Patterson Uti Energy Inc (PTEN) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

Contact: Mike Drickamer

Vice President, Investor Relations

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.

(281) 765-7170

Patterson-UTI Energy Reports Financial Results for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021

HOUSTON, Texas – April 29, 2021 – PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC. (NASDAQ: PTEN) today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2021.  The Company reported a net loss of $106 million, or $0.57 per share, for the first quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $435 million, or $2.28 per share, for the first quarter of 2020.  Revenues for the first quarter of 2021 were $241 million, compared to $446 million for the first quarter of 2020.

Andy Hendricks, Patterson-UTI’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “First quarter financial results exceeded our expectations, as revenues and adjusted EBITDA improved sequentially, despite challenges from the extreme winter storm in the southwest.  Our contract drilling and directional drilling businesses posted better than expected results in the first quarter.  Excluding the impact of the winter storm, our pressure pumping results would have been consistent with our expectations.”

Mr. Hendricks continued, “In contract drilling, our average rig count for the first quarter improved to 69 rigs from 62 rigs in the fourth quarter.  Our rig count ended the first quarter at 71 rigs, and we have already activated two rigs in the second quarter.  Considering the timing of additional rig reactivations, as well as idle but contracted rigs rolling off contract, we expect to average 73 rigs for the second quarter.  We expect our rig count will reach approximately 80 rigs over the next three months, with a substantial portion of the rig count increase in June and July.    

“Average rig margin per day for the first quarter of $8,750, included a benefit of $6.0 million, or $960 per day, related to a sales and use tax refund, and a benefit of $2.3 million, or $370 per day, for revenue that was not recognized in 2020 due to concerns about collectability.  However, even after excluding both of these benefits, average rig margin per day exceeded our expectation due to a combination of both higher than expected revenues and lower than expected costs.  Both average rig revenue per day and operating cost per day increased sequentially, as the proportion of rigs that were idle but contracted decreased to 7% in the first quarter from 16% in the fourth quarter.    

“As of March 31, 2021, we had term contracts for drilling rigs providing for approximately $240 million of future dayrate drilling revenue.  Based on contracts currently in place, we expect an average of 39 rigs operating under term contracts during the second quarter, and an average of 27 rigs operating under term contracts during the four quarters ending March 31, 2022.  

“In pressure pumping, first quarter results were significantly impacted by the winter storm.  Revenues decreased to $75.8 million during the first quarter and gross margin decreased to a loss of $0.7 million.  We averaged seven active spreads during the first quarter, with an effective utilization of 5.5 spreads.  Downtime was primarily associated with the winter storm and the mobilization of a spread from the northeast to Texas.  In the second quarter, we expect utilization to improve and we plan to reactivate an additional spread late in the quarter for dedicated work.  

“In directional drilling, revenues during the first quarter increased sequentially to $19.7 million from $16.9 million in the fourth quarter.  Gross margin improved in the first quarter to $3.0 million, or 15% of revenues, from $2.2 million, or 13% of revenues, in the fourth quarter, as the business continues to improve.”