管理層發言
Thank you for your continued patience. Your meeting will begin shortly. If you need assistance, a member of our team will be happy to help you. Your meeting is about to begin. Hello, and welcome, everyone. Joining today's Clean Energy Fuels Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session. To register to ask a question at any time, please press *1. Please note, this call is being recorded. We are standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Tom Driscoll. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Earlier this afternoon, Clean Energy released financial results for the second quarter ended 06/30/2026. If you did not receive the release, it is available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website, where the call is also being webcast. There will be a replay available on the website for 30 days. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that some of the information contained in the news release and on this conference call contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and the company's actual results could differ materially from those contained in such statements. Several factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are described in detail in the Risk Factors section of Clean Energy's Form 10-Q filed today. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements or supply new information regarding the circumstances after the date of this release. The company's non-GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA will be reviewed on the call and exclude certain expenses that the company's management does not believe are indicative of the company's core business operating results. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. The directly comparable GAAP information, reasons why management uses non-GAAP information, the definition of non-GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA, and a reconciliation between these non-GAAP and GAAP figures is provided in the company's press release, which has been furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K today. With that, I will turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Barclay F. Corbus.
Thank you, Tom. Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we reported solid results for the second quarter: $106 million of revenue, 63 million gallons of RNG sold and $16 million of adjusted EBITDA. These results were in line with our expectations and keep us on track for our annual financial outlook, which we are maintaining. We kept our balance sheet strong and finished the quarter with $138 million in cash and short-term investments. Upstream RNG production business saw improvement in the second quarter, helped by better weather compared to the first quarter and continued ramp up at our two largest projects, South Fork in Texas and East Valley in Idaho. There is still more work to be done as we ramp production and improve operations across our portfolio, and we expect continued improvement in the second half of the year. In addition to our eight operating RNG projects, we have three projects under construction through our joint venture with Moss Energy Works. We continue to make good progress and expect two projects to come online later this year with the final project finishing up next year. The section 45Z clean fuel production credit is an important value driver for our RNG projects. We continue to await Treasury's finalization of the 45Z rules and credit values, which is now expected in the fourth quarter. We believe the finalized rule and updated GREET model, once released, will positively impact our upstream results in 2026 and the years ahead. Our RNG fuel volume from heavy-duty trucking held steady during the quarter. We are seeing a handful of fleets add small numbers of trucks equipped with the X15N, but with the uncertainty surrounding the final 2027 standards recently released by the EPA, there has been a large prebuy of legacy diesel trucks. At the same time, we and others remain deeply engaged with many fleets to show strong interest in RNG, particularly with higher diesel prices. Over the past four to five months, we increased our advertising to target the trucking industry, emphasizing RNG's low, stable price compared to diesel. That effort has generated measurable interest and leads with potential new customers. I also hope you saw the press release we distributed earlier this week about the growing natural gas heavy-duty truck market in Canada. We recently completed two additional stations, including a critical node in British Columbia just outside Vancouver, that completes a Western Canadian natural gas fueling network. Canada has extremely high taxes on diesel and high truck mileage, which makes the cost comparison with natural gas all the more attractive. With the Cummins X15N arriving in the Canadian market, fleets that use a lot of fuel are responding very positively. As I mentioned on our last call, our legacy markets in transit and refuse continue to provide a solid foundation for us. Twenty-five years after the first CNG buses rolled into cities, the transit market continues to be strong with new opportunities and new wins. In fact, just last week, the Federal Transit Administration announced their funding will prioritize low-emission solutions like CNG over zero-emission buses. Our fueling expertise also creates opportunities beyond RNG. Clean Energy has been awarded more contracts than any other company to build hydrogen fueling stations for transit agencies that are expanding with fuel-cell buses, reinforcing our leadership in alternative fuel infrastructure. Last week, we announced the latest and largest hydrogen project to date, a $27 million contract at the Orange County Transportation Authority to design and build a new private station. This station will support OCTA's existing fleet of 10 fuel-cell buses plus the 40 buses the agency plans to add, demonstrating both the strength of our customer