MIDLAND, Texas, Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) (“Diamondback” or the “Company”) today announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.

THIRD QUARTER 2022 HIGHLIGHTS

• Average production of 224.3 MBO/d (390.6 MBOE/d)

• Cash flow from operating activities of $1.93 billion; Operating Cash Flow Before Working Capital Changes (as defined and reconciled below) of $1.65 billion

• Cash capital expenditures of $491 million

• Free Cash Flow (as defined and reconciled below) of $1.16 billion

• Declared Q3 2022 base cash dividend of $0.75 per share payable on November 25, 2022; implies a 1.9% annualized yield based on November 4, 2022 closing share price of $161.37

• Declared a variable cash dividend of $1.51 per share payable on November 25, 2022; total base-plus-variable dividend of $2.26 per share implies a 5.6% annualized yield based on November 4, 2022 closing share price of $161.37

• Repurchased 3,922,418 shares of common stock in Q3 2022 for $472 million (at a weighted average price of $120.50/share)

• Total Q3 2022 return of capital of $874 million from stock repurchases and the declared base-plus-variable dividend; represents ~75% of Q3 2022 Free Cash Flow (as defined and reconciled below)

• As previously announced, completed Rattler Midstream LP ("Rattler") buy-in transaction on August 24, 2022
  

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Completed divestiture of non-core Delaware Basin acreage for net proceeds of $155 million; divested assets included approximately 3,250 net acres, with net production of approximately 550 BO/d (800 BOE/d)

• In conjunction with its previously announced target of at least $500 million of non-core asset sales by year-end 2023, Diamondback expects to use net proceeds from this transaction towards debt reduction

• Previously announced acquisition of leasehold interest and related assets from FireBird Energy LLC ("FireBird") for $775 million in cash and 5.86 million shares; transaction expected to close on November 30, 2022, subject to certain closing conditions and adjustments

• Previously announced target to reduce Scope 1+2 GHG intensity by at least 50% from 2020 levels by 2030

“The third quarter was another solid quarter for Diamondback. We focused on cost control, working to mitigate inflationary pressures associated with the variable components of our cost structure through improved operational techniques. By doing so, we continue to be the leader in low-cost operations, maximizing returns for our stockholders. Our high cash margins and best-in-class well costs contributed to nearly $1.2 billion of Free Cash Flow, of which approximately $874 million, or ~75%, is being returned to our stockholders through $472 million in share repurchases and approximately $402 million in total dividends,” stated Travis Stice, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Diamondback.

Mr. Stice continued, “Earlier this month, we announced our pending acquisition of the assets of FireBird Energy for $775 million in cash and 5.86 million of shares of Diamondback common stock. We expect this asset to compete for capital right away following closing and provide over a decade of high-quality inventory in the Midland Basin. At the same time, the transaction is expected to immediately increase per share returns to our stockholders and improve the duration of the Company’s cash return profile. In conjunction with this pending acquisition, we announced a target to sell at least $500 million of non-core assets, which includes the $155 million non-core asset sale we announced today, ensuring we maintain our investment grade balance sheet and improve our overall financial position.”

OPERATIONS UPDATE

The tables below provide a summary of operating activity for the third quarter of 2022.

During the third quarter of 2022, Diamondback drilled 48 gross horizontal wells in the Midland Basin and 11 gross horizontal wells in the Delaware Basin. The Company turned 42 operated horizontal wells to production in the Midland Basin and 21 operated horizontal wells to production in the Delaware Basin. The average lateral length for the wells completed during the third quarter was 11,289 feet. Operated completions during the third quarter consisted of 26 Wolfcamp A wells, 16 Lower Spraberry wells, 13 Wolfcamp B wells, three Second Bone Spring wells, two Third Bone Spring wells, two Jo Mill wells and one Middle Spraberry well.

