KLX Energy Services Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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August 11, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter results improved materially: Revenue rose 15.6% sequentially to $167.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 68% to $18.7 million and margins expanded to 11.2% as utilization and fixed-cost absorption improved.
  • Positive Sentiment: The Wolfpack Rentals acquisition is integrating smoothly, contributed $3.4 million of June revenue, and increased expected annual synergies to approximately $2.5 million. Management also cited cross-selling, new technologies, and access to industrial customers as additional opportunities.
  • Positive Sentiment: KLX expects third-quarter revenue of $176 million to $188 million, with a midpoint of $182 million, representing approximately $15 million of sequential growth. Management expects further margin expansion despite a relatively high mix of lower-margin drilling revenue.
  • Negative Sentiment: The company announced a $125 million backstop equity rights offering to reduce debt and improve liquidity, which could materially dilute existing shareholders. Management said the transaction is intended to avoid future covenant or liquidity risks and could reduce annual interest expense by roughly $11 million to $14 million.
  • Negative Sentiment: Pricing remains competitive, with management saying industry pricing is generally insufficient to justify significant equipment reactivation or growth capital expenditures. Haynesville revenue also declined after the loss of a customer in one product line, while volatile commodity prices continue to make activity difficult to forecast.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
KLX Energy Services Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Operator

Welcome to KLX Energy Services second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Ken Dennard with Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Speaker 1

Thank you operator, and good morning everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the KLX Energy Services conference call and webcast to review second quarter 2026 results. With me today are Chris Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Stanford, Senior Vice President, Interim Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Accounting Officer, and Max Bouthillette, General Counsel. Following my remarks, management will provide commentary on its quarterly financial results and outlook before opening your call for questions. There will be a replay of today's call that will be available via webcast on the company's website at klx.com, and there will also be a telephonic recorded replay available until August 25th. More information on how to access these replay features was included in yesterday's earnings release.

Speaker 1

Please note that the information reported on this call speaks only as of today, August 11th, 2026, and therefore you are advised that time sensitive information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay, listening or transcript reading. Also, comments on this call will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views of KLX management. However, various risks and uncertainties and contingencies could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in the statements made by management. The listener or reader is encouraged to read the annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K to understand those certain risks, uncertainties, and contingencies. The comments today will also include certain non-GAAP financial measures.

Speaker 1

Additional details and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the quarterly press release, which can be found on the KLX website. Now with that behind me, I would like to turn the call over to Chris Baker. Chris?

Speaker 2

Thank you Ken, and good morning everyone. I'd like to begin today's call by highlighting three key accomplishments that defined what was a very busy second half of the second quarter and early third quarter for KLX. First, we delivered continued revenue growth and EBITDA expansion with second quarter results in line with our guidance. Revenue was approximately $167 million, and adjusted EBITDA increased 68% sequentially to approximately $19 million, demonstrating the operating leverage in our business as activity improved. Second, we successfully completed and began integrating the Wolfpack acquisition. Finally, yesterday post market close, we announced our $125 million backstop equity rights offering that will support our broader balance sheet improvement strategy. This transaction is designed to reduce debt, improve liquidity, and strengthen our capital structure, positioning KLX for greater financial flexibility and long-term growth.

Speaker 2

Importantly, these initiatives should be viewed as proactive measures to strengthen the balance sheet and add flexibility. They are not being undertaken due to operational challenges. Rather, they reflect the confidence we have in our business and our commitment to creating a stronger foundation for the future. Collectively, these accomplishments reinforce our focus on profitable growth, disciplined execution, and creating long-term value for our shareholders. Turning to the second quarter details, our second quarter results were in line with expectations despite a bit of late June white space. Revenue was $167.3 million, essentially at the midpoint of our guidance and up $22.6 million, or 15.6% from the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $18.7 million, up 68% sequentially, and adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 11.2%.

Speaker 2

The improvement from the first quarter was driven by normalization of our typical Q1 seasonal impacts, higher activity levels yielding improved utilization, and better absorption of our cost structure, along with one month of contribution from Wolfpack. A key milestone in the quarter was the closing of our acquisition of Wolfpack Rentals on June 2, 2026. Wolfpack expands our capabilities and customer reach in key markets, along with adding needed scale in certain areas. Wolfpack contributed $3.4 million of revenue in June, implying a current annual revenue run rate of approximately $41 million, which compares favorably to Wolfpack's previously disclosed full year 2025 revenue of $38 million. Integration has progressed smoothly. Cross-selling opportunities are already being realized, and we have increased our expected annual synergy targets to approximately $2.5 million. Excluding Wolfpack, the KLX base business grew more than 13% sequentially, outpacing the 5.8% increase in U.S. Land Rig Counts.