relationships and the scalability and flexibility of our platform. With nearly 30 years operating in the natural gas sector, our in-house capabilities also extend beyond vehicle fueling and RNG production. As we all know, the country is experiencing a rapidly evolving energy market and power grids are overtaxed. Because of this, we see emerging opportunities for Clean Energy and our ability to serve independent power solutions. Today, no one has nationwide compression capabilities like we do. CNG does not have to go into a vehicle tank; large volumes can be put into tube trailers for customers that need power but may have issues hooking up with the local grid or are not proximate to a natural gas pipeline. We can solve that problem. We currently serve customers across a range of natural gas solutions, and as demand for reliable, cleaner energy grows, customers are increasingly looking to us for these solutions. So let me share a few examples. As many of you know, we deliver LNG marine bunker fuel to Pasha at the Port of Long Beach and have been doing this for the past three years. We produce the LNG at our plant in Boron, California, transport it to the port using our fleet of LNG cryogenic tanker trucks, and provide fueling services that enable Pasha container ships to continually operate on cleaner-burning LNG. Our LNG team has experience that includes designing and building LNG systems for gas-to-power applications. For example, we were recently awarded contracts for two projects in Puerto Rico that will provide energy security and resiliency for a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility owned by a global health care provider and another for a 6-megawatt power plant. For customers that would rather operate facilities with cleaner, less expensive natural gas versus fuel oil, or cannot get enough electric power, we deliver compressed natural gas with our fleet CNG tube trailers to commercial and industrial customers that do not have pipeline access. We have long-standing relationships with large-volume customers, but we are also discovering new customers and new markets. Just recently, we signed a contract to supply CNG to a large fulfillment center in California that needs a bridge fuel solution for its power generation while it indefinitely awaits a utility connection. Clean Energy is uniquely positioned to provide natural gas solutions to customers across multiple fuel types, multiple applications, and multiple regions in the United States and Canada. We have room to grow here and we are excited about it. Finally, I want to recognize Bartolomeo Frabotta, who we recently appointed as our Chief Operating Officer. Improving execution and operational performance and driving technology throughout the company is a top priority for us. Bart is the right leader for that work. Over his 15 years at Clean Energy, he has been central to building and running our company. I look forward to what his leadership will help us accomplish. Now, with that, it is Rob's turn.
Okay. Thank you, Clay. Good afternoon to everyone. Overall, our second quarter performance was in line with our expectations from both the financial performance and fuel volume standpoint. Maintaining our full-year guidance assumes improved financial performance in the second half of 2026, which is consistent with our original expectations. Thus far in 2026, fuel pricing, including RIN and LCFS credit values, has been favorable. Operating expenses remain on plan and fuel volumes are meeting expectations. Our outlook for 2026 also assumes that final guidance on the GREET model for the 45Z production tax credit will be issued before year end, and that could provide up to $5 million of incremental adjusted EBITDA. Now, if the guidance is delayed or provides minimal benefit over the current production tax credit values, adjusted EBITDA would come in below our $70 to $75 million range. Turning to volumes: second quarter fuel volumes increased by 7% year over year to 81.8 million gallons. Approximately two-thirds of the growth came from conventional natural gas, driven by additional fueling locations for large fleet customers for which we also provide maintenance services. RNG volumes increased 3% year over year to 3.2 million gallons, reflecting normal variations across customer sectors. As noted on our first quarter earnings call, RNG volumes declined sequentially because the first quarter included incremental deliveries to customers outside our station network. Through June, RNG volumes remained ahead of our plan. RNG production volume from our dairy projects was 2.1 million gallons for the second quarter of 2026, well above the prior year period as our RNG upstream portfolio continues to ramp. Consequently, we saw a notable improvement in the operating results of our RNG upstream business in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. This improvement was contemplated in our plan and guidance. Second quarter revenue was $106.4 million, up from $102 million in the prior-year period. Higher station construction revenue and increased rent and LCFS credit values more than offset lower commodity prices and customer pricing. As expected, revenue declined sequentially from the first quarter, primarily due to lower natural gas prices and reduced gas trading volatility consistent with normal seasonal patterns. Fuel margins, including RIN and LCFS credits, were largely in line with our plan for the second quarter of 2026. Fuel and customer mix variations modestly reduced margins during the quarter, which is normal and factored into our outlook for 2026. Our cash and investments of $138 million at the end of June were up from $126 million at the end of March. Through June, we contributed $24 million to our Moss Energy Works dairy joint venture, followed by an additional $12 million in July. Less than $5 million remains to be contributed before the projects are placed in service. And with that, operator, please open the call to questions.
