Trican Well Service TSE: TCW reported higher third-quarter revenue, earnings and adjusted EBITDA as activity and utilization improved and the company received a full-quarter contribution from its Iron Horse division. Management said wet weather continued to disrupt operations, while pricing pressure, customer-supplied sand and supply-chain inflation remained challenges.
Revenue for the third quarter totaled C$338.3 million, up from C$300.6 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased to C$87.7 million, or 26% of revenue, from C$59.5 million, or 20% of revenue, a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDAS was C$87.1 million, compared with C$66.9 million in the prior-year quarter.
Net earnings were C$48 million, or C$0.23 per share on both a basic and diluted basis, compared with C$28.9 million, or C$0.15 per share, in the third quarter of 2025. The company generated C$66.66 million in free cash flow during the quarter.
Capital spending and shareholder returns
Capital expenditures totaled C$26.5 million, including C$7.7 million of maintenance capital and C$18.8 million of upgrade capital. Chief Financial Officer Scott Matson said the upgrade spending was primarily directed toward Trican’s first fully natural gas-fueled continuous heavy-duty hydraulic fracturing fleet and electric ancillary fracturing equipment.
The investments are part of Trican’s fleet modernization strategy and are intended to support larger and more complex completion programs, Matson said. The company exited the quarter with C$50.3 million of net debt, C$139.7 million in positive non-cash working capital and approximately C$127 million of accessible liquidity.
During the quarter, Trican repurchased and canceled 6.9 million shares at a weighted average price of C$6.09 per share under its normal course issuer bid. The purchases represented about 3.3% of shares outstanding at the start of the year. The company also repurchased and canceled roughly 600,000 shares after quarter-end.
The board approved a quarterly dividend of C$0.055 per share, representing about C$11.1 million in total shareholder distributions. The dividend is scheduled for payment on Dec. 31, 2026, to shareholders of record on Dec. 15, 2026.
Weather, pricing and sand trends
President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Fedora said the quarter was in line with expectations, though results were affected by more wet-weather downtime than normal for the third quarter, particularly within the company’s two fracturing divisions. He said all service lines performed well and margins were relatively consistent across the four divisions.
Trican pumped record volumes of sand in September, according to Fedora, but a growing portion of that sand is being sourced directly by customers. He said the shift reduces the company’s margin and requires Trican to perform more work to produce comparable cash flow.
Matson said approximately half of sand pumped during the quarter was either supplied by Trican or customer supplied, compared with an estimated 70/30 split a year earlier. He said customer-supplied sand will likely continue to increase, though not dramatically, as larger operators are more likely to procure their own volumes.
Fedora said the company is responding by expanding its last-mile logistics capabilities. He said Trican has the largest fleet of sand trucks in Western Canada and expects logistics to become a distinct contributor to company profitability over time.
Management also cited continuing pricing pressure in recent bidding activity and cost inflation across the supply chain, driven largely by higher diesel prices. Fedora said counter-tariffs on U.S. parts and steel could be material, although their ultimate impact remains unclear.
Natural-gas equipment and operational expansion
Fedora said customer demand for natural gas-fueled pumping equipment and electric ancillary equipment exceeds Trican’s current ability to supply it. The company has taken delivery of three of 10 natural gas pumps ordered about a year ago and expects to have all of the pumps working in the field by year-end.
Rather than forming a separate eighth fleet in the near term, Trican expects to distribute the pumps across its existing deep-fracturing fleets. Fedora said that strategy should increase the technical and operational profile of each fleet. He added that equipment ordered now would generally not be available until 2028 because of supplier lead times.
The company also has received two of three natural gas-fueled semi-trucks. Fedora said the trucks have performed well and offer fuel savings relative to diesel-powered alternatives.
Trican continues to concentrate much of its work in the Montney and Duvernay, with about 70% of activity associated with natural gas plays. Fedora said nearly 30% of work is now in the Duvernay, where high-pressure, pumping-intensive completions favor newer and more robust equipment.
Outlook for the fourth quarter and 2027
Management said October has started strongly and could be a record month for the company, but it expects activity to slow late in the fourth quarter as customer budgets are exhausted. Fedora said fourth-quarter results should be lower than third-quarter results, reflecting typical seasonality, despite the strong start to the period.
For 2027, management said the first quarter is nearly fully booked and customer activity plans continue to improve. Fedora said Trican expects a busy winter and spring, estimating basin activity could rise about 5% annually alongside a similar increase in pricing, though he characterized that outlook as conservative.
Matson said the company’s 26% adjusted EBITDA margin in the third quarter benefited partly from general and administrative items and may moderate. He said a mid-20% margin range is a reasonable ongoing indicator, while changes in the amount of customer-supplied sand can affect the margin percentage without necessarily changing aggregate dollar earnings.
Fedora said Trican sees organic-growth opportunities in heavy oil and SAGD markets for its cementing and coiled-tubing businesses. The company secured a first-quarter SAGD cementing project that is twice the size of its 2026 program, he said, and is pursuing additional opportunities in markets where it currently has limited share.
About Trican Well Service (TSE:TCW)
Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Trican supplies oil and natural gas well servicing equipment and solutions to our customers through the drilling, completion, and production cycles. Our team of technical experts provide state of the art equipment, engineering support, reservoir expertise and laboratory services through the delivery of hydraulic fracturing, cementing, coiled tubing, nitrogen services and chemical sales for the oil and gas industry in Western Canada. Trican is the largest pressure pumping service company in Canada.
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