Newpark Resources Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
February 22, 2024

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning. My name is Savannah, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Newpark Resources 4th Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay 2205386 International. All lines are currently muted and after the prepared remarks, there will be a live question and answer session.

Operator

It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to Greg Piontek, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Newpark Resources 4th quarter 2023 conference call. Joining me today is Matthew Leneghan, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Before handing over to Matthew, I'd like to highlight that today's discussion contains forward looking statements regarding future business and financial expectations. Actual results may differ significantly from those projected in today's forward looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties, including the risks described in our periodic reports filed with the SEC.

Speaker 1

Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update our forward looking statements. Our comments on today's call may also include certain non GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our quarterly earnings release, which can be found on our corporate website. There will be a replay of today's call, and it will be available by webcast within the Investor Relations section of our web site at newpark.com. Please note that the information disclosed on today's call is current as of February 22, 2024.

Speaker 1

At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will open the line for questions. And with that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Matthew Leningan. Thank you, Greg, and welcome

Speaker 2

to everyone joining us on today's call. I'm pleased to share that the Newpark team continued to execute a high level in the Q4, maintaining our focus on operational excellence, while also advancing our multiyear business transformation strategy. We entered 2023 with very clear priorities. 1st, a focus on operational efficiencies to drive improvements in returns and consistent free cash flow generation. 2nd, prioritizing investment in the growth of our Industrial Solutions business, while evaluating strategic alternatives for our Fluids business.

Speaker 2

And finally, maintaining a strong balance sheet and returning excess cash generation to our shareholders. I'm pleased to say that in 2023, we delivered on all three. Our Industrial Solutions business delivered 12 percent year on year growth in rental and service revenues, which included solid improvements across all major industry segments, resulting in a 21% increase in segment operating income and a 13% increase in adjusted EBITDA. We continue to strengthen our position within the key utilities transmission market, which is forecasted to grow robustly over the next 3 years with an average of more than $30,000,000,000 per year projected to be spent annually on transmission line projects according to recent EEI survey of asset owners. For the full year 2023 within our Fluids business, our divestitures and restructuring actions along with disciplined balance sheet management and the strong performance of our international businesses contribute to a 15% year over year improvement in adjusted EBITDA and a $69,000,000 reduction in the segment's net working capital, resulting in the segment's strongest return on net assets since 2018.

Speaker 2

Notably, our Eastern Hemisphere delivered 28% year over year growth to a record $257,000,000 of revenues in 2023, while our Canada operations also delivered 12% year over year revenue growth. As a result, Newpark delivered $74,000,000 of free cash flow in 2023. We increased our rental fleet by 11% and continued to prioritize capital for the expansion of our rental and service footprint to serve the multibillion dollar markets. We also launched a process to divest our fluids business and have been working diligently to move that forward. And finally, we reduced our net debt by $54,000,000 and returned $32,000,000 to shareholders through the repurchase of 6,500,000 shares.

Speaker 2

Across the board for full year 2023, we executed against our stated priorities and set the business up for a solid 2024. Turning now to specifics of the Q4. We generated adjusted net income of $4,000,000 or $0.04 per diluted share on revenues of $168,000,000 Within Industrial Solutions, while rental revenues remained in line with Q3 levels, late quarter customer project timing shifts due to non matting related supply chain and local permitting issues impacted expected Q4 direct sales deliveries. Combined with reduced service activities, this led to a 19% sequential decline in segment revenues. The segment delivered $17,000,000 of 4th quarter adjusted EBITDA, reflecting a 36% adjusted EBITDA margin, again highlighting the business' flexibility to maintain strong margins and returns despite mix shifts in revenue sources across quarters.

Speaker 2

As mentioned in my full year comments, despite quarterly fluctuations, we remain encouraged with the longer term outlook in our served markets and our ability to continue penetrate them. Consistent with our Q3 commentary, the Fluid Systems business revenues declined 14% sequentially, primarily reflecting the anticipated pullback in the EMEA and U. S. Regions. On the lower revenues, the segment delivered $5,000,000 of adjusted EBITDA and a 4% adjusted EBITDA margin.