Speaker 2

This reflects steady demand and solid execution across the portfolio, led by sequential revenue growth in coiled tubing, directional drilling, technical services, and accommodations. From an in-market perspective, drilling-focused revenue represented approximately 23% of total revenue in Q2, up from 20% in the first quarter. It's worth noting that Wolfpack and our legacy accommodations PSL revenue is currently classified within drilling, which contributed to that shift. Completion, production, and intervention services saw revenue increases as well. However, the mix still leaned more towards drilling on a historical basis, which limited the incremental margins on the additional revenue. At our scale, and with the macro backdrop of a mid 500 rig count operating environment, the timing of individual large jobs and associated revenue can move meaningfully between quarters based on customer scheduling. We saw that in both the first and second quarters of 2026.

Speaker 2

This is emblematic of a business our size rather than a change in underlying demand, and it is worth keeping in mind as you think about quarter-to-quarter comparisons. Revenue per average operated rig came in at approximately $311,000 in Q2, up from $273,000 in Q1. On the same basis, revenue per rig was stronger than last year's second quarter, while EBITDA per rig was effectively flat, highlighting the impact of PSL mix and the competitive pricing environment. From a segment perspective, the Rockies and Southwest showed strong sequential improvement in both revenue and incremental adjusted EBITDA, driven by improvements in the majority of PSLs. The Mid-Con revenue was essentially flat, yet still realized improved margins due to a mix shift in PSLs and cost controls. Overall, the second quarter demonstrated the earnings leverage in our business as activity improves.

Speaker 2

We continue to focus on utilization, cost discipline, cash generation, and integrating Wolfpack to strengthen our position across key markets. With that, I will hand the call over to Jeff to review our financial results in greater detail, and I will return later in the call to discuss our outlook. Jeff?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everybody. Activity improved markedly from Q1. Our Q2 earnings profile still reflects a business mix tilted more towards drilling and away from some of our higher margin service lines. That dynamic is important to keep in mind as you work through both the consolidated numbers and the segment detail. Revenue for the second quarter was up 15.6% sequentially to $167.3 million from $144.7 million in the first quarter, and up approximately 5% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Excluding the Wolfpack acquisition, the base business grew nicely, up more than 13% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA was also up to $18.7 million versus $11.1 million in Q1. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 11.2% compared to 7.7% in the first quarter.

Speaker 3

This 68% sequential increase in adjusted EBITDA was roughly 350 basis points of margin expansion on incremental margins of approximately 34%, also absorbing about $600,000 of bad debt write-offs. Net loss for the quarter was $8 million or $0.41 per share, compared to a net loss of $24 million or $1.23 per share in the first quarter. Results include a $6.5 million bargain purchase gain recognized in conjunction with the Wolfpack acquisition, reflecting the fair value of the net assets acquired relative to the purchase price. Because that gain is non-recurring, we excluded it from both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss. Excluding the gain, we generated an operating loss of approximately $4.4 million in the quarter versus an operating loss of $12.1 million in the first quarter. Corporate costs moved up both sequentially and against the prior year period, primarily because of seasonality and bonus accrual timing.

Speaker 3

We are targeting full year SG&A similar to fiscal 2025, including additional costs from the Wolfpack acquisition. A few comments on the segments. In the Rockies segment, second quarter revenue was $50.8 million, operating income was essentially breakeven at $0.3 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $6.3 million. Revenues rose nearly 31.6% sequentially, and adjusted EBITDA margin recovered to 12.4% from 5.4% in the first quarter. The business improved, but profitability still sits below historical norms because of activity mix and continued softness in areas such as North Dakota completions. In the Southwest segment, second quarter revenue was $64.5 million, operating income was essentially breakeven at $0.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $7.6 million. Revenue increased by nearly $11 million sequentially, or about 20%, and the segment also posted continued margin improvement.

Speaker 3

Southwest remains one of the structurally low margin businesses in the portfolio, but it performed very well during the quarter, with margin improving from 8.6% to 11.8%. In the Northeast Mid-Con segment, second quarter revenue was $52 million, operating income was $5.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $12.5 million. Revenue was essentially flat, sequentially down 1%, reflecting a decrease in flowback, partially offset by increases in directional drilling and accommodations. Adjusted EBITDA margins improved to 24% from 20.8%, and adjusted EBITDA was up 74% against the second quarter of last year. In corporate and other, adjusted EBITDA loss was $7.7 million. The first half of 2026 run rate was up slightly as compared to the first half of 2025, due primarily to an increase in consulting fees. Turning to capital and cash flow.

