Yahoo Finance Antero Resources (AR) Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues Fall Y/Y
Antero Resources Corporation AR reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.04 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents. The bottom line significantly improved from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 46 cents.
Total quarterly revenues of $2,085 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,562 million. However, the top line declined from the year-ago quarter’s $2,394 million.
Strong quarterly earnings can be attributed to an increase in natural-gas-equivalent production volumes.
Antero Resources Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Antero Resources Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Antero Resources Corporation Quote
Overall Production
Total production through the December-end quarter was 297 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), which increased 1% from 294 Bcfe a year ago. Natural gas production (accounting for 66% of the total output) fell 4% year over year to 196 Bcf.
Oil production in the fourth quarter was 790 thousand barrels (MBbls), up 15% from 689 MBbls. Its production of 5,778 MBbls of C2 Ethane was 40% higher than 4,130 MBbls in the year-ago quarter. The company’s output of 10,170 MBbls of C3+ NGLs in the quarter was 3% higher than 9,872 MBbls a year ago.
Realized Prices (Excluding Derivative Settlements)
Weighted natural-gas-equivalent price realization in the quarter was $6.07 per thousand cubic feet equivalent (Mcfe), lower than the year-earlier figure of $6.48. Realized prices for natural gas rose 6% to $6.27 per Mcf from $5.89 a year ago.
The company’s oil price realization in the quarter was $71.08 per barrel (Bbl), up 2% from $69.53 a year ago. Its realized price for C3+ NGLs declined to $39.88 per Bbl from $58.25. Realized price for C2 Ethane increased 13% to $18.96 per Bbl from $16.81 a year ago.
Operating Expenses
Total operating expenses in the quarter under review increased marginally to $1,142.5 million from $1,137.9 million in the year-ago period.
Average lease operating costs were 10 cents per Mcfe, up 11% year over year. The same for gathering and compression increased 7% to 77 cents per Mcfe.
Transportation expenses declined 13% from the prior-year quarter to 66 cents per Mcfe. Processing costs increased 14% year over year to 74 cents.
Capex & Financials
In fourth-quarter 2022, Antero Resources spent $191.6 million on drilling and completion operations. As of Dec 31, 2022, it had no cash and cash equivalents. It had long-term debt of $1.2 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 14.4%.
Reserves
As of 2022-end, Antero Resources had an estimated proved reserve base of 17.8 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent, reflecting a marginal improvement from 2021 levels. About 58% of the proved reserve was natural gas, with 41% NGLs and 1% crude oil. Of the total estimated proved reserve base, 75% was classified as proved developed.
Guidance
For 2023, Antero Resources has guided its net daily natural gas-equivalent production at 3.25-3.3 Bcfe/d. Of the total, 184-195 MBbl/d will likely be liquids. Also, net daily natural gas production is expected to be 2.1-2.15 Bcf/d.
The company revealed its total exploration and production capital budget of $1,025-$1,075 million for the year, including a drilling and completion capital budget of $875-$925 million.
Antero Resources targets to return 50% of free cash flow this year to its shareholders.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Antero Resources currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Investors interested in the energy sector might look at stocks like RPC Inc. RES and Murphy USA Inc. MUSA, each currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
RPC’s adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share in the fourth quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents. The strong quarterly results were backed by higher activity levels in all the service lines and rising equipment utilization.
As of Dec 31, RPC had cash and cash equivalents of $126.4 million, up sequentially from $73.2 million. Nonetheless, the company managed to maintain a debt-free balance sheet.
Murphy USA’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings per share of $5.21 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.16. The underperformance can be attributed to lower-than-expected petroleum product sales.
Murphy USA projects a 2023 fuel volume of 240-245 thousand gallons on an APSM basis. Further, Murphy USA’s 2023 guidance includes up to 45 new stores, up to 30 raze-and-rebuilds, and $795-$815 million in merchandise margin contribution.
Marathon Petroleum’s adjusted earnings per share of $6.65 comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.54. The bottom line was favorably impacted by the stronger-than-expected performance of its key Refining & Marketing segment.
In the fourth quarter, MPC repurchased $1.8 billion of shares and further $700 million worth of shares from the start of this year till Jan 27. Marathon Petroleum, which gave an additional $5-billion share repurchase approval, currently has a remaining authorization of $7.6 billion.
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