Speaker 2

Importantly, our Fluids team's disciplined focus on working capital management led to a $25,000,000 4th quarter reduction in the segment's net working capital, which ended the year at $171,000,000 With the meaningful reduction in Fluids working capital, we generated $28,000,000 of free cash flow in the 4th quarter, which provided for a $13,000,000 reduction of debt and a $6,000,000 return of capital to shareholders through continued repurchases of our equity in the open market. We also invested $9,000,000 of CapEx, primarily reflecting late quarter additions to our rental fleet to support our expanding rental project pipeline. We finished the year with net debt of $36,000,000 and a 0.5x net leverage ratio. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Greg for his prepared remarks.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Matthew. I'll begin my remarks with the summary of our consolidated and segment level results for the Q4, followed by an update on our outlook for 2024. Our 4th quarter was highlighted by strong cash flow generation, which provided for further expansion of our rental fleet, debt reduction and return of capital to shareholders. Total 4th quarter revenues were generally in line with our expectations on our previous quarterly call with stronger than expected customer activities in international fluids markets offsetting lower revenues from U. S.

Speaker 1

Fluids and lower Industrial Solutions product sales. The Industrial Solutions segment revenue was $46,000,000 in the 4th quarter, with more than 75% coming from rental and service. Rental and service revenues was $36,000,000 for the 4th quarter, an 11% year over year decline. As we highlighted on our November call, customer activity in early Q4 was impacted by more pronounced hot and dry weather conditions, though we saw a steady improvement throughout the quarter and ended the year with much stronger rental utilization. This is a very different dynamic than we faced in the prior year as the Q4 of 2022 was exceptionally robust, benefiting from strength in utility infrastructure project activity combined with the benefit of favorable weather conditions, which drove rental fleet utilization above typical levels.

Speaker 1

Direct sales, which tend to fluctuate based on timing of customer projects, declined $7,000,000 year over year to $11,000,000 for the Q4 as multiple customer project delays shifted the timing of expected sales into 2024. Further, the historical pattern of elevated Q4 purchases from utility customers didn't manifest this year as these customers utilized the remaining capital budgets to fulfill other needs. On a full year basis, rental and service revenues have increased 12%, reflecting growth across all major sectors, while product sales were down slightly. Industrial Solutions segment profitability remained strong in the 4th quarter as reflected by the segment adjusted EBITDA margin of 36%. The Fluid Systems segment generated revenue of $121,000,000 in the 4th quarter, representing a decline of 28% versus the prior year period, with a $44,000,000 decline in U.

Speaker 1

S. Land and $20,000,000 impact from last year's divestitures, partially offset by an $18,000,000 increase from international operations. Our Eastern Hemisphere contributed 63,000,000 or 52 percent of our total fluid systems revenues in Q4. The 4th quarter result reflects a sequential decline from the record Q3 results, primarily driven by the anticipated reductions in the Congo and several European markets, somewhat offset by the restart of activity in Cyprus and an increase in the APAC region. On a year over year basis, our Eastern Hemisphere revenues improved 19%.

Speaker 1

Revenues from Canada increased 21% sequentially to $21,000,000 in the 4th quarter, which reflects a 74% year over year improvement. Our U. S. Operations contributed $37,000,000 of revenue in the 4th quarter. Excluding the divestitures, this reflects a 26% sequential and 54% year over year decline.

Speaker 1

The sequential decline was primarily driven by the continued softening in the U. S. Market activity as well as a notable decline in the average revenue contribution from the rig service. With the effects of the US market softness, we are maintaining our focus on pricing discipline and balance sheet efficiency, resulting in strong cash from U. S.

Speaker 1

Operations. Segment adjusted EBITDA margin was 3.9% in the 4th quarter. As Matthew touched on, we reduced our net working capital in the Fluid Systems business by $25,000,000 in the 4th quarter, including a $14,000,000 reduction in the U. S, reflecting the solid progress driving working capital efficiency. As of the end of the year, the Fluid Systems business has $171,000,000 of net working capital, consisting primarily of receivables and inventory, which represents more than 80% of the segment's net assets employed.

Speaker 1

SG and A expenses were $23,300,000 in the Q4 of 20 sequential and year over year basis is primarily driven by the impacts of short term and long term performance based incentive programs. Interest expense decreased modestly on a sequential basis to $1,900,000 for the 4th quarter, reflecting the effect of the lower overall debt balances.

