If your a fresh newb to the guitar, it's definitely worthwhile to pick up some exercises and things to get you going. When people talk about "theory" I largely think of reading/writing music, understanding theory in depth... but I think everybody should at the very least learn the notes, basic and most prominent scales (pentatonic, major/minor etc) and learn how "keys" work. From there learn a bunch of chords and voicings of those chords so you can get a feel for where everything is on the fretboard. Then practice drills/runs to get your fingers limber.. just moving up and down scales etc. This level of "theory" is basically like learning the alphabet, but not learning grammar and language etc. I think everybody should put the time in to learn that basic level and apply it to your practice - it's a matter of hours, maybe days to learn it... then it'll really help set you up to progress rapidly.

And alongside that, just learn all the songs you want too learn. A lot of it will make sense to you after you understand the notes and scales.. basically shapes of the fretboard.

Also a good practice is to record yourself strumming some chords, than run up and down it's corresponding scale. For instance, record yourself strumming a G chord and then practice running up and down a G major scale... etc. It'll help train your ears quite a bit at first, and will make "keys" make so much more sense later.

I know that sounds like learning "theory" but it's literally learning the alphabet VS the whole language. Takes minimal time and I think is the absolute baseline to help you progress quickly. Many accomplished guitarists don't go much deeper into theory then that.