Antero Resources Corp AR

Antero Resources Earnings: Improved Liquids Production Boosted by Higher Oil Prices

No-moat Antero Resources posted solid results, increasing overall volumes by nearly 6% year over year driven by natural gas liquids, or NGLs, and crude oil, growing 8% and 25%, respectively. This resulted in an improved product mix of 35% liquids (oil and NGLs) from 34% a year prior as natural gas prices remained under pressure. The concerted effort to push into the wetter acreage, which we outlined in our March 27 note, is paying off as the wells also appear to be more productive. As a result, management has very modestly boosted its full-year guidance by 25 million cubic feet per day. While this news is positive, we had largely already baked it in with our prior update, resulting in a modest increase in our fair value estimate to $25 from $24 driven by higher oil prices.