I am Jeff Robertson, Managing Director of Natural Resources at Water Tower Research. Before we begin, I would like to remind participants that our discussion today could include forward-looking statements as of today, May 21, 2025. FET's disclosures regarding such statements can be found under the Investor Relations tab of its corporate homepage. Neal Lux, I'd like to take a minute and thank you for joining us today.
Great to be here, Jeff.
FET provides technological solutions to the oil, natural gas, and industrial and renewable energy industries. The company's products are designed to help customers safely increase operational efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of their activities. Operational efficiency is measured in improved performance, resulting in lower costs for the customer and higher returns on their investments. The company's product lines are segregated into two reporting segments: drilling and completions, and artificial lift and downhole. FET serves some of the largest oilfield services companies in the world with its drilling and completions segment and E&P operators who own and process hydrocarbons with its artificial lift and downhole segments. Neal, let's start with the macro outlook since that's gaining a lot of headlines today.
The clouds over the oil price outlook with respect to global demand growth and OPEC Plus supply, and there's obviously uncertainty around tariff impacts, have caused many oil producers to talk about curbing activity in the second half of the year. Can you share any insight based on your conversations over the last several months with how you think your customers are adapting to the uncertainty?
Yeah. Yeah, Jeff, this topic is definitely, you know, front and center, especially here in the near term. You know, again, U.S. trade, tariff policies, you know, the economic uncertainty there, I think, is dampening the outlook for commodity demand. I think also with OPEC+ announcing faster supply growth, you know, we kind of have a demand slowdown and a supply increase. I think the combination is obviously putting pressure on commodity prices. You know, our customers and discussions we've had with them recently have not really changed their path forward. You know, our expectation is that drilling and completions activity should remain relatively stable in the second quarter, and we expect second quarter results for FET to be essentially flat with the first quarter.
You know, what we've seen is that, you know, when oil prices have declined historically, and they are right now at four-year lows, in past scenarios and past situations, you know, rig activity follows in the next three- to six-month lag. In our earnings call, you know, we laid out a scenario where if oil prices remain at current levels through the remainder of the year, we would expect, you know, rig count to follow and to be at lower levels in the back half of the year. That was part of our reasoning for saying, you know, EBITDA could be closer, you know, to around $85 million for the year for the company.
You know, while we expect the next few quarters, I think, to be challenging, let's say two to four quarters, we believe that this scenario, I think, overall is going to be good for our industry. We are going to eliminate OPEC+ spare capacity. Also, I think if U.S. rig count falls too far, you know, we've heard some E&P commentary that this would stop U.S. production growth, in fact, roll it over, you know, have lower production. I think lower production from the U.S. would ultimately help oil prices recover. I think that would allow our industry to grow significantly again with more activity. I think that's a great scenario. In the meantime, we have some headwinds, but, you know, we are going to continue to manage our costs.
We're going to continue to mitigate tariffs, optimize supply chain, and reduce costs. That was part of our impetus for our $10 million announcement in our earnings call of annualized cost savings. Our focus is on taking cost out, operating at a lower environment, and ultimately generating free cash flow at all levels of activity.
To your point on the production outlook in their first quarter letter to shareholders, I think it was Travis Dyce at Diamondback who mentioned the notion that at least supply in the Permian, where Diamondback operates, could roll over with decreased drilling activity and probably pointing to a little bit of resource maturity in the basin. Oil prices have trended lower. However, gas prices have remained relatively strong. I think in last week, Baker Hughes' rig count, which totaled roughly 585 rigs, about 100 of those were drilling for natural gas. How would a potential increase in gas-directed drilling because of the market strength have an impact on FET's business?
Yeah. You know, for us, our portfolio and what I really like about it is, you know, we're generally agnostic to whether our customers are drilling for oil or gas. It's really overall activity. I think with the, as you mentioned, those stronger gas prices, which I think are being driven by, you know, power gen and AI needs and LNG, that any increase in drilling activity could help offset any potential oil-related activity. Also, when we think about our consumable products on the gas side, when our customers take those products and work in, you know, hotter or higher pressure wells, which where gas is typically found, the equipment's going to work harder and wear out faster. For us, for them to keep up the efficiencies, our customers are overall going to consume more of our products and ultimately generate more revenue.
For us, gas, you know, gas increases are, I think, a net positive, and I'm really encouraged to see that activity hold up.
