Smart Sand Inc., a fully integrated frac and industrial sand supply and services company, a low-cost producer of high quality Northern White sand and a proppant logistics solutions provider through both its in-basin transloading terminals and SmartSystems products and services, announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2024.
Total revenue was $311.4 million for the full year 2024, compared to $296.0 million for the full year of 2023. Sand revenue in 2024 was $303.6 million compared to $287.5 million in 2023.
Total revenue and sand revenue increased by 5% and 6%, respectively, year-over-year, as a result of increased sand sales volumes. Sand prices declined during the second half of the year, which partially offset the increase in sales volumes.
Total tons sold were 5,263,000 for the full year 2024, compared to full year 2023 total tons sold of 4,514,000, an increase of 17% year-over-year.
SmartSystems revenue was $7.8 million for the year ended 2024, a decline from $8.5 million for the year ended 2023. The decline was due to lower overall utilization of our SmartSystems fleet in 2024.
Cost of goods sold for the full year 2024 increased by 5% to $266.5 million, compared to $254.4 million for the full year 2023. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to higher volumes sold and the related increase in production and freight costs.
“Smart Sand delivered strong operating and financial results for the fourth quarter 2024 and the full year 2024,” stated Charles Young, Smart Sand’s chief executive officer. “The company experienced 17% sales volume growth for the year and 45% growth sequentially in the fourth quarter. The company achieved its highest quarterly volumes and annual volumes in its history. Additionally, we delivered on our goals to generate positive free cash flow for the year and issued our first dividend, returning additional capital back to our shareholders. We currently expect to generate positive free cash flow in 2025 and will continue to look for opportunities to return capital back to our shareholders.
“Key drivers for our operational and financial improvement in 2024 were strong sales activity in our main U.S. markets of the Bakken and the Marcellus formations and increased sales volumes into our new markets of the Utica formation and Canada. New market activity represented approximately 11% of our sales volume in 2024. In the fourth quarter, we saw some customers increase activity as projects that had been delayed earlier in the year were completed in the quarter. Our continued focus on efficiencies and cost management has led to Smart Sand generating free cash flow for the last two years and issuing its first dividend of $0.10 per share in October of 2024.
“Going into 2025, we continue to believe the market fundamentals for oil and natural gas demand will support the long-term growth of new well development and completions in the primary markets we serve. We expect domestic LNG export capacity expansion and AI data center development to increase domestic demand for electricity and natural gas. We believe this trend will directly support the long-term prospects for frac sand demand in, among others, the Appalachian and Canadian basins. Similarly, we believe global demand for oil will continue to rise due to, among other things, increasing demand in developing Asian markets. We therefore expect to see continuing demand for our frac sand in the oil-rich Bakken and Utica shale formations we serve. Thus, our mines and logistics operations are uniquely positioned to support potential growth in all the primary Northern White Sand markets.
“We are focused on improving the utilization of our existing asset base at our three operating plants and increasing our market share in all the markets we serve. This year, we intend to invest in incremental mining to support future growth needs and make some strategic investments in terminals to provide greater access to the markets we serve.”