--- title: "YPF Sociedad Anónima Q1 Call Highlights Shale Strength" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/287003483.md" description: "YPF Sociedad Anónima reported strong Q1 results, with revenues of $4.95 billion and record EBITDA of nearly $1.6 billion. Shale production reached 205,000 barrels per day, driving growth despite demand softness. Free cash flow surged to $871 million, and net leverage improved to 1.57x. The company is advancing LNG projects and has seen a significant drop in conventional oil production. Management acknowledged a temporary pause in price increases due to domestic demand weakness." datetime: "2026-05-20T04:11:19.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/287003483.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287003483.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/287003483.md) --- # YPF Sociedad Anónima Q1 Call Highlights Shale Strength Ypf Sociedad Anonima ((YPF)) has held its Q1 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call. ### Claim 55% Off TipRanks - Unlock hedge fund-level data and powerful investing tools for smarter, sharper decisions - Discover top-performing stock ideas and upgrade to a portfolio of market leaders with Smart Investor Picks YPF Sociedad Anónima delivered a notably upbeat first quarter earnings call, highlighting record profitability, rapid shale growth and accelerating deleveraging, even as management acknowledged demand softness and infrastructure constraints. Executives framed the period as a turning point in operational efficiency and cash generation, arguing that the company is now structurally stronger despite some near-term headwinds. ## Revenue Momentum Backed by Pricing Tailwinds YPF reported revenues of $4.95 billion, advancing 9% quarter-on-quarter and 7% year-on-year. Management credited rising international prices and a closer alignment of domestic gasoline and diesel prices with international parity, underscoring improved pricing power in its core fuel business. ## Record First-Quarter EBITDA and Robust Margins Adjusted EBITDA nearly reached $1.6 billion, marking the strongest first quarter in the company’s history. The corresponding margin of 32% reflected a 24% sequential and 28% annual increase, signaling that cost discipline and better mix are materially enhancing profitability. ## Free Cash Flow Surge and Rapid Deleveraging Free cash flow hit $871 million, an improvement of roughly $1.8 billion versus the prior year’s first quarter. Net leverage dropped to 1.57x from 1.9x in Q4 2025 and a 2.1x peak in Q3 2025, while liquidity climbed to $1.7 billion, giving YPF more financial flexibility. ## Shale Output Becomes the Growth Engine Shale oil production reached 205,000 barrels per day, representing 76% of total oil output and rising 5% sequentially and 39% year-on-year. Management reiterated that the company is on track to average about 215,000 barrels per day for the year and to exit December around 250,000 barrels per day. ## La Angostura Sur Emerges as a Flagship Asset La Angostura Sur has grown from roughly 2,000 barrels per day to about 55,000 barrels per day in only 18 months, multiplying output around 25 times. The field now supplies about a quarter of YPF’s shale volumes, with breakeven below $40 per barrel, lifting costs near $3 per barrel and a plateau target near 100,000 barrels per day. ## Material Cuts in Lifting Costs Upstream lifting costs declined 42% year-on-year to $8.8 per barrel of oil equivalent, showcasing broad-based efficiency gains. Shale hub lifting costs are around $4 per barrel of oil equivalent, with La Angostura Sur near $3 and pro forma upstream costs near $8 when excluding divested assets. ## Operational Efficiency Records in Drilling and Fracturing Drilling speed reached 364 meters per day, up 12% versus 2025, while fracturing efficiency improved to 11.2 stages per set per day, a 15% gain. YPF also logged a new fracturing record with 110 continuous pumping hours and 52 stages in under five days, supported by longer laterals averaging about 3,450 meters. ## Downstream and Midstream Underpin Earnings Processing levels hit a record 344,000 barrels per day, up 3% quarter-on-quarter and 8% year-on-year, with refinery utilization around 102%. The midstream and downstream segment delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of $19.1 per barrel of oil equivalent in Q1, improving further to about $24 per barrel in April. ## M&A Proceeds and Market Access Strengthen the Balance Sheet YPF collected approximately $504 million from asset sales, including about $410 million from Profertil and around $85 million from a partial sale of Manantiales Behr. The company also raised nearly $1 billion via a $550 million tap of its 2034 bond at 8.1%, its lowest yield in nine years, plus roughly $285 million in local bonds, enabling about $750 million of debt prepayments. ## Strategic Progress on LNG and Infrastructure The company reported