In the first quarter, or actually over a longer period of time, the U.S. accounts for 50% or a little bit over 50% of FET's revenue. Let's talk a little bit about tariffs. How do you think tariffs could impact the company's U.S. business and U.S. margins?
Yeah. Yeah. Again, in the U.S., we do utilize locally sourced content for a large percentage of our raw materials. But what we found, and it's been my experience, you know, in my career, that tariffs really increase prices broadly, you know, not just on imports. You know, one example, and we gave this in our earnings call, is one of the largest U.S. steel producers announced price increases of over 30% just since January. So for us, we have to get back to our strategy, and we've talked about it, of passing on cost increases to our customers through increased prices. So we have to do that. One area that we did note where we had, I think, an outsized tariff impact was in our valve solutions product line.
I think that's really more due to just the magnitude and the variability of tariffs on China, where almost all U.S. manufacturers source their components for valves. We saw what we characterize as a buyer strike, where customers are just waiting to get more clarity on potentially lower tariffs. We've actually seen that now here in this recent announcement. I think valves is an area where we've had maybe more of an outsized impact and what we're going to manage over the next two quarters. In the near term, have some variability there. I think in the long term, you know, and medium term, we're going to mitigate tariffs through price increases.
If half of the company's revenue is in the U.S., obviously the other half is in international markets, including Canada. How does your global footprint help you manage around the tariff situation with respect to your international businesses?
Yeah. Yeah. I think managing the tariffs is, you know, something we've been working on for a while. We believe first we had to de-risk our supply chain. So we really have, you know, little few of our products depend on one country for our sourcing. As you mentioned, our global footprint also gives us the ability to manufacture in countries where we do not have tariff impacts. For sales in Canada or sales in the Middle East, we can utilize our facilities in those countries to assemble and manufacture the products and ship them directly to the customers without coming into the U.S. and without having an impact on tariffs. For us, our global footprint gives us a lot of optionality and overall is a great advantage for our international sales.
FET has talked a lot over the last couple of years about your beat-the-market strategy. The strategy aims to compete in markets where FET can innovate technological solutions that allow it to gain share and margin accretive type of product lines. Just staying on the theme of the macro in general, how does that strategy adapt to the environment we are in right now where there is some turbulence around current commodity prices, costs, and just at least the near-term outlook?
Yeah. I really do not think the strategy changes at all, right? You know, if the market is down, we are not going to be down as much as the market. When the market is up, we want to grow faster. That is really the key part of our beat-the-market. We are going to do that through our differentiated products and technologies and our global footprint. Also, we try to think about our portfolio really and market share by kind of separating out our revenue. About two-thirds of our revenue comes in product companies or product portfolio companies that we have significant market share. Let us call it 30%-40% combined market share. We call that our leadership markets. In this market, you know, again, we compete with just a few competitors. They are niches. They have high barriers to entry.
Good examples are our coiled tubing, artificial lift, you know, our sand and flow control products at Variperm, and our wireline products. We have great market share in these markets. The other markets we have, we like to call as our growth markets. These are areas where we've identified opportunities to gain outsized share by either expanding regional distribution and sales or by modifying existing products to fit new applications. Importantly, these markets give us the best opportunity to grow much more quickly. We have less share here. A great example of where we've done that is in our casing equipment product family. We have grown our sales significantly in the Middle East by modifying existing products to fit local applications and by utilizing our manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
Putting together, we believe this strategy supports FET in both growing markets and the tougher macro environment that you mentioned. Overall, I think we'd like to look at the outcome of this strategy. I think it's really best illustrated by the growth we've achieved on a revenue per rig metric. We've grown our revenue per rig at a 5% compound annual growth rate for the past five years. As we get back to a normal operating environment, we think we can get back to that growth rate of 5% plus over the next five years. If we continue that, you know, at that level, you know, FET will be a billion-dollar revenue company. With our operating leverage, we're going to turn 30%-40% of that revenue growth into EBITDA and free cash flow. Beat the market is really our key to long-term growth.
When times get a little tougher, companies and customers tend to focus a lot more on costs and efficiencies. There's been a big push by the E&P operators, and I think the oil field service companies as well over the last several years to increase their operational efficiency to get more done with less money. Do you see customers put even a greater premium on the type of technologies that FET delivers that help them accomplish that goal when times are tough? Does that maybe increase share? Does that stick when things get better? Do they say that that product worked really well for us? We'll keep using it if prices go up. Do you actually get to gain share with some of those products that then you can ride the wind when things get better?