Speaker 2

Tax expense was $2,400,000 in

Speaker 1

the 4th quarter as we were not able to recognize a tax benefit from the $3,500,000 of impairment charges. The effective tax rate was 39% year to date. Adjusted EPS was $0.04 per diluted share in the Q4 compared to $0.07 in the Q4 of last year, reflecting the effects of lower profitability, partially offset by a 7% decline in our diluted shares outstanding. Operating cash flow was $36,000,000 for the 4th quarter, while $8,000,000 was used to fund our net CapEx with the majority once again directed toward the expansion of our Industrial Solutions rental fleet. We also used $13,000,000 to reduce debt and $6,000,000 to fund share repurchases.

Speaker 1

As a result of stronger than anticipated international receivable collections near the end of the year, our cash balance increased $10,000,000 in the 4th quarter. We generated $28,000,000 of free cash flow in the 4th quarter, bringing our full year free cash flow to $74,000,000 a 93% full year cash conversion of adjusted EBITDA. Let's now turn to the business outlook. Our view on the respective markets and the opportunity remains largely unchanged. For Industrial Solutions, we continue to see strong fundamentals for utility and critical infrastructure spending, which we expect will provide a multiyear tailwind to support our growth plan.

Speaker 1

In terms of our Q1 outlook, we expect modest sequential growth in rental and service revenues. And while we are pleased with the robust pipeline of opportunities on product sales, the timing of customer projects remains dependent upon permitting, supply chain and other factors. For the full year 2024, we anticipate total Industrial Solutions revenues in the $230,000,000 to $240,000,000 range and Industrial Solutions adjusted EBITDA of $80,000,000 to $85,000,000 with segment CapEx of $30,000,000 to 35,000,000 dollars In Fluid Systems, while the U. S. Market outlook remains somewhat challenged in the near term, our Eastern Hemisphere and Canada business units, which contributed roughly 70% of the segment's revenue in Q4, continued to perform at a high Overall, we expect Fluid Systems revenue to improve modestly on a sequential basis in the Q1, with international growth somewhat offset by continued U.

Speaker 1

S. Softness. At this revenue level, we expect segment adjusted EBITDA margins to improve toward the mid single digits, benefiting from international operations. We anticipate corporate office expense will remain fairly in line with our 2023 exit rate for the foreseeable future as we continue to advance the strategic process for the fluids segment. Meanwhile, we expect interest expense and tax rates to remain fairly in line with current levels until we conclude the fluids process.

Speaker 1

In terms of capital allocations, we expect our 2024 net capital investments will remain dependent upon our projected rental revenue growth rate. Beyond our continued organic growth investments in Industrial Solutions, we expect our 2024 cash generation will be primarily used to build liquidity or inorganic growth opportunities following the fluids divestiture or return of capital to shareholders through our programmatic share repurchase program. And with that, I'd like to turn the call back over to Matthew for his concluding remarks.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Greg. As we leave 2023 and look ahead to 2024, I'm pleased with the progress we've made to drive organic commercial growth across the enterprise, while continuing to build a more efficient competitive business. Industrial Solutions once again delivered year over year growth in revenue, EBITDA and margin realization. With our ongoing expansion in the multibillion dollar global worksite access market, we remain optimistic about the longer term prospects for our business. In fluid systems, our international operations continue to deliver significant year over year growth in revenue and profitability, offsetting declines in U.

Speaker 2

S. Land markets with the total Fluids segment delivering the highest return on net assets since 2018. I remain proud of our Global Fluids business as they continue to navigate the changing global landscape, streamlining the U. S. Operations and overhead structures, while enhancing support capabilities within strategic international markets and maintaining a laser focus on safety, exemplary customer service and working capital Our priorities for 2024 are clear.

Speaker 2

Within our Industrial Solutions business, we're prioritizing geographic expansion within the U. S. Across a higher growth regional footprint, utilizing our unique position share gains within our existing markets. We will continue to manage to our return and margin targets, carefully balancing our pricing and fleet utilization as we evolve our project mix towards larger, longer duration projects that provide for more stable revenues, but more competitive pricing dynamics. We will also continue to expand the usage of alternative and recycled materials in our raw materials mix, further cementing our circular plastics credentials and optimizing manufacturing costs without impacting quality, appearance or design capability of our products.