Through the third quarter of 2022, Diamondback has drilled 138 gross horizontal wells in the Midland Basin and 34 gross horizontal wells in the Delaware Basin. The Company has turned 152 operated horizontal wells to production in the Midland Basin and 42 operated horizontal wells to production in the Delaware Basin. The average lateral length for wells completed during the first nine months of 2022 was 10,439 feet, and consisted of 61 Wolfcamp A wells, 50 Lower Spraberry wells, 32 Wolfcamp B wells, 21 Jo Mill wells, 15 Middle Spraberry wells, 11 Second Bone Spring wells, three Third Bone Spring wells and one Barnett well.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Diamondback's third quarter 2022 net income was $1.18 billion, or $6.72 per diluted share. Adjusted net income (as defined and reconciled below) was $1.14 billion, or $6.48 per diluted share.

Third quarter 2022 cash flow from operating activities was $1.93 billion. Through the first nine months of 2022, Diamondback's cash flow from operating activities was $4.88 billion.

During the third quarter of 2022, Diamondback spent $422 million on operated and non-operated drilling and completions, $42 million on infrastructure and environmental and $27 million on midstream, for total cash capital expenditures of $491 million. Activity-based capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2022 were approximately $579 million. During the first nine months of 2022, Diamondback has spent $1.20 billion on operated and non-operated drilling and completions, $124 million on infrastructure and environmental and $69 million on midstream, for total cash capital expenditures of $1.40 billion.

Third quarter 2022 Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (as defined and reconciled below) was $1.91 billion. Adjusted EBITDA net of non-controlling interest (as defined and reconciled below) was $1.86 billion.

Diamondback's third quarter 2022 Free Cash Flow (as defined and reconciled below) was $1.16 billion. Through September 30, 2022, Diamondback's Free Cash Flow (as defined and reconciled below) was $3.46 billion.

Third quarter 2022 average unhedged realized prices were $89.79 per barrel of oil, $6.46 per Mcf of natural gas and $34.96 per barrel of natural gas liquids ("NGLs"), resulting in a total equivalent unhedged realized price of $67.25 per BOE.

Diamondback's cash operating costs for the third quarter of 2022 were $11.97 per BOE, including lease operating expenses ("LOE") of $5.09 per BOE, cash general and administrative ("G&A") expenses of $0.56 per BOE, production and ad valorem taxes of $4.34 per BOE and gathering and transportation expenses of $1.98 per BOE.

As of September 30, 2022, Diamondback had $15 million in standalone cash and $235 million of borrowings outstanding under its revolving credit facility, with approximately $1.36 billion available for future borrowing under the facility and approximately $1.38 billion of total liquidity.

DIVIDEND DECLARATIONS

Diamondback announced today that the Company's Board of Directors declared a base cash dividend of $0.75 per common share for the third quarter of 2022 payable on November 25, 2022, to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 17, 2022.

The Company's Board of Directors also declared a variable cash dividend of $1.51 per common share for the third quarter of 2022 payable on November 25, 2022, to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 17, 2022.

Future base and variable dividends remain subject to review and approval at the discretion of the Company's Board of Directors.

COMMON STOCK REPURCHASE PROGRAM

On September 15, 2021 the Board of Directors of Diamondback authorized the Company to acquire up to $2.00 billion of common stock. On July 28, 2022, Diamondback's Board of Directors approved increasing total authorized common stock repurchases to $4.00 billion. During the third quarter of 2022, Diamondback repurchased 3,922,418 shares of common stock at an average share price of $120.50 for a total cost of approximately $472 million. To date, Diamondback has repurchased 10,518,556 shares of common stock at an average share price of $115.81 for a total cost of approximately $1.22 billion. Diamondback intends to purchase common stock under the common stock repurchase program opportunistically with cash on hand, free cash flow from operations and proceeds from potential liquidity events such as the sale of assets. This repurchase program has no time limit and may be suspended from time to time, modified, extended or discontinued by the Board at any time. Purchases under the repurchase program may be made from time to time in privately negotiated transactions or open market transactions in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and will be subject to market conditions, applicable legal requirements and other factors. Any common stock purchased as part of this program will be retired.

SENIOR NOTES OFFERING

On October 28, 2022 Diamondback completed the previously announced $1.1 billion public senior notes offering and used a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to redeem in full $500 million aggregate principal amount of Rattler's senior notes that remained outstanding following the Rattler buy-in transaction, with the remaining net proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes, including the funding of a portion of the cash consideration for the pending FireBird acquisition.