Yeah. Yeah, Jeff, maybe starting with the end of your question, the stickiness. I think if we, you know, I think that's really important in times when times are tougher. If you're there with your customer, if you're helping them achieve the goals they need to achieve in a difficult environment, as times get better, boy, I've seen in my career that you really stick close with that customer base. I think that's a big advantage. We are going to continue to do that, to continue to work with our customers. I think overall, though, in our industry, you know, the drive for efficiency is going to continue, whether it's good times or bad. That's really where our products fit in. You know, the unconventional revolution that we've seen, you know, both in oil and gas over the last 25 years has come from the products that FET provides.
We're key to that. I think as that revolution becomes more mature here in the U.S., it's going to get exported around the world. We're seeing that. Efficiency is the name of the game. Our products and solutions, you know, is really what allows that. We allow wells to be drilled faster. We allow fracts to be completed more quickly. We allow more stages to be done per day. That's the value that we have at FET.
To that point, Neal, operators in U.S. shale basins are routinely drilling two- to three-mile laterals, depending on, obviously, their lease geometries. I think ExxonMobil has talked in recent quarters about drilling up to four-mile laterals in some hard-to-reach areas of the Permian Basin. You mentioned it earlier with respect to gas, but how does the increased intensity of longer lateral wells, which require larger completions and more horsepower and everything has to get a little bit bigger, how does that affect demand for your consumable products, but also maybe just some of the power units that you all provide to frac fleets?
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's, you know, really to sum that up, you know, the longer the lateral, the more product that goes in the hole, the harder the rigs have to work, the harder the frac fleets have to work. That's really good for our consumable portfolio, right? The harder each rig is working, the more intensity we have. Also, the more downhole products that we go into a well, the more revenue we're going to get. Again, our products are really key to allowing, you know, ExxonMobil and other operators like that to do these really difficult and long laterals. That's really right down our wheelhouse. The more complicated, the better. Ultimately, the more revenue that we're going to generate per rig.
So part of your business is being in the jewelry business to provide the high-end equipment that companies actually need to produce their well?
Yeah. I think the jewelry and really just we're the enabler of that. And, you know, we've talked a lot about consumables. And, you know, we still have some part of our portfolio that's capital. But I do want to mention some of that. On the capital side, you know, we provide key components that upgrade rigs, upgrade frac fleets. As we think about our capital business and where it fits in, we do not necessarily need a big increase in new drilling rigs or new frac fleets just on the upgrades of existing equipment. You know, for example, our FR120 iron roughneck is a tool that allows drillers to quickly assemble and run in whole larger drill pipes. These longer laterals need larger drill pipe. They need bigger tools on their rigs. Our FR120 fits there.
While that's part of our capital, it's not necessarily a new build, and it fits in really nicely. Again, we provide the tools, both consumables and capital equipment, that enable these really amazing, you know, feats, you know, four-mile laterals, different types of, you know, U-turn laterals. We're there for that.
You talked last year about the iron roughneck upgrades and the ability to install those on rigs. You also talked, I think, about your FastConnect system and some greaseless cable products and just the large cooling units that FET provides. Do those all fall under the capital area? Are there other technologies that you're starting to see demand for that could further increase your addressable market and opportunity with your clients or customers?
Yeah. Those are absolutely the, you know, the capital that we're talking about. I think the Powertron, you know, Powertron radiator or heat transfer unit that you mentioned there. What's exciting to us about that is we're addressing the mobile power generation market. This is, you know, it's a niche that is really adjacent to where we're at. You know, we've provided, you know, heat transfer equipment for the frac fleets that are mobile. To move that to power generation units is really exciting. It's a new market, one that we see a long-term tailwind. While it is capital, it comes in nice bite-sized chunks. We're able to deliver that, you know, within our existing footprint. We're really excited about the opportunities there.
Neal, some E&P operators talk about trying to install or upgrade their power in the Permian Basin. That is just for field operations. You hear from time to time talk about data centers and putting it close to areas where there is natural gas. Obviously, the Permian Basin is long natural gas. They suffer for it from a price realization standpoint.
Right.
When investors hear people talk about some of those types of projects that might be in more remote areas, should they think about that creating opportunity for FET's heat transfer units and some of the other products that you provide?