Speaker 2

While volume growth within this business isn't linear, given of permitting and project timing, we remain bullish on the multiyear demand outlook given the pace of new investment within our energy and infrastructure markets and specifically within the utility transmission market considering the growth and spend in this space that I referred to in my opening comments. As we expand our already meaningful relationships across the country with asset owners and their construction partners, we believe this will provide strong long term growth and a reduction in quarter to quarter volume swings such as we experienced in the 4th quarter. We believe our matting portfolio includes the most flexible, lightweight and durable solution in the market, positioning us to win where we compete. As it pertains to our Fluid Systems business, our strategic review remains on track. Given the scope of our International Fluids operations, diligence is time intensive.

Speaker 2

However, we're making good progress with our partners at Lazard to move the process forward and continue to anticipate it will be concluded around mid 2024. Finally, with respect to capital allocation, we continue to optimize our balance sheet while investing in the expansion of our matting fleet and service capabilities. As we move closer towards becoming a pure play industrial solutions business, we see the opportunity to become a strategic acquirer of assets within our existing scope of capabilities, evaluating adjacent markets that enhance our unique value proposition with customers, while supporting a path towards incremental margin expansion over time. In closing, I want to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support, our employees for their dedication to the business, including their commitment to safety and compliance and our customers for their ongoing partnerships. And with that, we'll open the call

Operator

And our first question will come from Aaron Spychalla with Craig Hallum. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Yes. Good morning, Matthew and Greg. Thanks for taking the questions. First for me on the industrial business. I know we had a tough comp year over year with weather, but could you give a little more details on some of the project push out?

Speaker 3

It sounds like it was supply chain permitting. Was that broad based or just a handful of projects? Have those started in the Q1? And then maybe just discuss how the pipeline sits today compared to the past few quarters as we think about growth for 2024? Yes.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Aaron. Hey, on the Q4 shift, it was really 2 specific projects at the end of the day. 1 was related primarily to steel products not being available for the full scope of the project, which caused them to push that. As it stands to its timing, it looks like the utility moved on to other projects and are now planning that for a little later in this year. So it has not yet commenced.

Speaker 2

The other project was related to a local permitting issue that caused that delay and that permitting issue is also still not resolved. So not necessarily what I'd call a systemic issue related to 2 specific projects in this case. As it pertains to pipeline, if we look at where we are on the quoted volume this time, this year versus last, we're seeing sort of strong mid to high teens growth in our quote rates, which is really underpinning the confidence that we referred to in the call.

Speaker 3

All right. Thanks for the color there. And then appreciate the margin guidance for the year, it looks right around the mid-30s, but it's down slightly a little bit year over year. Can you just talk about how you're thinking about price versus volume and mix in 2024, especially with lumber prices where they are? And maybe how recycling factors into that as that starts to grow as a percentage of your mix?

Speaker 1

Yes. I'll start and then I'll have Matthew add to it. But I think the growth that we see in 2024, I think is going to be much more so driven by volume expansion as we penetrate the markets. As Matthew mentioned in his comments, we are intentionally pursuing some of these longer duration projects, which obviously come at a different price point. You're kind of trading utilization and predictability for a little bit of price.

Speaker 1

I wouldn't expect price to be a big movement there, probably kind of gradually reduce as we progress through the year and make that progression to longer term projects.

Speaker 2

Dan, I think you got it.

Speaker 3

All right. And then just maybe one more. I know you didn't guide for fluids explicitly as you have in the past, but just with the decline in the Q4 relative to the past few quarters, are there any other less profitable areas that we need to still step away from? Just want to understand a little more on what drove the 4Q performance and how we should be thinking about that business from here?

Speaker 1

No major changes in the overall business makeup or business changes in the way. Obviously, we're in the midst of the process. And so continuing to do kind of the take of the common sense actions to streamline the overall organization and really adjust to that mix shift. But as we kind of framed up, this thing has shifted pretty dramatically over the past year with now 70% of our revenues here coming from the international piece of the business. So I think that as we look in the near term, I don't see any major changes in that.

Speaker 1

You continue to have the market dynamics of international is where we see the greatest strength and the U. S. Market continues to be struggling as a general market as a whole.

Speaker 3

All right. Thanks for taking the questions. I'll turn it over.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Ann.

Operator

Our next question will come from Amit Dayal with H. C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone.