Speaker 3

Capital expenditures in the second quarter were $8.6 million, with net CapEx of $6.4 million after a $2.2 million in asset sale proceeds. Spending in the quarter is primarily maintenance related. We also ended the quarter with approximately $1 million of assets classified as held for sale, one facility, and other equipment. We continue to evaluate our capital requirements against incremental activity levels and customer-backed growth activities. Net cash provided by operating activities in the quarter was $10.5 million. Unlevered free cash flow was a positive $6.6 million, and levered free cash flow was a positive $4.1 million, both of which excluded the sources and uses related to the Wolfpack acquisition. On the balance sheet, quarter end total debt was $288.9 million, and total equity was $53.3 million, including $7.9 million of cash and cash equivalents and $45.4 million of availability under the ABL, inclusive of the undrawn FILO capacity.

Speaker 3

Net working capital at the end of the quarter was $46.0 million. As we think about liquidity through the rest of the year, we now expect Q3 rather than Q2 to mark the low point. That change is mostly a function of growth. With revenue expected to increase meaningfully sequentially, we expect an additional working capital build to support that activity, which may pressure liquidity modestly in the near term before collections catch up. On our senior secured notes, we elected PIK 100% of interest in Q2 and currently expect to do the same in Q3, which remains consistent with the framework we outlined previously. We anticipate a 50/50 cash and PIK mix in Q4, subject to continued review based on market conditions, leverage, and liquidity.

Speaker 3

In summary, of the $12.4 million of interest expense recognized in the second quarter, approximately $2.5 million was paid in cash and approximately $8.2 million was added to principal, with the balance representing non-cash amortization of debt issuance cost and issued discount. Overall, we are in full compliance with our financial covenants under both the notes indenture and the ABL at quarter end, and we remain focused on managing working capital and capital spending in line with activity levels. With that, I'll hand it back over to Chris to discuss our outlook.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Jeff. From a broader market perspective, the environment remains active but difficult to project from the usual top-down indicators. U.S. Land Rig Count has improved slightly off the bottom. However, highly volatile commodity prices, particularly WTI, have muted our customers' response, and the normal signals have not lined up cleanly with what we are seeing in our day-to-day activity and schedules. Looking ahead to the third quarter, we expect revenue in the range of $176 million-$188 million, with a midpoint of $182 million, which is $15 million higher than the second quarter. Excluding Wolfpack from both periods, the midpoint implies mid-single digit sequential growth in the base business at a time when the broader market expectations are for flat activity. We expect margins to continue to increase as activity builds due to better fixed cost absorption.

Speaker 2

Our focus remains on disciplined execution, improving utilization, capturing Wolfpack integration benefits, and converting higher activity into stronger cash generation. Before we move to questions, I'd like to briefly address the balance sheet initiatives announced yesterday. As you know, we have been focused on strengthening KLX's financial position for some time. The Backstop equity rights offering is designed to reduce debt, improve liquidity, and create greater financial flexibility for the future. It is important to understand what these actions are and what they are not. This transaction represents a proactive amendment and potential equitization of existing debt and deliberate effort to improve our capital structure from a strengthened operational position. This transaction is not a Chapter 11 filing or a bankruptcy process.

Speaker 2

We believe the Backstop equity rights offering is equitably structured to benefit all shareholders, allowing equity holders the right to purchase shares at the same price as the Backstop parties or sell their transferable right to realized value. Pro forma for the equity rights offering, KLX will reduce our net leverage ratio to approximately 2.7 times, materially enhancing financial and operational flexibility. These actions are intended to support our objectives by creating a stronger, more resilient financial foundation for KLX. Reducing leverage and improving liquidity will enhance our ability to invest in the business, support our customers, and create long-term value for all stakeholders. We continue to execute our business plan, serve our customers, integrate Wolfpack, and pursue growth opportunities while navigating a dynamic market environment with discipline. I remain highly confident in our team, our strategy, and the opportunities ahead of us.

Speaker 2

We have momentum across the business, and these initiatives position KLX to capitalize on that momentum while continuing to strengthen the company for the future. In closing, I would like to thank our team of hardworking employees for their continued commitment, resilience, and dedication to safety. I would also like to thank our customers and shareholders for their ongoing support of KLX. With that, we will now take your questions. Operator?