Yeah. I think the, you know, these data centers, what we're seeing, I think it's still early stages, but, you know, many of them are using what we typically consider mobile power or almost backup power almost as their primary power and just the ability to get up quickly and get started quickly. As, you know, data center demand grows, yeah, we think that's absolutely a great use for our Powertron heat transfer units. Also, I think about it too, and ultimately the demand for natural gas, that we're going to see more drilling demand. I think that's going to pull through our overall product portfolio. AI and data center growth is a really good tailwind for our industry and drilling and completions as a whole.
With respect to gas, and you mentioned an area like the Haynesville earlier, I know it's activity, but are there any products that are specifically geared toward the kind of conditions that operators have to deal with with some of these deeper gas reservoirs that affect your product mix and maybe affect margins?
Yeah. These, you know, when you get in these deeper reservoirs, higher pressure, you know, the equipment tends to be bigger. If you have a low pressure oil well, you may get by with a 10,000 PSI BOP or blowout preventer. As you get to these higher pressure gas wells, you need a 15,000, for example, PSI blowout preventer. That is a higher margin unit for sure. Also, you know, the cables you use will need to be able to withstand higher pressure. Usually, that is more material, more revenue. Coil tubing will have to be thicker, higher strength. We have the products that can meet that. Many of our businesses were developed in the kind of the go-go years of horizontal gas, you know, the shale gas developments in the early 2000s. We have just expanded and utilized those product lines for oil here recently.
If we shift back to gas, I think our portfolio is really perfectly situated to handle those higher pressures. Ultimately, I think, yeah, you're right. We'll have higher margins with those products.
We've talked a lot about unconventional activity in the U.S., but unconventional gas has gained a lot of traction in the Middle East as countries look to displace oil from their power generation capacity. I think probably also reserve their oil production capacity to serve oil customers globally. How is FET exposed to the Middle East markets where capital spending, like I said, to maintain oil production really probably is less volatile maybe than the U.S., but capital spending to increase gas production capacity for power is probably not really dependent on gas prices even. It's more related to the goal of increasing gas use for power for a lot of different reasons.
Yeah. I think that's, you know, we're seeing really the, let's call it the exporting of U.S. shale and unconventional technology, you know, to the Middle East, as you mentioned, also to Argentina. I'll talk about that in a second. Middle East specifically, really important market for us, you know, about 10%-15% of overall revenue. You know, key markets. Part of the reason why we have manufacturing and distribution facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, you know, where we can service the Middle East. That shift to unconventionals, you know, it happened in the U.S. It's happening there in the Middle East. That's why, you know, we're getting the calls because of our expertise in these unconventional technologies, whether it's pressure pumping, coiled tubing, wire, or even some of the drilling tools.
We're helping our customers, you know, achieve their goals in whether it's gas production or oil. You know, in Argentina, it's unconventional oil production. And we're seeing, you know, consistent demand for the products that we typically use in the U.S. outside of the U.S. in Saudi and in Argentina.
I think, am I right that in Argentina the political shift with the current administration helped clear the decks for increased activity in the Vaca Muerta?
It sure, you know, I'm not a political expert, but it sure seems like it. You know, from what we've seen since the change, we've seen a really steady increase in demand. It's been a great market for us. It's one where we've seen our customers increase the, you know, the type of products they use. They go into more sophisticated products in that region. That has been exciting and helped us as well.
You all highlighted on the first quarter earnings call a couple of weeks back that Subsea was a bright spot in the first quarter and that the second quarter had gotten off to a really solid start. Is demand there really tied to the ROV replacement cycle and FET's line of ROVs and some of the automation systems that you all have for them?
Yeah. I think it's a function of really both, you know, new technology and also, you know, just the aging out of the fleet. You know, the offshore market, I think, has been pretty strong. You know, while there may be white space in the drilling offshore calendar, I think on the installation of offshore trees and wells, which is really where our ROVs are used, those are staying strong. As we think about the installed base, you know, we believe we have about, you know, a third of the current installed base, but many of these ROVs were sold to customers 10 plus years ago. I think there is a replacement cycle, you know, as equipment gets old and need a replacement.
