加载中...
共找到 16,769 条相关资讯
Mike Bishop: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Atomera's First Quarter 2026 Update Call. I'd like to remind everyone that this call and webinar are being recorded, and a replay will be available on Atomera's IR website for 1 year. I'm Mike Bishop with the company's Investor Relations. As in prior quarters, we are using Zoom, and we will follow a similar format. [Operator Instructions] We will open with prepared remarks from Scott Bibaud, Atomera's President and CEO; and Frank Laurencio, Atomera's CFO. Then we will open the call to questions. If you are joining by telephone, you may follow a slide presentation to accompany our remarks on the Events and Presentations section of our Investor Relations page on our website. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that during today's call, we will make forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, whether in prepared remarks or during the Q&A session, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Risk Factors section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically in the company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 24, 2026. Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, Atomera disclaims any obligation to update or make revisions to such forward-looking statements contained herein or elsewhere to reflect changes in expectations with regards to those events, conditions and circumstances. Also, please note that during this call, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures as defined by SEC Regulation G. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today's press release, which is posted on our website. Now with that, I'd like to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Scott Bibaud. Go ahead, Scott. Scott Bibaud: Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. This quarter, we made solid progress with multiple customers across our highest value markets while also expanding the breadth of applications where MST can solve real current pain points for the semiconductor industry. We're seeing strong customer pull in advanced logic, memory and wide band gap materials like GaN and power and in RF, areas that are being shaped by the rapid growth of AI infrastructure, which is driving the need for better power efficiency, signal integrity and system performance. Today, I'll start with an update on gate-all-around, where we've been working closely with customers and our strategic partners to validate MST in these advanced geometries. Then I'll touch on our customer pipeline and close with updates on GaN, giving insights on some exciting new technical results that are shaping near-term opportunities. As we said before, the move to gate-all-around at 2 nanometers and beyond is one of the most important architectural transitions in the industry, and it's also one of the most difficult manufacturing environments since fabs must build incredibly complicated structures at line widths of 5,000x smaller than a human hair, where a small amount of atomic migration can cause big problems. Gate-all-around transistors are the building blocks for AI infrastructure and dopant diffusion control is critical to their effectiveness in terms of performance and reliability. Therefore, the industry is demanding clear proof that any new material can be deposited precisely and that it delivers measurable benefits in advanced silicon devices. Today, there are 4 companies in the world developing gate-all-around transistors, TSMC, Samsung, Intel and Rapidus. We know that each of them can use the capabilities of MST, so it's our goal to achieve adoption at all 4. Further, as these companies transition to the generation beyond gate-all-around called CFET, our technology becomes even more essential. So working with us now is in their best interest long term. In our last earnings call, we have just received measured silicon results that prove MST is the best solution for a critical source strain liner application in these small geometry transistors. At this point, we're actively working on evaluations of our technology with 2 of our target gate-all-around customers and discussions are underway with the others. It is typical that a customer asked to conduct multiple demonstrations before agreeing to accept a new technology for implementation in their fab wafer flow. These demonstrations help to validate our claims while simultaneously addressing the detailed implementation and functionality questions these customers are focused on solving. We also expanded the scope of our work with our strategic development partner this quarter, which is important because it strengthens both our technical velocity and our credibility with the ecosystem. Their test and development infrastructure helps us generate the kind of data that advanced node customers insist on seeing before engaging and their endorsement will certainly help us engage a broader set of teams within each target account. Each of the large memory manufacturers are facing similar challenges to the gate-all-around customers as they develop their next-generation transistors in DRAMs and high-bandwidth memories. Our team is in discussions with them right now, and we are currently working on multiple solutions using MST to assist in this area. Right now, memory manufacturers would