Operator

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. To ask a question at this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad, and a confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Thank you. Our first question is from the line of Steve Ferazani with Synovate. Please proceed with your questions.

Speaker 4

Morning, Chris. Morning, Jeff. Appreciate all the detail. I know you guys have been really busy. Chris, I think the obvious question shareholders will want a response to is really, deep good quarter. You are guiding to better activity in Q3. The timing of the rights offering, why did you feel like this was the time to do it?

Speaker 2

Good morning, Steve. Appreciate the question. Look, it is pretty simple. You cannot pick your way to prosperity, and you cannot wait until the last minute, when it is required to happen, to make some of these decisions. The PIK was implemented into the new notes. It is a very useful tool to manage seasonal volatility. We did not intend on using the PIK at the level we have post the refi, so we have continued to see debt build. As you roll forward through next year, to your point, current market activity, our third quarter would project that results are improving. The question is it sufficient? Our view, our board's view, is that de-leveraging and creating additional cash liquidity provides us with materially greater financial resilience and financial flexibility to navigate market cycles. Clearly, we are in a cycle, and a market that has been highly volatile.

Speaker 2

It positions us to pursue value-creating acquisition opportunities when they arise. It ultimately supports long-term value creation for shareholders. If you look at the status quo, there is material risk as you roll forward to next year, whether you could breach a financial covenant, whether there could be sensitivity testing by auditors or other parties that could create an event of default. The reality is, any waiver or other consequences could be much more severe. Perhaps more importantly, as we stated on the prepared remarks, the backstop to equity rights offering is equitable to all parties. We appreciate the fact that we have highly supportive creditors. The creditors are coming in pro rata at 100% of all the institutions participating, and they are highly supportive of our strategy and our business.

Speaker 2

At the same time, the offering is highly equitable and the shareholders are allowed to participate at the same buy-in price, and they are allowed to sell their transferable right if they elect to do so. We view this as very opportunistic to de-lever the balance sheet, raise incremental liquidity, which is candidly important to recapitalize the business to thrive in the future.

Speaker 4

Appreciate the response, Chris. In terms of what we know is obviously market dynamics are far more volatile than we have seen. The short cycle nature of your larger consolidation by the producers all make decision-making trickier. How does this help you maneuver the current state of market dynamics? Then probably even more importantly, how does this position you long term better than you were before?

Speaker 2

Yeah, great question. Look, the way the structure works is we are sort of guaranteed to have $94 million of de-leveraging or equitization. If you just look at the base case and not the headline number of $125 million, that reduces interest costs, and it is a bit iterative based off where SOFR lands, and so I do not want to predict interest rates. But you are reducing interest costs by over $11 million a year, potentially higher than that if the full uptick of the ERO is elected, right, at 125. If that happens and we put cash on the balance sheet, that affords a lot of financial flexibility. It affords us the opportunity to pay down the ABL, and reload the ABL. Whether that is to use for growth initiatives, other M&A, et cetera.

Speaker 2

But to your specific question, that's kind of a banded range depending on interest rate assumptions of $11 million to kind of $14 million of interest reduction on a year-over-year basis. We've talked about before the fact that our coiled tubing leases roll off at the end of this year. That's about an $8.2 million burden on an annual basis. As you roll forward to 2027, all else equal, we've improved our free cash flow profile by about $20 million.

Speaker 4

Not unimportant. If we could turn now to some of the 2Q results and how you're thinking about 3Q, Chris. Numbers came in pretty much in line with what we were expecting. We were a little bit surprised by some of the regional differences. Southwest seemed to come back even faster than what the underlying activity would have indicated. Northeast, I mean, you're down revenue-wise first half compared to second half of last year. If you could just talk about those two differences, which caught us a little bit by surprise. One positive, one maybe a little bit negative.

Speaker 2

Sure. So I'll kind of do that in reverse order. Natural gas as a percentage of our revenue rolled slightly, kind of for the first time. We had a great run last year, and for Q2 of 2026, we're at about 15% when you think about our dry gas revenue. We expect natural gas revenue as a percentage of total revenue to be fairly consistent. Admittedly, our Haynesville revenue was the driver of that roll. We lost one specific customer in one product line, and the team is working to backfill that work on a daily basis. Candidly, we've also seen the Haynesville rig count plateau, and it seems like from just internal sources, I would say we would expect Haynesville rig count to fluctuate up and down in the near term as operators continue to monitor gas prices.