Also, with the new technology we have, you know, especially these Unity operating systems, which this is a new technology that we developed that allows ROVs to be remotely operated from anywhere in the world. This reduces personnel required on the vessel. Again, getting back to more efficiency, our Unity operating system allows our customers to operate more safely, more efficient, and, you know, with less personnel on a boat, so less cost. This is a big deal. The system Unity that we developed is gaining traction. We delivered our first unit last quarter and have contracts out for eight more to be delivered throughout this year. Great area for us. Maybe I want to make one last comment, Jeff, on Subsea. I think this is a little unique for us is an area that's growing is the defense space.
We're seeing a lot more defense interest in ROVs, in our rescue submarines that we've developed, and our cable and winch system. While I think there's some, let's call it clouds over U.S. land outlook, as I think about Subsea, we're seeing a lot of demand for both the oil and gas, offshore wind, and defense. Exciting opportunities for us.
There was a recent headline with respect to offshore wind in the U.S. that the Trump administration had lifted a pause on a big wind project offshore New York that they had put in place after they took office. I think Equinor operates the Empire project, which is the subject of that, was the subject of that pause. To your point on defense, is some of that market share or some of that increased penetration really attributable to your new operating system and the ability that you talked about to do things more remotely?
I think the remotely helps. I think it's also a push for maybe just more offshore defense spending as well. I think with the world and satellites, you know, the ability to be able to see anything that's either on the water or on land, I think being Subsea, below the surface, is important. I think that's probably as big a driver as any in demand that we're seeing is what can we do below the surface and not be spotted by satellites or enemies in any fashion.
You've talked about areas outside of the traditional oil and gas with respect to Subsea. I know that FET has, with your power heat transfer units and things like that, some exposure to non-traditional oil and gas markets. Where do you see the best near and long-term opportunities for FET to compete in some of those businesses? Would they be margin accretive to your existing business and allow you to really leverage the intellectual property that's contained within the company?
Yeah. No, I think really, I think the defense is the biggest, Jeff. I mean, that fits right there. The Powergen, which you have mentioned. You know, as I think for us as a manufacturer, because we have that fixed cost base that is relatively small, as we add on these new products, again, for us, the operating leverage is really strong. Definitely margin accretive as we address these adjacent markets. Again, for us, defense, you know, offshore wind, I think are the best, and then Powergen.
A lot of your customers or a lot of your current customers have talked about opportunities in renewable fuels and other types of markets that they can leverage their expertise in. Do you see any change in their appetite for those types of projects? How do those projects affect FET?
We really haven't seen a change. I think that for us, the biggest change in the political environment has been the thought that we're going to need oil and gas for a long time. That, you know, I think all of us in the industry realize that that was the case. It's good to see mainstream kind of pick it up again. You know, I think there's really going to be a balance, right? Renewables, renewable fuels, as well as, you know, other types of, you know, of energy generation, whether it be offshore wind, remote power. I think we're going to see a lot of, let's call it experimentation or a lot of market development over the next few years. There is always going to be someone looking for that edge.
For us as an equipment and product manufacturer, we can help those companies get into those markets. It is a good spot for us as well.
Neil earlier talked about full year 2025 adjusted EBITDA of maybe around $85 million, depending on what happens to activity levels in the second half of the year. FET's original guidance for full year EBITDA was $85 million to, I think it was $105 million. You still expect free cash flow to be in the $40 million-$60 million range, even potentially if EBITDA trends toward the lower end of your outlook. How do you manage working capital in the current environment to really help support your free cash flow?
No, Jeff, appreciate that. That's a good question. We did lay out in February full year guidance of $85 million-$105 million of EBITDA, like you mentioned, and cash flow of $40 million-$60 million. As Neal mentioned, we're taking actions now for the possibility of reduced activity in the back half of the year. That includes managing our cash. We believe that despite any potential reduction in activity, we, and us being at the lower end of an EBITDA range with that, we're still confident in generating cash flow. Let me walk you through a little bit about why we're confident there. That full year guidance included $40 million-$60 million of cash, included about $45 million of cash out, $35 million of that being for interest and taxes and just $10 million for CapEx.
That's about the 45, and that's the bridge between our initial EBITDA and initial cash flow that was there. We didn't include any working capital adjustments in that guidance. Now in a scenario where activity might be lower, revenue and EBITDA might be lower, we do have an opportunity to harvest some working capital. As a products manufacturing company, our biggest investment is in working capital, specifically in inventory. As activity drops, our revenue comes down, and as a result, our receivables should turn into cash. Also, we'll procure less material, and so we'll reduce our payables. Those two roughly offset each other, and that leaves us with inventory, and that's the key for us, inventory management. In a lower activity scenario, we're going to need less inventory to run the business.
