Antero Resources reports Q1 EPS 69c, consensus 54c

Reports Q1 revenue $1.41BM, consensus $1.25B. Net production averaged 3.3 Bcfe/d, an increase of 3% year over year. Total production increased 3% from the first quarter of 2022. Paul Rady, CEO, commented, "Our Q1 results highlight the outstanding execution by our employees and the strength of our asset base…Our development program remains focused on our liquids-rich acreage, which provided an attractive pricing uplift in the quarter through the strength in NGL prices…In addition, we are beginning to see service costs rollover and a decline in costs for raw materials such as tubulars, fuel and sand. This rollover in costs combined with our efficiency gains point to lower overall maintenance capital requirements in 2024…Our balance sheet is strong at just 0.5x leverage. We have a diverse product mix as a top NGL producer in the .S with more than twenty years of core drilling inventory. These attributes help us reduce volatility in our financial results and provided protection against the pullback in natural gas prices during the quarter." CFO Michael Kennedy said, "Driven by our steadfast commitment to debt reduction in recent years, we entered 2023 in the strongest financial position in company history…Looking ahead, we are well positioned with nearly half our projected revenue in 2023 being generated from liquids sales while maintaining significant exposure to U.S. LNG growth."