Executive Summary

Q4 2021 delivered revenue of $473.4M, GAAP diluted EPS of $7.34, adjusted diluted EPS of $4.23, and adjusted EBITDAX of $226.4M; revenue rose $72.4M QoQ, driven primarily by higher commodity prices .
Production was stable at 92.8 MBOE/d (oil 52.9 MBO/d), while Whiting ended the year debt-free and initiated a fixed dividend, positioning capital returns as a near-term stock catalyst .
Liquidity was strong at $790M (borrowing base $750M, zero borrowings, $41M cash), supporting self-funded 2022 operations and the dividend .
Hedging materially reduced realized prices and cash flow (Q4 pre-tax hedge settlements: crude ~$99M, gas ~$22M, NGL ~$4M), a key drag offset by price strength and volumes .
Wall Street consensus (S&P Global) was unavailable for EPS and revenue; comparisons to estimates could not be made due to missing CIQ mapping for WLLAW (explicitly noted) [SpgiEstimatesError].

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Strong profitability and cash generation: GAAP net income $292.2M, adjusted net income $168.5M, CFO $213.9M, adjusted free cash flow $156.3M in Q4 .
Balance sheet strength and capital returns: year-end long-term debt $0, total liquidity $790M, and announcement of a fixed dividend, with plans to grow buybacks and other strategies .
Management delivered strategic portfolio actions and reserves growth: proved reserves 326.0 MMBOE (PV-10 $4.381B), aided by drilling, acquisitions, and commodity price tailwinds; quote: “We recently announced our first fixed dividend… with the expectation of growing our total return of capital significantly…” — Lynn A. Peterson .

What Went Wrong

Hedging headwinds: realized prices were deeply below NYMEX (oil realized $55.37 vs NYMEX $77.00) and cash hedge settlements were significant (crude $99M; gas $22M; NGL $4M) .
Cost pressure: LOE rose to $62.4M vs $56.6M in Q3, and G&A rose to $15.3M vs $12.0M in Q3, reflecting more workovers and higher activity .
Modest transportation and purchased gas costs persisted, and hedge-related derivative impacts remained volatile, requiring careful risk management and investor monitoring .

Financial Results

Consolidated P&L and Cash Metrics (oldest → newest)

Metric	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Revenue ($USD Thousands)	$351,646	$401,037	$473,408
GAAP Net Income ($USD Thousands)	$(61,489)	$198,162	$292,179
Diluted EPS (GAAP) ($)	$(1.57)	$5.00	$7.34
Adjusted Net Income ($USD Thousands)	$117,501	$141,553	$168,493
Adjusted Diluted EPS ($)	$3.01	$3.57	$4.23
Adjusted EBITDAX ($USD Thousands)	$176,351	$201,102	$226,356
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities ($USD Thousands)	$183,246	$189,890	$213,914
Adjusted Free Cash Flow ($USD Thousands)	$111,295	$127,742	$156,269
Long-term Debt ($USD Thousands)	$115,000	$72,000	$0
Net Income Margin (%)	−17.5%	49.4%	61.7%

Notes: Net income margin calculated as GAAP net income divided by total operating revenues (citations reference both numerator and denominator).

Operating KPIs (oldest → newest)

KPI	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Total Production (MBOE)	8,431	8,472	8,535
Avg Production (MBOE/d)	92.6	92.1	92.8
Oil Production (MBO/d)	53.4	51.8	52.9
Sales Price, net of hedging ($/BOE)	$33.50	$35.75	$39.53
LOE ($/BOE)	$7.61	$6.68	$7.31
G&A ($/BOE)	$1.42	$1.41	$1.79

Realized Pricing and Hedging (Q4 2021)

Metric	Q4 2021
Oil Price Received ($/Bbl)	$75.75
Realized Oil Price ($/Bbl)	$55.37 (after hedges)
Weighted Avg NYMEX Oil ($/Bbl)	$77.00
Natural Gas Price Received ($/Mcf)	$3.68
Realized Gas Price ($/Mcf)	$1.53 (after hedges)
Weighted Avg NYMEX Gas ($/MMBtu)	$5.13
Pre-tax Cash Settlements on Hedges (Crude/Gas/NGL)	$99M / $22M / $4M