We will buy and have already begun buying less material, and we'll work through our inventory on hand. We'll turn that inventory into cash, and that really is the gap or bridges the gap, sorry, between potentially lower EBITDA and that initial guidance. Still really strong confidence in $40-$60 million of cash flow for 2025.
I would like to go back to something Neal touched on earlier, which is revenue per rig. In the first quarter, FET's global revenue per rig was roughly $455,000, which was up slightly from first quarter of 2024 and up pretty significantly from first quarter of 2023. I know there is some seasonality to your business, but the rig count during that time where first quarter average global rig count was 1,706, and it was in the first quarter of 2024, almost 1,800 rigs. Should investors take that as a point of gaining share with your customers' spending habits as that is really driven by FET's technological solutions to their problems?
Yeah, Jeff, we've said, and I think it's a really key feature about FET is that with 80% of our revenue being consumable products, that our revenue is very tied to activity levels, and a good measure of that is global drilling rig count. So we look at our revenue per rig as a key metric. And when that is rising, that's a sign that our beat the market strategy is working and we're taking share. Clearly, as activity falls, we may have a fluctuation or a decrease in overall revenue, but we like to look at that revenue per rig metric as a share gain metric and see how that runs over time. I think we can look quarter to quarter. You can look Q1 versus Q1. Better metric is to look at that over time, right?
Because we can have, as some of our revenue is point of time sale. We can have product revenue move from Q1 to Q2 or vice versa and move that around on a quarterly basis. Looking at that over a trend is how we do it, and I think the best way. As Neal mentioned earlier, we've seen a pretty steady growth in our revenue per rig over the past few years.
In Canada, you had a little bit of noise in the Variperm business in the first quarter. Can you just expand for people how you think that plays out over the balance of 2025?
Sure. Absolutely can. So again, Variperm serves primarily oil sands customers with their sand and flow control solutions dealing with downhole challenges that they have. What we found through Variperm is there is some project nature of that business. We think of it as activity driven. We sell tools per meter of lateral length into the oil sands. As those lateral lengths change, grow, revenue can change and grow. Our customers will typically buy what they need for a new drilling campaign. We see some lumpiness in revenue. Fourth quarter, for example, for Variperm was really strong. As a result, sequentially, first quarter looks a little bit softer. We also have a bit of mix in Variperm between customer and product mix. While we have a nice market share in Canada, certain of our customers choose to split business with us and our competitors.
That's fine. Depending on where the work is happening and who's doing it, our revenues might fluctuate up and down a bit. We watch that. We think over time that corrects itself and expect the back half of the year for that business to be stronger than the first.
Lyle you've talked about cash flow allocation or, I'm sorry, free cash flow allocation a lot over the last year, year and a half now. I know that FET put in a $75 million share repurchase plan in December of last year in anticipation of strong free cash flow this year. The allocation for free cash flow, I think, as Neal, you and Lyle have laid out, is 50% toward debt reduction and 50% toward strategic investments, including share repurchases. For people, I know that with the indenture of the bonds, Lyle, can you talk about how the mechanics work with the 1.5 times leverage ratio based on trailing 12 months EBITDA?
Absolutely. Can definitely do that. Thanks for the question. Maybe I'll broaden out a little bit. Free cash flow generation power of FET is really, we believe, an exciting differentiator in our investor story. Maybe to broaden it out, why are we talking about this so much? As you know, Jeff, last year we generated over $100 million of free cash flow. This year with our guidance of $40-$60 million, that means that in two years we'll have generated roughly or a little bit more than 80% of our current market capitalization in free cash flow. Really solid cash flow generation. Importantly, our balance sheet is in great shape. We do not have any debt maturities until 2028. The reason we've been talking about cash flow deployment is what do we do with all this cash? An important question for us.
You're right that we mentioned we'll use about 50% of our free cash flow for net debt reduction. We think it's important to continue to have a conservative net leverage focus, and we'll do that. We have an opportunity to be more strategic about our investments, looking at inorganic growth opportunities or share buybacks. Our indenture that we put in place in November of last year does allow for share repurchases, subject to us being at or below 1.5 times net leverage covenant. That's what you referenced in your question. A little bit of a dynamic of how that works. Net leverage is obviously how much debt we have on the balance sheet, net debt and EBITDA. We measure EBITDA quarterly. That's the best way for us to do that based on our quarterly financial statements. That denominator changes every quarter.
