CNX (CNX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• President and Chief Executive Officer — Alan Shepard
• Chief Financial Officer — Everett Good
• Chief Operating Officer — Navneet Behl
• Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer — Tyler Lewis

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TAKEAWAYS

• Utica Development -- Three wells were brought online, with production results not yet available, and management reiterated expectations are consistent with the reservoir model.
• Well Economics -- Cost improvements for new Utica wells are ongoing, with a more comprehensive data set to be provided by late 2026 or early 2027.
• Development Mix -- Marcellus remains preferred due to established infrastructure, but management anticipates gradual increased allocation to Utica longer term.
• New Technology Business -- No material new updates this quarter; projections for initiatives like AutoSep, CNG, and LNG remain unchanged, pending final 45Z regulatory guidance.
• Hedging Activity -- CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE:CNX) added 13 Bcf to its 2028 hedge book, targeting higher realized prices as forward basis differentials improve in the Cal 2028 market.
• Refinancing -- The company refinanced its 2029 notes with new 8-year notes at 5 and 7/8% during the quarter, extending maturities and targeting a minimum two- to three-year window before the next due date.
• Convertible Notes -- $209 million in convertible notes mature on May 1, resulting in issuance of approximately 12 million net new shares later in the week, after adjusting for the capped call.
• Appalachian Demand Outlook -- Management observed strengthening long-term in-basin natural gas demand, citing participation in new RFPs and expectations that substantial volumes will require multiple producers for supply.
• Geographic Positioning -- The company noted flexibility to serve either Ohio or Pennsylvania growth due to pipeline interconnections, while Ohio was cited as having a speed advantage for project siting and business execution.

SUMMARY

Management confirmed no surprises or deviations in operational execution compared to internal forecasts, and stated that forward hedging was influenced by improving basis dynamics through 2028. The company aligned with regional competitors on expectations for significant Appalachian gas demand growth, highlighting engagement in supply RFPs and readiness to support large-scale power and data center projects. Balance sheet management continued with the proactive refinancing of existing debt and the scheduled conversion of outstanding convertible notes, resulting in a pending increase in share count. Near-term visibility for new tech initiatives and production details from recent wells remains limited, with management setting expectations for more substantial updates at year end. Leadership emphasized that infrastructure and flexibility position the company to benefit from both Marcellus and Utica development as regional demand evolves.

• Management stated, "you're starting to see differentials tighten up in the out years," indicating current market trends are supportive for future pricing.
• Everett Good said, "the next one up for us is a 2030 maturity that we'll handle well ahead of time," clarifying ongoing focus on extending the debt maturity profile.
• Alan Shepard stated, "Everything we've seen so far, as we've mentioned on previous calls, very consistent with what our expectation of the reservoir is," with regard to Utica well performance.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Pad: A cluster of wells drilled from a single surface location, allowing for efficient resource extraction in shale operations.
• TIL (Turn-In-Line): The process of bringing a well into production and connecting it to pipeline infrastructure.
• RFP (Request for Proposal): A formal solicitation released by buyers, such as power plants or data centers, for natural gas supply contracts.
• Capped Call: An option-based transaction associated with convertible notes, used to offset dilution by limiting the number of shares issued upon conversion.
• Basis Differential: The price difference between a regional natural gas hub price and a broader benchmark, impacting realized pricing for producers.
• Cal 2028 Market: Refers to financial products or contracts, such as hedges, tied to calendar year 2028 pricing for natural gas.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Good day, and welcome to the CNX Resources First Quarter 2026 Q&A Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to hand the call to Tyler Lewis, Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. Please go ahead.

Tyler Lewis: Thank you, and good morning, everybody. Welcome to CNX's first quarter Q&A conference call. Today, we will be answering questions related to our first quarter results. This morning, we posted to our Investor Relations website an updated slide presentation and detailed first quarter earnings release data such as quarterly E&P data, financial statements and non-GAAP reconciliations, which can be found in a document titled 1Q 2026 Earnings Results and Supplemental Information of CNX Resources. Also, we posted to our Investor Relations website our prepared remarks for the quarter, which we hope everyone had a chance to read before the call as the call today will be used exclusively for Q&A.

With me today for Q&A are Alan Shepard, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Everett Good, our Chief Financial Officer; and Navneet Behl, our Chief Operating Officer. Please note that the company's remarks made during this call, including answers to questions, include forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results may differ materially as a result of many factors. A discussion of risks and uncertainties related to those factors in CNX's business is contained in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in the release issued today. With that, thank you for joining us this morning.

And operator, can you please open the call for Q&A at this time.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question will come from Leo Mariani of ROTH.

Leo Mariani: I was hoping to hear a little bit more about the Utica. I see you guys brought 3 wells on here in the first quarter. Any comments on, kind of, well performance or costs? I know you've been working hard to kind of continue to improve the play over time. So I just wanted to see if there was kind of an update there.

Alan Shepard: Leo, no, good question. We are continuing to develop the Utica program there. The most recent pad was a recent TIL towards the last part of the quarter. So we're a little ways off from providing any sort of production results from that. Everything we've seen so far, as we've mentioned on previous calls, very consistent with what our expectation of the reservoir is, and we're continuing to sort of, make progress on the cost side. But nothing new to update at this time.

The way to think about it is probably towards the end of this year, we'll be in a position to provide more fulsome and we'll have a nice data set to provide to the market towards the end of '26, early '27 once these wells have had enough duration on.