do almost anything to get greater fab capacity, and they have the resources to evaluate different methods of doing so. We hope to take advantage of that opportunity with solutions enabled by MST. The momentum we're seeing in the advanced node transistor space is a result of many years of work targeting current market trends. The macro challenges that AI success has put front and center, capacity and performance of CPUs, GPUs, logic and memory, the power demands of cloud providers and the increased costs associated with these are all areas that Atomera can help solve. For that reason, we believe that MST is a fundamental tool for the future of AI. Our customer pipeline remains very active across multiple domains. For example, our work with our large IDM customer continues to go well, and we expect additional results from wafer runs soon. Our efforts with ST Microelectronics are bearing fruit, and we are confident we will reengage with them again in the near future, consistent with our view that MST can create value across multiple product lines, especially in a large diversified IDM or foundry. In RF SOI, we are seeing strong results confirming our extensive TCAD simulations. The technical results we've been focused on, including for both power switch and LNA have been confirmed through customer silicon runs. The near-term question is less about performance and more about the most efficient path to commercialization, particularly in cases involving fabless licensees where aligning the business structure with the manufacturing flow can be complex. In power devices, we're seeing excellent potential in new development work being done to target MST at both TrenchFET and HVT transistors, useful in high-frequency, high-speed and high-voltage applications. At the same time, wafers continue moving forward with our second JDA partner, and we'll keep pushing those efforts toward production pathway. Turning to GaN. We made meaningful advancements this quarter, including a breakthrough that could give us a technical leadership in RF GaN on silicon to augment the advantages previously outlined for power GaN on silicon. To explain the innovation, I need to give a little background. GaN on silicon is a much more economical growth method than alternatives built on exotic substrates like silicon carbide or sapphire. But when GaN on silicon is manufactured due to the GaN stack growth process, gallium and aluminum ions gather at the silicon substrate interface, forming an unwanted sheet charge layer called a parasitic channel, which is well known to limit RF performance and GaN on silicon applications. In fact, its elimination has been the subject of materials and growth studies for more than 20 years. In the past few weeks, we received preliminary performance data suggesting MST can dramatically reduce the parasitic channel. It does this by using MST's fundamental interface engineering to block the gallium and aluminum ions from getting into the silicon substrate. An industry veteran told us that in his 20 years, this is the best measured sheet charge data he has ever seen. We're continuing to validate this very promising discovery with our test and measurement partners. RF GaN on silicon is a value in the wireless infrastructure, military, defense and satellite markets. It's also being actively evaluated for high integrated RF front ends such as those for 6G cellular. So the market potential is large and growing fast. We are actively engaging on both 200-millimeter and 300-millimeter wafer sizes in GaN depending on our customers' requests. That matters because the wafer size for GaN on silicon is one of its key advantages leading directly to a customer's path to high-volume production, low-cost structure and a set of fabs that can support ramp, including opening doors for new applications with conventional silicon fabrication methods and devices. We're seeing expanded interest in partnerships across the ecosystem, including engagements involving Incize, Synopsys, Texas State University, Sandia and others. Those kinds of parallel tasks, commercial customers plus research and ecosystem partners can compress development cycles and accelerate the time from promising materials data to something customers can qualify and deploy. Work here is aimed at generating data that is both technically rigorous and directly translatable to customer device requirements. Finally, a quick note on our announcement last week about expanding our collaboration with Synopsys. We've worked with Synopsys for years to enable accurate modeling of MST inside the Sentaurus TCAD environment through our MST CAD tool set. This expanded collaboration extends that relationship into GaN workflows for both high-value RF and power devices. Practically, this means we're working closely with Synopsys to provide feedback on their GaN models, and we'll be jointly developing marketing materials so customers and partners can evaluate the physical and electrical effects of MST and GaN more quickly and with higher confidence. To summarize, we're making progress where it matters, expanding and deepening gate-all-around engagements, broadening GaN from power into RF with concrete technical innovations and continuing to advance multiple customer programs across our pipeline. We remain focused on converting technical validation into commercial structures that can drive repeatable revenue and are confident in our ability to do so. This is indeed an exciting time for Atomera. With that, I'll turn the call over to Frank, our CFO, to review our financials. Francis Laurencio: Thank you, Scott. At the close of the market today, we issued a press release announcing our results for the first quarter of 2026, and this slide shows our summary financials. Our GAAP net loss for the first quarter of 2026 was $6.1 million or $0.17 per share compared to a net loss of $5.2 million, which was also $0.17 a share in Q1 of 2025. