Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this report are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements usually relate to future events and anticipated revenues, earnings, cash flows or other aspects of our operations or operating results. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “may,” “estimate,” “outlook,” “guidance,” “potential,” “target,” “forecast” and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on us. While management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate.
All of our forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties (some of which are significant or beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. Known material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements are those described in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We wish to caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
Apergy Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, (“Apergy,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is a leading provider of highly engineered equipment and technologies that help companies drill for and produce oil and gas safely and efficiently around the world. Our products provide efficient functioning throughout the lifecycle of a well—from drilling to completion to production. We report our results of operations in the following reporting segments: Production & Automation Technologies and Drilling Technologies. Our Production & Automation Technologies segment offerings consist of artificial lift equipment and solutions, including rod pumping systems, electric submersible pump systems, progressive cavity pumps and drive systems and plunger lifts, as well as a full automation and digital offering consisting of equipment, software and Industrial Internet of Things solutions for downhole monitoring, wellsite productivity enhancement and asset integrity management. Our Drilling Technologies segment offering provides market leading polycrystalline diamond cutters and bearings that result in cost effective and efficient drilling.
Our products are used by a broad spectrum of customers in the global oil and gas industry, including national oil and gas companies, large integrated and independent oil and gas companies, major oilfield equipment and services providers, and pipeline companies. We compete across major oil and gas markets globally with a particular strength in the North American onshore market. Our products are particularly well suited for unconventional/shale oil and gas markets.
The quality, innovative technology and performance of our technologies drive improved cost-effectiveness, productivity, efficiency, reliability and safety for our customers. We believe our strong position in our core markets and our long-term customer relationships are due to our focus on technological advancement, product reliability and our commitment to superior customer service across our organization. Our long-term customer relationships and the consumable nature of many of our products also enable us to benefit from recurring revenue throughout the lifecycle of a producing well. We believe we are also differentiated from competitors through our proven business model focused on high customer intimacy, innovative technology and application engineering.
We have a long history of innovation across our businesses, and our heritage in the oilfield equipment industry extends over 60 years. During this time, Apergy has expanded through a series of strategic acquisitions of well-known businesses and brands as well as internal growth initiatives. Key acquisitions that built our artificial lift platform include Harbison-Fischer, Accelerated, Wellmark, PCS Ferguson (f/k/a Production Controls Services, Inc.) and Oil Lift Technology. Our leading polycrystalline diamond cutter business was created through the acquisition of US Synthetic. Through our acquisitions, Apergy has developed experience as an effective operator and successful integrator of businesses.
Separation and Distribution
On April 18, 2018, the Dover Corporation (“Dover”) Board of Directors approved the separation of entities conducting its upstream oil and gas energy business within Dover’s Energy segment (the “Separation”) into an independent, publicly traded company named Apergy Corporation. Apergy Corporation was incorporated in Delaware on October 10, 2017, under the name Wellsite Corporation and was renamed Apergy Corporation on February 2, 2018. Apergy Corporation was formed for the purpose of holding entities, assets and liabilities conducting Dover’s upstream oil and gas business within Dover’s Energy segment. In accordance with the separation and distribution agreement, the two companies were separated by Dover distributing to Dover’s stockholders all 77,339,828 shares of common stock of Apergy on May 9, 2018. Each Dover shareholder received one share of Apergy stock for every two shares of Dover stock held at the close of business on the record date of April 30, 2018. Following the Separation, Dover retained no ownership interest in Apergy, and each company, as of May 9, 2018, has separate public ownership, boards of directors and management. A registration statement on Form 10, as amended, describing the Separation was filed by Apergy with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and was declared effective on April 19, 2018. On May 9, 2018, Apergy common stock began “regular-way” trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the “APY” symbol.
BUSINESS SEGMENTS
Our business is organized into two reporting segments: Production & Automation Technologies and Drilling Technologies.
Production & Automation Technologies provides products, technologies and services that facilitate the safe, efficient, and cost effective extraction of oil and gas. We design, manufacture, market and service a full range of artificial lift equipment, end-to-end automation and digital solutions, as well as other production equipment. A portion of Production & Automation Technologies revenue is derived from activity-based consumable products, as customers routinely replace items such as sucker rods, plunger lifts and pump parts. We believe that the combination of our artificial lift equipment and our end-to-end proprietary automation solutions helps oil and gas operators lower production costs and optimize well efficiency by enabling oil and gas operators to monitor, predict and optimize performance. Our products are sold under a collection of premier brands, which we believe are recognized by customers as leaders in their market spaces, including Harbison-Fischer, Norris, Alberta Oil Tool, Oil Lift Technology, PCS Ferguson, Pro-Rod, Upco, ESP, Norriseal-Wellmark, Quartzdyne, Spirit, Theta, Timberline and Windrock.
Artificial Lift
Artificial lift equipment is critical to oil and gas operators as a means to increase pressure within the reservoir and improve oil and gas production. Artificial lift is a key technology for increasing oil and gas production throughout the lifecycle of a producing well and is therefore directly linked to operator economics. Production & Automation Technologies offers a full suite of artificial lift solutions to meet the varying needs of operators as oil production volume levels decline over the lifecycle of a producing well, as illustrated in the figure below. Our comprehensive offering provides our customers with cost effective solutions tailored to a well’s specific characteristics and production volumes. We have a strong presence within key U.S. basins where artificial lift technologies are prevalent. We believe our offerings also have significant international potential, as production rates continue to decline in existing wells in regions such as the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe.
Key artificial lift products include: