U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA) reported Q3 EPS of $0.08, $0.54 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.62. Revenue for the quarter came in at $423.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $472.43 million.

"U.S. revenue, contribution margin and contribution margin per ton. These impressive results were driven by a full quarter of earnings from our recent acquisition, EP Minerals, several recent price increases and favorable product mix. I'm very excited about our prospects in ISP. We have a robust new business pipeline with more than 100 projects in the queue. These products should add substantial value to our business in the next few years.

"In Oil and Gas sand, we grew volumes 10% sequentially and continued to ramp our new Permian basin mining facilities. This achievement was impressive given the slowdown in well completions driven by Permian well offtake capacity issues and E&P 2018 budget exhaustion. While we did experience pricing pressure during the quarter on Northern White sand and spot sales, our contracts held up well.

"Our SandBox unit averaged 82 crews during the quarter, and though we saw lower load volumes from the slowdown in completions activity, this decline was partially offset by higher profitability per load. Sandbox has a strong pipeline of new work with recent contract awards from several operators for multiple crews planned to start in the next two quarters. We also have developed and launched several new innovative solutions to better serve our customers and grow the business.

"I am positive on the outlook for our Oil and Gas businesses in 2019. While we will likely see more white space on our customer\'s calendars for the rest of this year, we believe these near-term challenges are transitory. Budgets will reset in 2019, takeaway capacity will be expanded and the record inventory of DUCs will begin to be completed. All of which should provide positive catalysts for sand and logistics demand. Further, we expect to see more higher cost Northern White sand capacity idled in the next few quarters, which will help balance supply and demand and support stable pricing," concluded Shinn.

Third Quarter 2018 Highlights

Total Company

• Revenue of $423.2 million for the third quarter of 2018 compared with $427.4 million in the second quarter of 2018, down 1% sequentially and up 23% over the third quarter of 2017.
• Overall tons sold of 4.804 million for the third quarter of 2018 compared with 4.489 million tons sold in the second quarter of 2018, up 7% sequentially and 18% over the third quarter of 2017.
• Contribution margin of $138.2 million for the third quarter of 2018 compared with $155.9 million in the second quarter of 2018, down 11% sequentially and up 15% over the third quarter of 2017.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $105.5 million for the third quarter of 2018 compared with Adjusted EBITDA of $123.6 million in the second quarter of 2018 and $96.7 million in the third quarter of 2017.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on U.S. Silica (SLCA) click here.