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss last quarter was $4.9 million or $0.14 a share. And our Q1 2025 net loss was $4.4 million or $0.15 a share. GAAP operating expenses were $6.2 million in Q1 of 2026, which was an increase of $742,000 from $5.5 million of GAAP operating expense in Q1 2025. Stock compensation expense, which is excluded from non-GAAP results, increased by $397,000, primarily due to new hires and our adoption in Q1 of 2025 of performance stock units, or PSUs, for executives. PSUs vest over 3 years, whereas the time-based options and RSUs that we had previously granted to executives vested over 4 years. Although the vesting period is shorter, PSUs vest only if our stock performs well relative to the Russell 2000. The first tranche of PSUs issued in Q1 2025 lapsed without vesting because we did not hit the required stock price performance threshold. With the exception of stock compensation expense, the drivers of GAAP and non-GAAP expenses are substantially the same. So I will drill down into other factors that impacted our expenses by focusing on non-GAAP numbers. Please refer to the slide presentation for a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results. Non-GAAP operating expenses in the first quarter were $4.8 million, a year-over-year increase of $348,000 from $4.4 million in Q1 2025. Sales and marketing expense increased by $203,000, reflecting our 2 executive hires since October. R&D expenses increased by $127,000 from $2.8 million in Q1 of last year to $2.9 million in the first quarter of this year, primarily due to higher spending on outsourced engineering to support the wafer runs for our gate-all-around engagements, our IDM customer and our JDA customer, which drives spending on metrology. G&A expenses were basically flat from the first quarter of last year. Turning to sequential quarterly results. First quarter 2026 non-GAAP net loss was $4.9 million or $0.14 a share compared to net loss of $3.3 million or $0.10 a share in Q4 of 2025. Operating expenses were $4.8 million in Q1, which is a $1.6 million increase from $3.2 million in Q4. Let me offer some color on the magnitude of the sequential increase. As I explained on our last quarterly call, our Compensation Committee elected not to pay the full 2025 executive bonus, withholding approximately $669,000, which normally would have been paid out in January. The committee provided the executive team the opportunity to earn back the withheld amount in 2026 upon achievement of commercial objectives. This led to us reversing accrued bonus expense in the fourth quarter, which skews the comparison of expenses between Q1 and Q4. Our balance of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments on March 31, 2026, was $41.1 million compared to $19.2 million on December 31, 2025. We used $4.6 million of cash in operating activities during Q1 compared to $3.2 million in Q4 and $4.8 million in Q1 of last year. As is typical for us, cash used in the first quarter of every year is higher than other quarters due to payments for items that are expensed over the year. In February of this year, we closed on a $25 million registered direct stock offering, selling 5 million shares of common stock at $5 per share, netting us proceeds of $23.6 million after fees and expenses. Prior to this offering, we had also raised $3.2 million in Q1 by selling approximately 1.3 million shares under our ATM at an average price of $2.47. Currently, we have 38.7 million shares outstanding. With the proceeds of our equity offering, we feel that our current cash balance puts us in a strong position to execute on the opportunities ahead of us, but we will continue to be disciplined about controlling our costs. On our last call, I said that we expected our 2026 annual non-GAAP operating expense to be approximately $18.5 million, and we are holding to that number. To reiterate, the reason why the expense increase appears as large as it does over $15.9 million of OpEx in 2025 is the bonus deferral, which essentially shifted expenses out of Q4 and moved them into 2026. Organic increases in spending mainly relate to the hiring of our VP of Sales in Q4 last year and our VP of Marketing in Q1. Revenue in Q1 was $11,000 and consisted of fees for wafer deliveries to the large IDM that Scott talked about. And we have $96,000 of deferred revenue on our balance sheet. Approximately $46,000 of revenue that we expected to recognize in Q1 pushed out to Q2 because wafer shipments that we anticipating making last quarter pushed out to early this quarter. Accordingly, we expect Q2 revenue to be in the range of $50,000 to $100,000. With that, I will turn the call back over to Scott for a few summary remarks before we open the call up to