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Production (MBOE/d)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	82–88	88–92	Raised
Oil Production (MBO/d)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	48–52	50–53	Raised
Capital Expenditures ($MM)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	$228–$252	$240–$252	Raised lower bound
LOE ($MM)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	$220–$245	$235–$245	Raised lower bound
G&A Cash Expense ($MM)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	$48–$52	$41–$45	Lowered
Oil price differential to NYMEX ($/Bbl)	FY 2021 (Updated in Q2)	$6.00–$8.00	$4.50–$6.50	Improved (narrowed)
Dividend	2022+	N/A	Fixed dividend announced (amount not disclosed in Q4 release)	New

Note: Q4 2021 release did not provide detailed 2022 guidance ranges; management stated 2022 operations and dividend will be funded within operating cash flow .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q2 & Q3)	Current Period (Q4 2021)	Trend
Hedging impact	Significant cash settlements; realized prices below NYMEX; net cash settlements paid in Q2 ($67.6M) and Q3 ($91.4M) .	Continued headwind; Q4 realized prices materially below NYMEX; Q4 cash settlements crude ~$99M, gas ~$22M, NGL ~$4M .	Persistent negative impact; improving commodity backdrop mitigates .
Liquidity & debt reduction	Liquidity $650M (Q2); forecast to end FY21 with positive net cash and no revolver balance .	Year-end debt $0; liquidity $790M; plan to fund 2022 ops and dividend within CFO .	Strengthening balance sheet and cash coverage .
Asset portfolio optimization	Sanish acquisition; Redtail divestiture; narrowed differentials tied to DAPL expectations (Q2) .	Year-end reserves 326.0 MMBOE; PV-10 $4.381B; continued core focus in Williston .	Portfolio focus and reserve base improved .
Capital returns	No dividend through Q2/Q3; focus on debt reduction and FCF .	Announced first fixed dividend; expectation to grow buybacks/returns .	Shift to shareholder returns .
ESG/safety	Commitment to safe environment and ESG initiatives referenced .	Continued emphasis on safe operations and ESG .	Ongoing priority .
Macro/differentials	DAPL uncertainty easing; improved Clearbrook differentials (Q2) .	Higher commodity prices cited as primary QoQ driver .	Macro supportive .

Management Commentary

“2021 was an eventful year… The Company generated over $500 million of adjusted free cash flow, paid off over $360 million on its revolver… and ended the year completely debt free… We recently announced our first fixed dividend… with the expectation of growing our total return of capital significantly in the coming quarters through buybacks and other strategies.” — Lynn A. Peterson, President & CEO .
“As of December 31, 2021, our proved developed properties alone were valued at $3.6 billion, pre-tax and using SEC pricing of $66.56 per barrel.” — Lynn A. Peterson .
“Whiting expects to continue to fund its 2022 operations and its dividend fully within operating cash flow.” .

Q&A Highlights

The Q4 2021 earnings call occurred on February 24, 2022, but the full transcript was not available in our document repository; dial-in and replay details were provided . Comprehensive Q&A highlights could not be synthesized without an accessible full transcript in our corpus. If you want, we can ingest an external transcript source next.

Estimates Context

S&P Global consensus EPS and revenue for WLLAW were unavailable due to missing CIQ mapping, so estimate comparisons cannot be provided. We will update if mapping becomes available [SpgiEstimatesError].

Metric	Q4 2021 Actual	Consensus (S&P Global)	Beat/Miss
Revenue ($USD Thousands)	$473,408	Unavailable	N/A
Adjusted Diluted EPS ($)	$4.23	Unavailable	N/A
GAAP Diluted EPS ($)	$7.34	Unavailable	N/A

Key Takeaways for Investors

Strong QoQ uplift on commodity pricing drove revenue to $473.4M and adjusted EPS to $4.23; profitability and FCF remain robust despite hedge drags .
Balance sheet de-risked: year-end debt at $0 and liquidity $790M, enabling internally funded operations and dividends — a constructive setup for capital returns .
Hedging materially reduced realized prices and generated large cash settlements; monitor 2022 hedge book and potential opportunistic adjustments as macro stays supportive .
Operations steady: production ~92–93 MBOE/d with oil ~53 MBO/d; LOE ticked up in Q4 due to workovers; look for cost discipline to sustain margin expansion .
Reserves and PV-10 reflect improved economics and portfolio quality (326.0 MMBOE; PV-10 $4.381B), underpinning intrinsic value and lending capacity .
Near-term trading implications: dividend initiation and debt-free status are positive sentiment catalysts; estimate comparisons unavailable, but prints were strong vs Q3 .
Medium-term thesis: focus on cash returns and disciplined reinvestment in Williston Basin with hedging strategy optimization should drive sustainable FCF and capital return growth .

Whiting Holdings LLC (WLLAW)·Q4 2021 Earnings Summary