FULL YEAR 2022 GUIDANCE

Below is Diamondback's guidance for the full year 2022, which includes fourth quarter production, cash tax and capital guidance. This guidance has been updated to give effect to the estimated fourth quarter contribution related to the pending FireBird acquisition, which is expected to close on November 30, 2022.

(a)   Includes production taxes of 4.6% for crude oil and 7.5% for natural gas and NGLs and ad valorem taxes.
(b)   Includes six drilled and seven completed wells from the pending FireBird acquisition assuming a November 30, 2022 closing date.

CONFERENCE CALL

Diamondback will host a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts to discuss its results for the third quarter of 2022 on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. CT. Access to the live audio-only webcast, and replay which will be available following the call, may be found here. The live webcast of the earnings conference call will also be available via Diamondback’s website at www.diamondbackenergy.com under the “Investor Relations” section of the site.

About Diamondback Energy, Inc.

Diamondback is an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas focused on the acquisition, development, exploration and exploitation of unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves primarily in the Permian Basin in West Texas. For more information, please visit www.diamondbackenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, which involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding Diamondback’s: future performance; business strategy; future operations (including drilling plans and capital plans); estimates and projections of revenues, losses, costs, expenses, returns, cash flow, and financial position; reserve estimates and its ability to replace or increase reserves; anticipated benefits of strategic transactions (including acquisitions and divestitures); and plans and objectives of management (including plans for future cash flow from operations and for executing environmental strategies) are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “model,” “outlook,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and similar expressions (including the negative of such terms) as they relate to Diamondback are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Although Diamondback believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, they involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and, in many cases, beyond Diamondback’s control. Accordingly, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and Diamondback’s actual outcomes could differ materially from what Diamondback has expressed in its forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause the outcomes to differ materially include (but are not limited to) the following: changes in supply and demand levels for oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, and the resulting impact on the price for those commodities; the impact of public health crises, including epidemic or pandemic diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and any related company or government policies or actions; actions taken by the members of OPEC and Russia affecting the production and pricing of oil, as well as other domestic and global political, economic, or diplomatic developments, including any impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the global energy markets and geopolitical stability; concerns over a potential economic slowdown or recession; inflationary pressures; rising interest rates and their impact on the cost of capital; regional supply and demand factors, including delays, curtailment delays or interruptions of production, or governmental orders, rules or regulations that impose production limits; federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to hydraulic fracturing, including the effect of existing and future laws and governmental regulations; transition risks relating to climate change and the risks and other factors disclosed in Diamondback’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, which can be obtained free of charge on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s web site at http://www.sec.gov.

In light of these factors, the events anticipated by Diamondback’s forward-looking statements may not occur at the time anticipated or at all. Moreover, Diamondback operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment and new risks emerge from time to time. Diamondback cannot predict all risks, nor can it assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by any forward-looking statements it may make. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements made in this news release. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release or, if earlier, as of the date they were made. Diamondback does not intend to, and disclaims any obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements unless required by applicable law.

(1)   Bbl equivalents are calculated using a conversion rate of six Mcf per one Bbl.
(2)   Hedged prices reflect the effect of our commodity derivative transactions on our average sales prices and include gains and losses on cash settlements for matured commodity derivatives, which we do not designate for hedge accounting. Hedged prices exclude gains or losses resulting from the early settlement of commodity derivative contracts.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

ADJUSTED EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that is used by management and external users of our financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) attributable to Diamondback Energy, Inc., plus net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest ("net income (loss)") before non-cash (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net, interest expense, net, depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion, depreciation and interest expense related to equity method investments, impairment and abandonments related to equity method investments, (gain) loss on sale of equity method investments, (gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, non-cash equity-based compensation expense, capitalized equity-based compensation expense, merger and integration expense, other non-cash transactions and provision for (benefit from) income taxes, if any. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of net income as determined by United States generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Management believes Adjusted EBITDA is useful because the measure allows it to more effectively evaluate the Company’s operating performance and compare the results of its operations from period to period without regard to its financing methods or capital structure. The Company adds the items listed above to net income (loss) to determine Adjusted EBITDA because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within its industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures and the method by which the assets were acquired. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income as determined in accordance with GAAP or as an indicator of the Company’s operating performance or liquidity. Certain items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing a company’s financial performance, such as a company’s cost of capital and tax structure, as well as the historic costs of depreciable assets. The Company’s computation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies or to such measure in our credit facility or any of our other contracts.

