Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTEN) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call April 28, 2022 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Mike Drickamer – Vice President, Investor Relations

Andy Hendricks – Chief Executive Officer

Andy Smith – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Connor Lynagh – Morgan Stanley

Don Crist – Johnson Rice

Ian Macpherson – Piper Sandler

Taylor Zurcher – Tudor, Pickering and Holt

John Daniel – Daniel Energy Partners

Operator

Please standby. We are about to begin. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Patterson-UTI Energy First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode and please be advised that this call is being recorded. After these speakers’ prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Now this time, I’ll turn things over to Mr. Mike Drickamer, Vice President, Investor Relations.

Mike Drickamer

Thank you, Bove. Good morning. And on behalf of Patterson-UTI Energy, I’d like to welcome you to today’s conference call to discuss the results for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Participating in today’s call will be Andy Hendricks, Chief Executive Officer; and Andy Smith, Chief Financial Officer.

A quick reminder that statements made in this conference call that state the company’s or management’s plans, intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the company’s SEC filings, which could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Statements made in this conference call include non-GAAP financial measures. The required reconciliations to GAAP financial measures are included on our website www.patenergy.com and in the company’s press release issued prior to this conference call.

And now, it’s my pleasure to turn the call over to Andy Hendricks for some opening remarks. Andy?

Andy Hendricks

Thanks, Mike. Good morning and welcome to Patterson-UTI’s first quarter conference call. Thank you for joining us today. I am very pleased with our first quarter results, especially within contract drilling where our better than expected revenue per day during the quarter illustrates how quickly day rates are increasing.

Our average adjusted margin in the U.S. increased by $1,720 per day in the first quarter and we expect further margin growth in the second quarter of an additional $1,100 per day driven by a $1,600 increase in average rig revenue per day. For perspective, this is the strongest daily margin growth we have seen since 2013 and 2014.