DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND YEAR END 2024 RESULTS
MIDLAND, Texas, March 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Dawson Geophysical Company (NASDAQ:DWSN) (the "Company") today reported unaudited financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Management Comment
Tony Clark, Dawson's President and CEO, commented, "I am proud of the progress the Dawson team made during 2024, generating $2 million of adjusted EBITDA, the Company's first positive annual adjusted EBITDA since 2020. We significantly adjusted our cost structure improving our gross margin1 from 16% in 2023 to 21% in 2024, and reduced our general and administrative expenses by 25% year-over-year. We took our first steps to returning this company to profitability in 2024, we have a strong backlog of projects heading into 2025, with our current backlog for the six months ended September 30, 2025, is greater than 150% of the revenues for the comparable period in 2024.
We believe that we have significant competitive advantage for larger seismic jobs due to our high channel count and our quantity of vibrator energy source units.
We continue to test new single node channels from multiple vendors in the field with promising results, with our pilot program in Canada significantly improving our teams' efficiency and margins. As we continue to build out our backlog we may invest in new single node channels.
We believe that we laid the foundation for future success in 2024, and we expect to build on that foundation in 2025, which will result in continued improvement in our operating results and cash flows."
Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported revenues of $15.6 million, a decrease of 36% compared to $24.3 million for the comparable quarter ended December 31, 2023. Revenue included reimbursable revenue of $1.9 million and $5.7 million for the quarters ended December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively. Gross margin1 for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, was 23% compared to 22% for the comparable quarter ended December 31, 2023.
We generated a net loss of $0.8 million or $0.03 per common share. The Company generated positive EBITDA of $0.9 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2024, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported revenues of $74.2 million, a decrease of 23% compared to $96.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Revenue included reimbursable revenue of $20.7 million and $35.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively. Gross margin1 for the year ended December 31, 2024, was 21% compared to 16% for the comparable year ended December 31, 2023.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we generated a net loss of $4.1 million or $0.13 per common share, compared to a net loss of $12.1 million or $0.45 per common share in the prior year. The Company generated Adjusted EBITDA of $2 million in the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $2 million in the year ended December 31, 2023.
The Company had two crews operating throughout the fourth quarter in the United States and into the first quarter and resumed our seasonal operations in Canada. High crew utilization in the fourth quarter resulted in improved margins and profitability.
We ramped up our testing of new single node channels in our West Texas and Canadian operations in the fourth quarter. We have a strong backlog into the second quarter of 2025. We continue to evaluate the purchase of new single node channels, with the testing of this equipment resulting in positive results.
1Defined as fee revenues less fee operating expenses, divided by fee revenues
Capital Budget and Liquidity
The Company's Board of Directors approved a capital budget of $6 million for 2025 allowing us the flexibility to purchase new single node channels if warranted by the expected level of seismic activity in the market.
Cash at December 31, 2024 was $1.4 million and we had positive working capital of $4.6 million.
About Dawson
Dawson Geophysical Company is a leading provider of North American onshore seismic data acquisition services with operations throughout the continental United States and Canada. Dawson acquires and processes 2-D, 3-D and multi-component seismic data solely for its clients, ranging from major oil and gas companies to independent oil and gas operators, as well as providers of multi-client data libraries.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In an effort to provide investors with additional information regarding the Company's preliminary and unaudited results as determined by generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), the Company has included in this press release information about the Company's Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure as defined by Regulation G promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as our net income (loss), before (i) interest expense, net, (ii) income tax expense or benefit, (iii) depreciation, depletion and amortization and (iv) other unusual or non-recurring charges, such as severance expenses. The Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental financial measure to assess:
the financial performance of its assets without regard to financing methods, capital structures, taxes or historical cost basis;
its operating performance over time in relation to other companies that own similar assets and that the Company believes calculate Adjusted EBITDA in a similar manner; and
the ability of the Company's assets to generate cash sufficient for the Company to pay potential interest costs.