Leo Mariani: Okay. And would you envision that as you guys develop a more robust data set, if the play continues to progress nicely, could we see a little bit more allocation to the Utica versus the Marcellus in the next handful of years? Or do you guys think that the Marcellus still is probably going to be a little bit economically superior based on kind of the current rate?

Alan Shepard: Yes. I think the Marcellus has the advantage of having the infrastructure already there, right? So we optimize for kind of the best economics per well, right? And right now, the Swift of Marcellus, you don't need to build new infrastructure for the most part because of all the legacy investment there. So you will see us kind of blend in more Utica over time as that's sort of the longer-term position for the company. But definitely, the Swift of Marcellus, we're in harvest mode there, and you're going to continue to see those for the next few years.

Leo Mariani: Okay. That's helpful for sure. And I just wanted to ask on your new tech business here. Any kind of updates there on any of the other business lines other than the kind of environment and credit monetization, which you guys have been consistently doing, specifically anything on AutoSep or anything on like CNG or LNG business you guys have mentioned in the past?

Alan Shepard: No, I think everything is consistent with where we thought it'd be at this point in '26. We're still waiting for, sort of, the final guidance on 45Z, but we don't think that's going to impact any of the projections we've made so far. So nothing new to update there, Leo.

Operator: The next question comes from Jacob Roberts of TPH.

Jacob Roberts: On hedging, you guys are typically transacting on a longer-term basis than a lot of your peers. And so given what seems to be the prevailing theory of an improving gas base in that, sort of, 2028 plus time frame, can you give some context on what you're seeing in that 2028 market? I think you added another 13 Bcf to the book with this update. Just curious what you're seeing on that longer-dated market at the moment.

Everett Good: Yes. Yes. Again, on our longer-term hedges, we're certainly in a position to be more opportunistic maybe than we have in the past and patient. So as we see that price move up, and we've seen basis differentials tighten as well, and that's really helped us get to a better all-in realized price in kind of the Cal 28 market. So we're targeting to bring that up over time as we approach that year.

Jacob Roberts: Okay. Perfect. I appreciate that. And then just kind of -- I know you made some changes to the balance sheet. Just curious what the next steps are from here on that front.

Everett Good: Yes. We did a very positive refinancing of our 2029 notes at new 8-year notes at 5 and 7/8s in the quarter. I mean, generally, we've been very consistent in that we try to push out the maturities to make sure that we're at least 2, 3 years out before our next maturity. So the next one up for us is a 2030 maturity that we'll handle well ahead of time. And it's all about keeping the maturity profile extended and making sure that we don't have particular periods where we have large maturity towers in front of us.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our next question will come from Michael Scialla of Stephens.

Michael Scialla: I want to ask on in-basin demand. Some of your competitors are becoming a lot more confident on that, talking about that growing by more than 10 Bcf per day by the end of the decade. I want to see if you share that enthusiasm and anything you can share with us that the company may be doing to capture some of that demand?

Alan Shepard: Yes. No, I would agree that we certainly see the same sort of long-term optimism on the demand side. Some of the announcements that come out are sort of mind-boggling when you think about a 9-gigawatt sort of power center plant, there have been multiple of those proposed. So we're like everyone else, right? We see the announcements, and we're watching, monitoring as RFPs come out for gas supply, we're participating in those. The magnitude of gas that's going to be demanded in-basin in Appalachia is going to need to be sourced by multiple producers.

And if you think about the folks like ourselves that have the resource depth and sort of the creditworthiness to enter into long-term arrangements with these new demand sources, we're certainly going to benefit from that. So yes, we would share that optimism. The only question in my mind is timing, right? Is it 3 years? Is it 5 years? Is it 7 years?

Michael Scialla: Alan, do you see that developing more on the Ohio side? It looks like it's maybe ahead of Pennsylvania, and can you participate as much over there if that is the case?

Alan Shepard: Yes. I think for an Appalachian producer, just given the interconnectedness of the pipes, we're pretty agnostic to where it develops. You can wheel gas around here between the states pretty easily. Just as a sort of macro observation, Ohio has shown itself to be a little easier to do business with in terms of speed. It's a little bit flatter over there, too, for some of the data centers, and they have some of the intersection points with the long-haul pipelines like Clarington that make it very attractive. Pennsylvania is also being competitive though.

I mean you've got the Homer City plant here and the NextEra projects that they're still working on site selection, but have indicated they're going to be in the Mon Valley area. Those will certainly be in our footprint. But bigger picture, like I said, we're agnostic. We're just excited about the growth in demand. And as Everett mentioned, you're starting to see differentials tighten up in the out years, and we hope that trend continues.

Michael Scialla: Yes. Got it. I wanted to ask on your convertible notes. Can you say when during the quarter you expect that remaining, I think it's 209 million to convert? I'm just trying to estimate the diluted share count for the second quarter.

Everett Good: Yes. That maturity is on May 1 of this week. So the shares will be issued about approximately 12 million shares net issuance later this week.

Alan Shepard: Yes. And when we say net, that's included the effect of the capped call that we structured when we entered into the converts. So the 12 million is the net out the door.

Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call over to Tyler Lewis for any closing remarks.

Tyler Lewis: Great. Thank you again for joining us this morning. Please feel free to reach out if anyone has any additional questions. Otherwise, we look forward to speaking with everyone again next quarter. Thank you.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

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