Speaker 4

Good morning, everyone. Good morning. On the industrial outlook, is that new supported by some concrete backlog or are we just sort of using our pipeline to give that outlook?

Speaker 2

Yes. Amit, it's really pipeline driven. I think in this business, backlog is a harder concept for us. We just look at what our quoted volumes are with various start times throughout the year. They typically tend to be more here and now type project activities that we are actively quoting on in the pipeline.

Speaker 2

So it's really just looking at pipeline volume changes year over year and period over period, which as I sort of said to Aaron, we're looking at high teens sort of growth in our quoted volumes and a fairly stable conversion rate on those, which really driving the which is driving the forward guidance.

Speaker 1

Yes. And just adding to that, just as we saw in Q4, even when you do have firm orders and lock in projects, we find that the timing of those projects starts slide because they are dependent on some other things that are beyond our control.

Speaker 2

Yes. And I mean the interesting thing there is about a year ago they slid in our favor and we had a really strong Q4 with all these things lining up in the quarter this year, it appears that that couldn't be repeated. So it's there are swings and roundabouts.

Speaker 4

Understood. Thank you for that. And the CapEx that's going on into the Industrial segment, is that mainly going to support the rental business or some other projects?

Speaker 2

Yes, primarily it's supporting fleet expansion. There are some maintenance CapEx needs at the plant, but the primary focus is on rental fleet expansion as we look back to look to grow those geographic regions forward and continue to penetrate new customers in the space.

Speaker 1

Yes. In rough round numbers, roughly 75% of our CapEx here this year was really driven by that supporting that growth of that rental fleet. So as we look forward, that's the growth rate in the rental fleet is going to be kind of a key driver of our level of CapEx in the business.

Speaker 4

That's good to hear. And then on the Fluids business side, it still seems, I mean, Lazard is still working on potentially getting some interest. I mean, should we assume that there is no sort of formal bids on the business yet?

Speaker 1

Yes. Without getting into too many details on exactly where the process is, we followed what I frame up as a typical marketing process. As we mentioned previously that process launched in September and then you go through your Phase 1, Phase 2 diligence as Matthew mentioned in his comments, as you can kind of naturally expect when you look at the international complexities and the breadth of the operations, the diligence phase takes a reasonable amount of time. But having said that, we're still seeing kind of the mid year 'twenty four expectation to get the process substantially wrapped.

Speaker 4

That's all I guys. Appreciate it. I'll take my

Speaker 1

other questions offline. Thank you. Thanks, Ed.

Operator

And our next question will come from Bill Dezellem with Peton Capital. Please go

Speaker 5

ahead. Thank you. You had mentioned that in 2023 that 75% of your CapEx was from or directed towards rental fleet expansion. Do you anticipate that same ratio this year?

Speaker 1

I would not expect any major changes in that. Yes. Yes, I think you still have at least 75% or so of our CapEx will be in the form of the fleet expansion.

Speaker 5

And directionally, what geographic regions are you looking to expand in?

Speaker 2

Yes. Bill, really we see some nice growth in sort of the Midwest and Northwest markets opening up as well as a lot of continued activity within our the more traditional markets in the Southeast and Southwest. But in terms of new activity, I think really it's a Midwest focus.

Speaker 5

And then once you have accomplished what you're referencing in the Midwest and the Northwest, what parts of the country would you still be under penetrated in?

Speaker 2

Yes. I don't know how to describe it as under penetrated. I think it's really just we can move fleet fairly efficiently and we can move crews fairly efficiently. What we want to do is as we see sustained activity levels set up, set up more permanent establishments there, it's really going to be a case of using our logistics efficiency to service those project specific areas versus sustained a level of activity in the geographic area. Another way to say that, as we cover the country now, but as we look at where we want to have more established presences for what we see as more sustained activity longer term that they are the areas where we're looking to move fleet to.

Speaker 5

Understood. So there aren't any areas in the country that you are just out not in at this point or at least once you get into the Northwest and Midwest?

Speaker 2

That's right then.

Speaker 5

And if I just think about a map of the United States, the Northwest and the Midwest encompass a really large geographic area. How does that relate to the size of revenue possibility? Does geography equal revenue with these transmission lines? Or is it really more tied to population basis?