分析師問答
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 on your keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press *2. Once again, that is *1 to ask a question. We will take our first question from Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hi, Clay. Hi, Rob. Karen here. So maybe if we could just start with the X15N. I know that uptake has been slower than some expected. Could you talk about what you are seeing in terms of the incremental cost? For some time, that was one of the areas of pushback. I know you mentioned that there is a heavy diesel prebuy. It is also a tough environment for fleets given what has happened to diesel prices, but just curious if at least the incremental cost piece has normalized to an extent.
Well, as we think about the incremental cost, one thing that has, once again, I think confused the market is the delay on the certification for the 2027 engine and what that has meant for diesel OEMs. To a certain extent, Cummins and other OEMs had already invested in the technology that was going to increase the price of the diesel engine, which would decrease the incremental cost for the alternative engines. With that in disarray, it is unclear what the timing will be. From what we heard on the Cummins earnings call, they plan to roll it out during the rest of 2027 rather than all at once in January. Ultimately, you still are going to see that incremental cost decrease as diesels become more expensive. We continue to work with our partners in the industry, whether it is with fuel tank providers, dealers, or OEMs, to see what we can do to get that price down. I do not think we have seen major movements in the actual price yet; it's more about how each participant can chip in to help bring that price down so the incremental payback comes down to a reasonable level. Importantly, it is not just the incremental price; it is how much fleets save on fuel. Higher diesel prices help our value proposition, and volatility in diesel prices also helps. That is why we increased our advertising to highlight that in the trade this past quarter. We think it was a good investment because it has resulted in many more appointments and discussions. It is the type of investment that should drive future growth.
And then, Rob, maybe one for you. You mentioned that your EBITDA guidance includes up to $5 million incremental depending on the 45Z outcome. But you also said if the guidance is delayed or minimal, adjusted EBITDA could be below the $70 to $75 million range. Can you talk through the puts and takes as we think about that, and whether that is more a timing issue or potential magnitude?
Yeah. When we issued our guidance at the beginning of the year, we believed that when the guidance comes out on the 45Z GREET model, it would have an improved value for the production tax credits. We factored up to about $5 million into our guidance for that potential change. We were also expecting that guidance to come out sooner than it has, so the slip has moved it closer to year end. If the guidance is delayed past year end or approval is effectively moved into 2027, then you would not get that benefit in 2026. Otherwise, the value could be different depending on the final GREET values. We think the outcome will be positive to us, but timing matters. If it is delayed or provides minimal benefit relative to current values, adjusted EBITDA would be lower than the $70 to $75 million range.
Okay. So in your view, it is more about timing — whether it gets acted on in time to impact 2026 results rather than the spectrum of potential outcomes. Exactly?
Thanks, Eric.
Thank you. Our next question comes from Rob Brown with Lake Street Capital Markets.
Hi, Clay. Hi, Rob. I wanted to follow up on your comments about the interest level increasing with diesel fuel prices. You said you were advertising and saw more activity. Given the diesel price change and the spread now, what is your view on fleet adoption and the industry shifting toward natural gas?
Well, I do not think adoption has dramatically changed overnight. We remain optimistic because as the engine technology matures and as fleets test it, performance improves. Early alpha testing of engines had some issues that have since been worked out. As you get more use cases, you tune the engine for the application, get the right transmissions, and reduce mileage penalties. Combine that with diesel price dynamics and you get a compelling case for fleets. That said, regulatory uncertainty has caused many fleets to pause and wait to see how things settle out before making large commitments. What we are seeing, and what we like, is fleets testing the X15N in smaller numbers — for example, in Canada we have 35 X15Ns spread across seven or eight fleets. That indicates fleets are testing it, putting miles on it, and if they have good experiences we expect adoption to pick up. We are optimistic.
