Antero Resources Corporation Q1 FY2026 earnings call

• Praised operations team for 100% uptime during winter storm. - Closed HG acquisition and Ohio Utica shale divestiture. HG acquisition drives cash costs down, margin enhancement. Integration ahead of schedule, first HG pad turned in line. - Production growth expected to continue. - Free cash flow used to accelerate debt reduction. - Natural gas hedge strategy targets 25-50% of annual production. - Liquids marketing discusses global NGL market impact of Middle East events, U.S. NGL export capacity expansions. - Natural gas marketing talks about LNG export demand increase, EU storage issues, regional power demand projects. - CFO discusses cash cost reductions, progress on funding HG acquisition.

Production was a record 3.9 BCFE per day in Q1, 13% above year-ago. Full-year production expected to be 4.1 BCFE per day, ~20% increase from 2025. HG acquisition added production, cash flow, ~400k net acres and 400 drilling locations. Cash costs down 30 cents per MCFE. Quarterly free cash flow $657 million, second highest in company history. Over 60% of natural gas volumes hedged for 2026, one-third for 2027. Unhedged on liquids. Intero has highest LNG exposure among Appalachian producers, largest producer-exporter of NGLs.

• Expected full-year production 4.1 BCFE per day, ~20% increase from 2025. - Target to hit leveraged target of one times by mid-2026, six months ahead of prior expectations. - Free cash flow used to accelerate debt reduction on HG acquisition. - CurrentSRIP expects to fully fund HG acquisition by early next year, nearly a year ahead of initial expectations.

• Uncertainties in global energy markets from Middle East events, including ongoing conflict affecting NGL and oil product prices, supply disruptions, and transit through Strait of Hormuz. - Difficulty in providing updated guidance with high confidence due to too many uncertainties in current financial market and supply shock.

Q: Arun Jayaram from JPMorgan Chase & Company asked about marketing arrangements and NGL realization guidance.

A: Dave responded on international exposure, ethane break-out for transparency, and conservativeness in guidance.

Q: Kevin McCurdy from Pickering Energy Partners asked about cash production expenses and CapEx budget.

A: Brendan responded majority of cash cost reduction from HG acquisition, and CapEx is $1 billion with potential to spend extra $200 million discretionary.

Q: John Freeman from Raymond James asked about gas supply arrangements mix and free cash flow.

A: Brendan responded on regional local demand, and assumption of share buybacks with term loan paid off.

Q: Gabe Dowd from Truly Showriders asked about future M&As and AM's advantage.

A: Mike responded on evaluating West Virginia acreage and AM's water system advantage.

Q: Jacob Roberts from TPH asked about liquids cut and processing cost reduction.

A: Brendan responded on balanced development and recontracting potential.

Q: Josh Silverstein from EBS for Writers.Live asked about power capacity and HG acquisition synergies.

A: Josh was responded on local demand and efficiency improvements in HG acquisition.

Q: Neil Maytop from Goldman Sachs asked about propane dock capacity and expansions.

A: Dave responded on export potential and tracking of dock expansions.

Q: Philip Youngworth from BMO asked about West Virginia's advantage and regional gas demand projects.

A: Mike responded on West Virginia's advantages and project timings.

Q: Leo Beriani from Roth asked about capital and synergies.

A: Brendan responded on capital spending in second half and synergy realization.

Q: Doug McGrath from Wolf Research asked about Mount Bellevue premium and data center negotiations.

A: Dave responded on premium relation to exports and request for proposal nature of negotiations.

Q: Paul Diamond from City asked about AI power contracts and balance between gas and liquids.

A: Paul was responded on deal nature and balance in production structure.