Speaker 2

Yes, it's really I mean, it's really more tied to what activity is going on in those spaces in terms of renewable tie ins, is it renewable tie in, project tie in, is it just infrastructure upgrades, is it inter state connections? What the activity levels are to support the kind of the supply goals of the utilities in those geographies? Typically, higher populations, high demand that would drive that kind of thing, but I think it's more generally related to what's actually going on in those markets from an alternate supply and then a reliability perspective.

Speaker 1

Yes, I think you do have some issues, some geographies that have more of an issue with aging of their infrastructure, so therefore need for them to harden the grid, etcetera.

Speaker 5

So what geographies are in need of grid hardening the most? And then second, is our perception correct that the renewables, specifically wind and solar, are most active in terms of new installations in the Midwest basically from the Mississippi West?

Speaker 2

Yes. Bill, I think on a project basis, the call out of the focus in that Midwest area is where we see the activity levels really supporting our push into that space as it pertains to project activities specifically around the renewable times and etcetera. I think as you've called out the geographies and where you see those projects, that's where we're going to be.

Speaker 5

And the grade hardening, where is that most needed?

Speaker 2

I think as you've seen, as we move through the Southeast and the Southwest regions where you've got more exposure to extreme weather events, particularly in the form of hurricanes and things of that nature. But generally, as Greg touched on it, I think the grid across the country is kind of at the outer edge of its age limit. So there's a full court press here to upgrade that to meet the reliability standards and the capacity requirements that society needs.

Speaker 5

Thank you. And then one more totally different direction here. Would you please detail what you hinted at relative to the quote rate increase for the math business and provide us more perspective on that, please?

Speaker 2

Sure. I mean, as we look at our quoting activity, which we're capturing in our systems and we see the level of that from a volume perspective of what's out there in the marketplace. We look year on year and we see that at a point in time this year, the volume quotes that we've been asked to participate in is up in that sort of 15% to 19% year over year, which gives us confidence that the longer term demand in the activity levels lining up with the macro themes you're hearing in terms of utilities, expanding CapEx budgets and talking about the need to upgrade their infrastructure. We're seeing that flow through into project requests. What we have kind of alluded to in the call is, be it supply chain specific or permit specific, the timing of those is becoming less easy to predict.

Speaker 2

So hopefully that covered what you're after, Bill.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you very much.

Operator

Of course. Next we have a follow-up from Aaron Spyhala with Craig Hallum. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Yes. Hi, again. Just maybe a couple others for me. On the free cash flow, can you just maybe talk about how you see that trending in 2024, some of the moving pieces there? I mean, you had a really strong year in 2023 from working capital benefits.

Speaker 3

Just how does that look as we head into 2024?

Speaker 1

Yes. The working capital benefit we saw in 2023, that provided a pretty significant tailwind and that's really the overall revenue driven. As I look to 2024, what I would say is the fundamental model you still see strong free cash flow generation. The one thing that would work as a headwind to that is if you do have a very sharp growth rate in the revenues that would actually that would consume working capital and work against you. But absent that, we see a solid free cash flow generation for the year.

Speaker 1

Q1, I would say I would expect that to be somewhat muted in part because we had a very strong Q4. Q1, you also have certain impact of like payout of your annual incentives. So that kind of against you as well. So I would expect kind of a muted free cash flow generation here in Q1, but solid for the year.

Speaker 3

Got it. Thanks. And then just maybe one last one. On the 800 Series launch, just maybe an update on the progress there. How has uptake been given the performance benefits?

Speaker 3

And just is that something that kind of helps accelerate growth given the value proposition there?

Speaker 2

Yes. And on the 800 Series, we have deployed the majority of that product into our internal fleet. So we're seeing the transportation advantages from the lighter weight in our own internal fleet use. And so really that's what we wanted to do to kind of put that product to work in our own fleet first and then look to expand that to customers into this year and beyond. So I'd say it's all going on track.

Speaker 2

The performance of the product as we predicted and expected is performing like a traditional Dura based product with just that weight advantage that's really helping on the transportation side.

Speaker 3

Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Appreciate it.

Speaker 1

You bet. Thanks, Aaron.

Operator

And that will conclude our time for the question and answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back to Mr. Greg Piantic for any closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Thank you. That concludes our call today. Should you have any questions, please reach out to us using our email at investorsnewpark.com and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

Operator

And that will conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

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Newpark Resources Q4 2023
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