And on the RNG upstream business, it was close to breakeven EBITDA in the quarter and it sounds like it is crossing into positive. How do you see that trend line? How much more to go in terms of maturity of those units that are running or installations that are running?
We see a lot of opportunity for improvement at the plants. There are always site-specific operational variables, such as temperature or herd production, but the trend line is going in the right direction. We have sufficient manure at a number of the facilities, and we are implementing process improvements. Two of the Moss projects are coming online this fall and the third early next year. We expect the second half of the year to be much better than the first half. As volumes increase, overhead is covered more easily and margins improve. If you layer on top of that potential 45Z enhancements, the financial impact would be even more significant. Overall, we are optimistic.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you. We will move next with Nate Pendleton with Texas Capital. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions.
Hi, Nate. How are you doing?
Doing well. Regarding the opportunities to support power generation that you highlighted in your prepared remarks, how large is the pipeline of opportunities that you are assessing and can you frame how much investment would be needed to meet any incremental demand there?
We have a subsidiary called NG Advantage in the Northeast that has been working with off-pipeline customers for a long time and has an established business. We have about 100 tube trailers and significant compression capacity there. As we encounter facilities that have messy interconnection issues — everything from EV charging to fulfillment centers and data centers — we are getting many inbound requests to service these customers. Some opportunities are short-term, others are longer-term. We have compression capacity reserved across the United States that is typically used for trucking but is underutilized, and we have excess tube trailers. To test this market, we can use existing assets and infrastructure, so there is little to no upfront incremental capital required. As we see more opportunities and assess the returns profile, we will determine whether to make additional investments. These are not large, multi-year capital commitments like a $200 million dairy project in Idaho; these are smaller opportunities justified by contracts in place. We do see a lot of growth potential and the opportunity is enabled by our 600 fueling stations across the country that have excess compression capacity.
Can you talk about the potential size and cadence of opportunities on the hydrogen side following the recent announcement with Orange County?
Our approach to hydrogen has been to avoid deploying our own capital where possible. In the transit agency market, a transit agency issues an RFP, we compete based on experience and cost, and typically win cost-plus contracts. In the Orange County example, we have an operations and maintenance agreement and hydrogen fuel supply agreement. We act as a service provider rather than taking commodity or large capital risk. Hydrogen is commercially challenging to pursue independently, but when it is part of a transit agency program supported by state, local, or federal funding, it becomes a viable segment for us to provide services. That is the model we expect to continue.
Understood. Thanks for taking my questions.
Welcome.
Thank you, Nate. We will move next with Matthew Blair with TPH. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good afternoon. I wanted to ask about the California LCFS market. In light of recent supply-demand data that shows a growing quarterly shortage, can you remind us where you stand on LCFS pathways? Is Del Rio still the only provisional LCFS pathway? And do you have an estimate of a reasonable timeline for when you would receive additional California LCFS pathways?
When you say Del Rio, that is a provisional pathway, correct. We also have temporary pathways on seven other projects. We expect that in our joint venture with BP, the five projects will receive provisional status next year. For our larger projects in Idaho — South Fork and East Valley — it is likely later, possibly 2027 or 2028. It is difficult to predict because it is entirely dependent on CARB's timeline. Historically, we have anticipated quarters and been frustrated when it slips to the next quarter. Right now, we hope for late 2027 into 2028, but we are not assuming movement from temporary to provisional in our forecast and are monetizing those pathways at the temporary level.
And could you talk a bit more about the moving parts in your outlook for fuel distribution in the back half of the year? If I am doing my math right, it looks like the guidance implies that H2 would be a little lower than H1. Is that just a seasonal pattern, or are there other moving parts?
No, I do not think it will be lower. It should be relatively consistent, with maybe some improvement in distribution.
Thank you.
Thank you.
At this time, there are no further questions in queue. I will now turn the meeting back to Andrew Corbus for closing comments.
Well, thank you, everybody, for being on the call. I know on a late Thursday afternoon in the beginning of August there are probably things you would rather be doing, so I appreciate your time and interest in Clean Energy. Thanks very much.
Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.