The following tables present a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss) attributable to Diamondback Energy, Inc. to the non-GAAP financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA:

ADJUSTED NET INCOME

Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP financial measure equal to net income (loss) attributable to Diamondback Energy, Inc. plus net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest ("net income (loss)") adjusted for non-cash (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net, (gain) loss on sale of property, plant and equipment, impairment and abandonments related to equity method investments, (gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, merger and integration expense; other non-cash transactions and related income tax adjustments, if any. The Company’s computation of adjusted net income may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies or to such measure in our credit facility or any of our other contracts. Management believes Adjusted Net Income helps investors in the oil and natural gas industry to measure and compare the Company's performance to other oil and natural gas companies by excluding from the calculation items that can vary significantly from company to company depending upon accounting methods, the book value of assets and other non-operational factors.

The following table presents a reconciliation of the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss) attributable to Diamondback Energy, Inc. to the non-GAAP measure of adjusted net income:

(a) The Company’s earnings (loss) per diluted share amount has been computed using the two-class method in accordance with GAAP. The two-class method is an earnings allocation which reflects the respective ownership among holders of common stock and participating securities. Diluted earnings per share using the two-class method is calculated as (i) net income attributable to Diamondback Energy, Inc, (ii) plus the reallocation of $12 million in earnings attributable to participating securities, divided by (iii) diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.

OPERATING CASH FLOW BEFORE WORKING CAPITAL CHANGES, FREE CASH FLOW AND ADJUSTED FREE CASH FLOW

Operating cash flow before working capital changes, which is a non-GAAP financial measure representing net cash provided by operating activities as determined under GAAP without regard to changes in operating assets and liabilities. The Company believes operating cash flow before working capital changes is a useful measure of an oil and natural gas company’s ability to generate cash used to fund exploration, development and acquisition activities and service debt or pay dividends. The Company also uses this measure because adjusted operating cash flow relates to the timing of cash receipts and disbursements that the Company may not control and may not relate to the period in which the operating activities occurred. This allows the Company to compare its operating performance with that of other companies without regard to financing methods and capital structure.

Free Cash Flow, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, is cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital in excess of cash capital expenditures. Adjusted Free Cash Flow, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, is Free Cash Flow adjusted for early termination of commodity derivative contracts. The Company believes that Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are useful to investors as they provide measures to compare both cash flow from operating activities and additions to oil and natural gas properties across periods on a consistent basis as adjusted for non-recurring early settlements of commodity derivative contracts. These measures should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net cash provided by operating activities as an indicator of operating performance. The Company's computation of operating cash flow before working capital changes, Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. The Company uses Free Cash Flow to reduce debt, as well as return capital to stockholders as determined by the Board of Directors.

The following tables present a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to operating cash flow before working capital changes and to Free Cash Flow:

NET DEBT

The Company defines net debt as total debt less cash and cash equivalents. Net debt should not be considered an alternative to, or more meaningful than, total debt, the most directly comparable GAAP measure. Management uses net debt to determine the Company's outstanding debt obligations that would not be readily satisfied by its cash and cash equivalents on hand. The Company believes this metric is useful to analysts and investors in determining the Company's leverage position because the Company has the ability to, and may decide to, use a portion of its cash and cash equivalents to reduce debt.

(a)  Excludes debt issuance costs, discounts, premiums and fair value hedges.

DERIVATIVES

As of November 4, 2022, the Company had the following outstanding consolidated derivative contracts, including derivative contracts at Viper Energy Partners LP. The Company’s derivative contracts are based upon reported settlement prices on commodity exchanges, with crude oil derivative settlements based on New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate pricing and Crude Oil Brent pricing and with natural gas derivative settlements based on the New York Mercantile Exchange Henry Hub pricing. When aggregating multiple contracts, the weighted average contract price is disclosed.

Investor Contact:
Adam Lawlis
+1 432.221.7467
alawlis@diamondbackenergy.com