The Company also understands that such data are used by investors to assess the Company's performance. However, the term Adjusted EBITDA is not defined under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), and Adjusted EBITDA is not a measure of operating income or operating performance presented in accordance with GAAP. When assessing the Company's operating performance, investors and others should not consider this data in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss), cash flow from operating activities or other cash flow data calculated in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the Company's Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to Adjusted EBITDA or similarly titled measures utilized by other companies since other companies may not calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner as the Company. Further, the results presented by Adjusted EBITDA cannot be achieved without incurring the costs that the measure excludes: interest, taxes, and depreciation and amortization. A reconciliation of the Company's Adjusted EBITDA to its net loss is presented in the table following the text of this press release.
Forward-Looking Statements
In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Company cautions that statements in this press release which are forward-looking and which provide other than historical information involve risks and uncertainties that may materially affect the Company's actual results of operations. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors. These risks include, but are not limited to, the Company's status as a controlled public company, which exempts the Company from certain corporate governance requirements; the limited market for the Company's shares, which could result in the delisting of the Company's shares from Nasdaq and the Company no longer being required to make filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"); the impact of general economic, industry, market or political conditions; dependence upon energy industry spending; changes in exploration and production spending by our customers and changes in the level of oil and natural gas exploration and development; the results of operations and financial condition of our customers, particularly during extended periods of low prices for crude oil and natural gas; the volatility of oil and natural gas prices; changes in economic conditions; the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, related economic repercussions and the resulting impact on demand for oil and gas; surplus in the supply of oil and the ability of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+ to agree on and comply with supply limitations; the duration and magnitude of the unprecedented disruption in the oil and gas industry currently resulting from the impact of the foregoing factors, which is negatively impacting our business; the potential for contract delays; reductions or cancellations of service contracts; limited number of customers; credit risk related to our customers; reduced utilization; high fixed costs of operations and high capital requirements; operational challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, including logistical challenges, protecting the health and well-being of our employees and remote work arrangements; industry competition; external factors affecting the Company's crews such as weather interruptions and inability to obtain land access rights of way; whether the Company enters into turnkey or day rate contracts; crew productivity; the availability of capital resources; disruptions in the global economy, including export controls and financial and economic sanctions imposed on certain industry sectors and parties as a result of the developments in Ukraine and related activities, and whether or not a future transaction or other action occurs that causes the Company to be delisted from Nasdaq and no longer be required to make filings with the SEC. A discussion of these and other factors, including risks and uncertainties, is set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on March 22, 2024. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(unaudited and amounts in thousands, except share and per share data)
Three Months Ended December 31,
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
(unaudited)
Operating revenues
Fee revenue
$
13,752
$
18,558
$
53,479
$
61,447
Reimbursable revenue
1,885
5,700
20,675
35,399
15,637
24,258
74,154
96,846
Operating costs:
Fee operating expenses
10,634
14,395
42,346
51,508
Reimbursable operating expenses
1,885
5,450
20,675
35,149
Operating expenses
12,519
19,845
63,021
86,657
General and administrative
2,199
2,757
9,460
12,559
Severance expense
400
2,208
486
2,208
Depreciation and amortization
1,353
1,665
5,736
8,492
16,471
26,475
78,703
109,916
Loss from operations
(834)
(2,217)
(4,549)
(13,070)
Other income (expense):
Interest income
18
140
308
576
Interest expense
(39)
(50)
(159)
(103)
Other income (expense), net
24
21
288
354
Loss before income tax
(831)
(2,106)
(4,112)
(12,243)
Income tax benefit (expense)
29
—
(7)
96
Net loss
(802)
(2,106)
(4,119)
(12,147)
Other comprehensive (loss) income:
Net unrealized (loss) income on foreign exchange rate translation
(330)
136
(571)
161
Comprehensive loss
$
(1,132)
$
(1,970)
$
(4,690)
$
(11,986)
Basic loss per share of common stock
$
(0.03)
$
(0.07)
$
(0.13)
$
(0.45)
Diluted loss per share of common stock
$
(0.03)
$
(0.07)
$
(0.13)
$
(0.45)
Weighted average equivalent common shares outstanding
30,983,437
30,812,329
30,879,855
26,752,055
Weighted average equivalent common shares outstanding -
assuming dilution
30,983,437
30,812,329
30,879,855
26,752,055
DAWSON GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(amounts in thousands, except share data)
December 31,
December 31,
2024
2023
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
1,385
$
10,772
Restricted cash
—
5,000
Short-term investments
—
265
Accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses of $250