Our bondholders really preferred us to look at net debt on a more near-term basis. Within 30 days of us making a share repurchase, within any given quarter, the amount of net debt that we have obviously moves up and down based on collections and payments and the timing of cash. We could see us either be above or below that one and a half times net leverage threshold through the quarter. We can have windows of share buyback opportunity open and close within the quarter. That is just a dynamic. It is a little bit odd of maybe how that might work versus a pure quarterly metric, but it is one that I think gives all of us more confidence in knowing what our net debt is when we are making share repurchases.
So we can see those windows open and close, and we probably will until our net debt gets much more below 1.5 times.
You talked about working capital swings impacting net debt within the quarter, but also just the goal of reducing debt over time adds another element to that calculation. It is really dynamic both in terms of funds in and funds out, but it is also based on FET's ability to pay down debt in any given quarter or any given month for that matter.
That's right. That's right. We ended the first quarter just over 1.5 times net leverage on a trailing basis. As we generate more cash, as we reduce our net debt, then that number will come down. Once it gets meaningfully below 1.5, it'll be less of a question of when we can repurchase shares. In this period, especially as EBITDA looks to maybe be coming down, reducing net debt will be important in order to continue to have the window for repurchases.
I'm not sure there are very many companies that have a free cash flow yield that's probably in the mid 20% range based on 2025, especially in a year where, at least from a revenue standpoint, there are a few clouds on the back half of the year.
We're excited about that free cash flow yield number. I think we quote it pretty often. We are always looking at the best investments to make, but there's not very many places we can put our cash and get a 25% yield back. We're pretty excited about what we could do with that.
Neal, maybe you can bring us home. Can you just summarize for participants how you think FET's actions over the past couple of years and the execution of the beat the market strategy positions the company to prosper in at least what could be a near-term turbulent outlook, but even longer term as you look to serve your customers?
Yeah. You know, I think the market, as you mentioned, we find ourselves in today is uncertain. Again, we're going to eliminate expenses to be competitive and adjust to market activity where we are. We're not going to jeopardize our future. We're going to make sure we have the resources available to execute our beat the market strategy. Again, we're going to continue to make commercial and engineering investments to drive profitable market share growth through innovation. I think for us, that goes back to what's the investment case for FET? It's one that we believe strongly. Again, it's based on our track record of significant outperformance. Since 2021, we've grown our revenue at a compound annual rate of 15% or three times faster than the Russell 2000 index.
We've grown EBITDA and cash flow over 70% annually, which again is much, much better than our index. I think we've delivered some really superior financial results, yet we trade at a significant discount to the Russell 2000 and our oil field service peers. As you mentioned today with our free cash flow yield north of 25%, we think there are very few stocks out there at yields this high that also have FET's long-term growth potential. We're going to unlock value today with share buybacks where we can. If you look since December when we had the authorization, we've outperformed our index. We've outperformed the Russell 2000. We've outperformed our peers by significant margins. We believe our buyback thesis makes sense, and we're going to seek to buy as many shares as possible within that return frameworks that Lyle laid out.
You know, over the longer term, though, we think there's going to be strong growth for FET. Again, the world needs energy. As population grows over the next decade, as the economy expands, and as we see the full-scale implementation of artificial intelligence, those factors will drive energy demand, and investment will be required to supply that energy. I think it's only a matter of time before the headwinds that we've talked about today are going to turn into tailwinds supercharging our growth. Putting that together with our beat the market strategy, we are well positioned today and tomorrow while being in a tremendous value. I'm excited. Our team's excited. We think FET is in one of the best positions it has been in many, many years.
It sounds like the strategy really or execution of the strategy really positions FET to take advantage of cyclical downturns and really prosper then, but also gain share and really prosper when you have a cyclical upcycle. Am I thinking about it the correct way?
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. That is why we want to beat the market. If the market goes down, we are going to do better. If the market goes up, we are going to do much better. That is the goal of our strategy. Over the last three or four years, we have executed on it, and we plan to execute going forward.
Great. Neal, Lyle, we'll leave it there for today. I'd like to thank you for taking the time to join us, and we look forward to hosting another Fireside Chat.
Great. Great to be here, Jeff. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.