progress on its LNG initiatives, noting an 8-year agreement for 2 million tons per year through its trading arm and advancing an Argentina LNG project with partners. Management highlighted strong interest from institutional investors, procurement advances, and added pipeline capacity, including increased allocation on VMOS and a rising stake toward 30%. ## Domestic Demand Weakness and Pricing Pause Management noted that gasoline demand in late March fell around 10% versus early March, signaling sensitivity to price moves and macro conditions. In response, YPF temporarily postponed further pass-through of international price increases for 45 days, accepting short-term commercial uncertainty to stabilize volumes. ## Natural Gas Production Continues to Decline Natural gas output averaged 32.8 million cubic meters per day, down 12% year-on-year as the company continues exiting mature conventional fields. Although some of this decline is offset by rising shale gas, the strategic shift results in lower overall conventional gas volumes. ## Sharp Drop in Conventional Oil Production Conventional oil production fell more than 45% year-on-year to 66,000 barrels per day, reflecting a deliberate refocusing away from mature assets. On a pro forma basis, excluding divested fields, conventional volumes would be around 35,000 barrels per day, emphasizing the depth of YPF’s pivot to shale. ## Evacuation Constraints Limit Near-Term Acceleration Management flagged infrastructure and evacuation bottlenecks as a key constraint on accelerating the upstream ramp-up, especially into late 2025 and 2026. While capacity expansions at VMOS and Oldelval are underway, these limits temper how quickly capital can be redeployed into high-return shale projects. ## CapEx Mix Skewed Toward Conventional in Q1 First-quarter capital expenditures were close to $1 billion, with management indicating about 78% directed to conventional operations. CapEx declined roughly 10% sequentially and was lower year-on-year due to one-off items in the prior period, foreshadowing a heavier spend toward shale and infrastructure later this year. ## Higher Cost Envelope for Argentina LNG The total investment estimate for the Argentina LNG project, including upstream, rose to about $24 billion from roughly $20 billion previously discussed. This higher figure reflects reallocation among project segments and the scaling up of the overall development, adding to the capital intensity investors must weigh. ## Short-Term Pricing and Demand Uncertainty Management pointed to volatility stemming from geopolitical tensions and rapid oil price movements as a factor behind consumer caution. The timing of further domestic fuel price adjustments will be reviewed once the 45-day buffer period ends, leaving near-term pricing and demand trends somewhat unsettled. ## Guidance Points to Continued Shale Growth and Deleveraging YPF reaffirmed 2026 CapEx guidance at $5.5 billion to $5.8 billion, signaling a ramp-up in later quarters after spending about $1 billion in Q1, and targeting shale oil output of roughly 215,000 barrels per day for 2025 with a 250,000 barrel per day exit rate. The company plans a 19-rig program by year-end, aims to lift La Angostura Sur toward a 100,000 barrel per day plateau, expects further deleveraging from a 1.57x net leverage starting point, intends to sustain strong midstream and downstream margins, and is working toward a year-end decision on the Argentina LNG project while reassessing domestic fuel pricing once the current buffer expires. YPF’s latest earnings call painted a picture of a company firmly in transition toward a shale-driven, efficiency-focused model, with record margins and strong free cash flow supporting rapid balance sheet repair. While weaker demand, shrinking conventional volumes, infrastructure bottlenecks and rising LNG capex keep risk on the table, management’s tone and numbers suggested that the structural positives currently dominate the investment story. ### Related Stocks - [YPF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/YPF.US.md) - [IEO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IEO.US.md) - [XOP.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XOP.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Argentina's YPF registers proposed $25B oil project for RIGI incentive program](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286621933.md) - [Eni considers third floating LNG platform off Mozambique](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286869979.md) - [Lithium Argentina Reports First Quarter 2026 Results | LAR Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286080659.md) - [Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 Train 6 produces first LNG](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286934320.md) - [USW 7-1 Says BP Gives No Clear Answer on Ending Whiting Lockout](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286812565.md)