Akyol with Stiefel. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning. Congratulations on a good inaugural quarter. I just wanted to ask about the Series E. Because it looks like it's structured to be taken out over the next several years the way you have it positioned, and you noted it could be called any time. So I'm asking, one, what are your long-term plans for financing that? And then, B, if you think about your acquisition game going forward, should we look for more of these preferreds to be used and then taken out over time? Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks for the kind words and thank you for the question. So this is a type of security we've used in the past and it's been quite effective for us in being able to execute and really grow White Hawk from the beginning. We have a number of tools to be able to grow our business and pieces of capital to grow our business. and we are constantly looking for the absolute most efficient way to drive cash flow and net asset value per share through those securities and that's exactly what we're going to do on a go-forward basis with our capital structure as well as with all of our acquisitions. What's really nice is when we look at this acquisition and we look at the capital structure we see significant accretion on cash flow per share, on net asset value per share, and that goes well, we think, for value in the short, medium, and long-term here.

This is the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Daniel Herz for closing remarks.

Great. Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you all again very soon. Bye.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.