Speaker 2

Year-end rig count kind of feels like it would be around 58 to 60 in the Haynesville. That being said, to your point, revenue rolled just a bit, but I think the team did a great job from a cost control standpoint and margins actually expanded slightly. From a Southwest perspective, the team's really executed on all cylinders. It's always been a highly competitive environment. We've seen expansion opportunities in the Eagle Ford, and the Permian business perform pretty well. We talked about last quarter, the fact that some of the private operators as WTI ramped, as the war kicked off, that people were pulling forward DUC activity, et cetera. I think we were the beneficiary of that in the Permian as operators kind of pulled forward some of that activity.

Speaker 4

Got it. Helpful. When we think about the guide for 3Q, even as you noted a little bit more of a flattening, average rig count in 3Q is going to be much better than 2Q simply because the rig count really ramped late in the quarter. That would indicate that the benefit to 3Q growth is on the drilling side, which is lower margin for you. That being said, with the higher revenue, would you still expect, knowing that mix maybe is a little bit softer, that you still get the margin expansion on higher revenue?

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's a great question, and I agree with you. And Jeff mentioned in his statements that we would expect that incremental component of the drilling revenue, plus with a full quarter of Wolfpack for drilling as an overall percentage to continue to run higher than our historical basis. If you think about the overall guidance of $176 million to $188 million for 3Q, look, the business continues to improve around the margin. What I would say is, to your question on the individual segments, we're forecasting revenue growth in every single segment. So we would expect revenue growth in the Rockies and Southwest as well as the Northeast Mid-Con. And we expect our base business, even if you exclude the impact of a full quarter of Wolfpack, still to grow in kind of the mid-single digits on a percentage basis.

Speaker 2

Completion services were 52% of our revenue, with drilling coming in at about 23% in Q2. I would think that Q3 is similar to that mix on a go-forward basis. But to your point on margin, if you recall, 3Q of 2025 margin last year was about 12.7%. Based off what we know today and July's preliminary numbers, the short answer is yes, we would expect 3Q of 2026 to see continued margin growth, partially just due to operating leverage, as you ramp revenue and control overall fixed cost.

Speaker 4

Got it. That's very helpful. Given the activity rise so far, although we know obviously WTI price outlook is significantly clouded by activity in the Middle East, given the activity you've gotten in certain product lines, are you starting to see any pricing power?

Speaker 2

It's a great question. Look, the reality is, and I think we've heard this throughout this earning season across a lot of service lines, pricing is not sufficient across most of the industry to justify reactivation of equipment or truly deploy material growth CapEx. That being said, look, we talked late last year that in certain business lines, we have been able to move price on select PSLs in certain basins, sorry. The irony is it seems like the PSLs where we've moved price the most are kind of the more asset-intensive, people-light businesses. The PSLs that are really personnel dependent, and the margin is most sensitive to white space are the areas where we could see continued pricing pressure. We're focused on moving price everywhere we can. We haven't seen pricing inflect at a very steep level like you've seen rig count in certain basins.

Speaker 4

Got it. Last one for me, just on the Wolfpack acquisition, how do you see that fitting? I guess probably a lot of folks, including myself, spent a little bit less time really looking into your accommodations business. You significantly increased it here. Why did you think this was the right fit versus expanding maybe some of your better margin business lines?

Speaker 2

So great question. What I would say is, as we think about drilling, our directional drilling platform and accommodations are in kind of that drilling services profile, if you will, and accommodations inherently has better margins than the overall drilling mix is what I'd say. Thus far, look, integration's gone exceptionally well to date. We're glad to welcome the Wolfpack team into the KLX family. Great company, great employee team members, and we're fully integrated at this point from a system standpoint. I think Jeff and team, along with the legacy Wolfpack people, did a great job. The systems were integrated as of July 1st, and synergies are starting to roll through. To your question, Wolfpack added candidly needed assets that were able to offset some of our CapEx for the year because we were basically tapped out from a utilization standpoint with our legacy business.

Speaker 2

To your point, that's a product line that kind of flies under the radar for KLX, but it's a product line that works exceptionally well for us, and we have sizable market share in certain basins. It also brought on new technologies from a water filtration standpoint. It opened doors to other industrial end users, including data centers, lithium mining, other things that candidly legacy KLX was not doing. Wolfpack affords us other opportunity sets from different revenue streams.

Speaker 4

Got it. Thanks, Chris.

Speaker 2

Yes, sir. Thank you, Steve.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, I'll now turn the conference back to Chris for closing comments.

Speaker 2

Thank you once again for joining us on this call and your continued interest in KLX. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This will conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

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