D. Childers
Thank you, Megan, and good morning, everyone. With a strong first quarter in the books, 2024 looks to be a promising and exciting year. Momentum in Archrock's earnings power is carrying into 2024, reflecting our excellent operational execution, high-quality asset base and innovative processes and technology. Among the highlights, our net income of $41 million was up from $16 million in the first quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA of $131 million was up $34 million or 35% versus the prior year period. This increase was driven by pricing and profitability gains across all segments. We maintained our sector-leading financial position, driving our leverage ratio to an all-time low of 3.2x. We continue to increase shareholder returns. Our quarterly dividend per share was up 10% compared to a year ago, all while maintaining robust dividend coverage of 3.2x for the quarter. In addition, we continued repurchasing shares under our buyback authorization. With inception-to-date program purchases now totaling more than $10 million at an average price of $12.11 per share. As Doug will discuss, because of our strong first quarter performance and confidence in our business outlook, we have raised the midpoint of our adjusted EBITDA guidance for the full year. Given the magnitude of the operational and financial improvements we've achieved as well as the consistency and execution we've demonstrated, I'd like to take a moment to pause and say a couple of things. First, I want to thank our employees. Our performance is the result of the dedication and operating expertise our employees bring to deliver leading safety performance and excellent customer service each and every day. Thank you to the team. Thank you for leading at Archrock and for a job well done. Second, I want to expand further on the remarkable and enduring business we've built. This year marks the 70th anniversary of our company's founding. And we kicked off celebrations with the ringing of the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange last Friday. This milestone has given us the opportunity to reflect on where the company has been, the premier compression company we've built and the promise that lies ahead of our transformed business. From our first rate customer base, to our highly standardized fleet and excellent customer service for which we are known in the field to our most recent digitization and emissions reduction efforts, the actions we've taken to enhance our business should benefit our performance for years to come. We also continue to have confidence in the strong compression market fundamentals and see 3 primary drivers which should support a sustained opportunity set for our truck. First, growth in natural gas production. The U.S. natural gas production forecast we track are indicating flat natural gas production for 2024 following a record production year in 2023. Associated gas production in key Archrock oil-producing markets like the Permian, however, is still expected to increase. That forecasted increase in Permian natural gas production is certainly consistent with the increase in compression demand we have and continue to experience there in 2024. In addition, the pause in total U.S. natural gas volume growth is expected to be short-lived given the visible slate of global LNG projects that have already been approved and sanctioned and are expected to result in increased U.S. natural gas production over the next 5 years and in a sustained call on U.S. natural gas production longer term. Domestic power generation could also provide upside to current domestic natural gas demand and production estimates as we're just beginning to understand the magnitude and timing of the possible opportunity that onshoring of AI data centers creates. The second factor is the heightened capital discipline across the energy sector. Our customers, peers and suppliers are balancing growth with returns to shareholders. After years of poor financial performance within the energy space, investors are demanding higher financial returns, and we believe the increased level of capital discipline that we're seeing throughout the oil and gas value chain supports this inflection. Third and finally, we're excited to be a crucial part of the value chain to provide cleaner, affordable and reliable energy to the U.S. and the world in the form of natural gas. Through Archrock's incremental investments in electric motor drive compression, and our work to bring methane emissions detection, measurement and capture solutions to market. We intend to do our part. Success by the sector would help extend the use of our affordable and abundant natural gas resource as a low emission source of reliable power generation as well as the use of billions of dollars of existing energy infrastructure for decades to come. Moving on to our segments. Our contract operations business segment continued to show broad-based signs of strength, including historically high levels of utilization, pricing and profitability which we currently expect to maintain throughout the year given tightness in the market. A few observations of what we're experiencing will help demonstrate the market strength we are seeing. Demand, pricing and returns for new build equipment remain robust. We are sold out of 2024, and we continue to book equipment well into 2025. While the growth continues to be led by the Permian, we're also seeing demand for new equipment in other markets, including the Rockies. Similar to 2023, stock activity remains at low levels. And market tightness in associated gas plays, like the Permian, is being further supported by demand for gas lift given its cost effectiveness and reliable uptime. Today, gas lift represents around 22% of our operating horsepower. This strength is evident in our quarterly performance metrics. We exited the first quarter with near record utilization of 95% and based on what we see in the Markets Day, we expect to be able to maintain utilization in the mid-90s this year. Given high levels of horsepower utilization for Archrock and the industry, we're maintaining the pricing prerogative and capturing additional rate increments. The first quarter marks our 10th consecutive quarter of sequential increases in our monthly revenue per horsepower, which increased by 5% to $20.62. Continued price increases and strong cost control drove an increase in our gross margin percentage to 65% up 700 basis points year-over-year and 100 basis points compared to the last quarter. Looking ahead, we're focused on defending this high level of profitability and remain ambitious about driving additional profitability gains, especially as we leverage the capabilities of our investments in innovative technology to digitize and increasingly automate our operating platform. The Aftermarket Services segment had a solid quarter during what is typically a seasonally slower period. Revenues were up 8% year-over-year due to higher pricing and a great service is driving repeat business with customers. First quarter profitability exceeded our guidance expectation as we continue to focus on higher quality and higher-margin work. Shifting to our capital allocation framework for 2024. We remain committed to free cash flow generation as well as our returns-based approach to capital allocation. We're increasing capital returns to shareholders. Our recently declared quarterly dividend per share was up 10% on an annual basis, and our Board of Directors recently approved an extension of our share repurchase authorization with renewed available capacity of $50 million. We're continuing to meet the needs of our customer base through new build investments. These investments will be funded by operations and supported by attractive returns. Finally, we maintain an industry-leading balance sheet and leverage position. With the debt we've repaid over the last 4 years, and more recently, the strong earnings momentum in the last several quarters, we are well within our target leverage ratio of 3 to 3.5x. In summary, we have confidence in the favorable and durable macro environment, particularly given strong oil prices, which are driving sustainable compression demand in our key associated gas markets led by the Permian Basin. Our transform platform is delivering meaningful growth in quarterly revenue, gross margin and adjusted EBITDA. Strong cash flow is funding high-return investments in our fleet and increased return of capital to investors. While we also continue to maintain a sector-leading balance sheet and financial flexibility. As I opened with the call with, I am proud of Archrock's 70-year legacy. But with the market we see ahead at our transformed platform, I'm even more excited about our company's future. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Doug for a review of our first quarter performance and provide additional color on our updated 2024 guidance.