questions. Scott? Scott Bibaud: Thanks, Frank. And before we take questions, I want to thank our employees, our customers and our shareholders for their continued support. We're excited about the progress we're making, and we remain focused on translating our growing body of simulation and customer silicon evidence into commercial agreements that can drive long-term repeatable revenue and a strong sustainable business. Mike, we will now take questions. Mike Bishop: [Operator Instructions] And right now, it looks like Richard is ready to ask a first question. Richard, please go ahead. Richard Shannon: Scott, the gate-all-around stuff here, you made some very interesting comments. I want to touch on a few of these things here. So you mentioned that you've got -- now have measured silicon results here and your customers have said that they're better than the other solutions that they have here. Just want to make sure that that's what you said, and then I have a couple of follow-ups on that topic. Scott Bibaud: Yes, you maybe -- are you talking about GaN or gate-all-around? Richard Shannon: Gate-all-around. Scott Bibaud: On gate-all-around, we do have measured silicon results. And we evaluated our results against another method that people in the industry are using to accomplish the same type of thing we're doing, and our results are a significant improvement. So yes, we have definitely had that, and we're showing that to customers. Richard Shannon: So to follow up on this, so I assume that the measured results are wafers run at 1 of these 4 targeted customers. Is that correct? Or it's independent? Scott Bibaud: In fact the measured results are something that we did in conjunction with our strategic partner, where they had gate-all-around structures, and we use those devices to grow MST on those gate-all-around structures in the wafer, and then we're able to conduct this testing. So now that's -- if you think about how we approach customers, we go out and we show customers our simulation data, which we can do without a strategic partner. But then having silicon tested data is a massive improvement over that. So that's been able to really open the doors for us to get into the customers. The next step from there is the customer will typically say, okay, we can see you did that on your strategic partners' structure. Now we want you to do it on our structure because our structure is different. Everybody is different. And when I mentioned that we're -- we have work underway with 2 of the target customers there doing demonstrations, that's the step we're at where we're trying to do -- implement our technology on their structures and show them that. We believe that the step after that, Richard, will be that they'll have to install MST in their fabs to do any further testing because these structures are so small and hard to manufacture that it's difficult to do a lot more work by having us run demonstrations in our fab. Richard Shannon: Okay. So to that point, do you have a commitment to attempt to do this on your customer structures? Or is just the discussions to get that agreed to? Scott Bibaud: We're working on it with 2 of them actually -- I don't know what you mean by commitment, but I guess they're sending us wafers and we're putting on. So yes, that's pretty committed. Richard Shannon: Okay. That sounds pretty good. So what's the time frame for this work to get done? And then I assume, given what I've heard for the many years that I followed you guys that the analysis of these can often take a while, and these are more complex than most. So I would assume that analysis takes a while. So what's the kind of the turnaround time between getting that done, analyzing and getting to that next step? What do you foresee that taking? Scott Bibaud: It's going to take several months. Just us doing the work, we have to really do a lot of development work to just figure out how to grow things effectively in these tiny devices that they're sending us. And so normally, when someone sends us wafers within 3 weeks to a month, we can turn those around and send them back. In this case, my guess is it might take us longer than that, 2 to 3 months. And then when we sit in the back, they have to put them in their fab and run them for several months. So it could be in the order of 6 months before we start to see results coming out of this. Now in -- I mentioned a few times on the call and both structural analysis, which is where they are looking at what we did for deposition in those structures and making sure that what we did was appropriate, they can do that pretty quickly because you're taking TEM images like electron microscope images and looking at what we did, that -- those results will come quickly, but the electrical results will be the result of running the wafers through the whole line. Richard Shannon: Got it. Okay. And so you're expecting or expecting to run wafers with -- wafers from 2 different GAA customers then over the next few months? Scott Bibaud: Yes. Richard Shannon: Okay. Going back to my first question here and understanding the results you measured with the runs you did with your equipment partner. I want to get a sense of whether the customers agree that the comparisons you've done with, I think, an industry standard approach to dopant diffusion, they actually agree with that as well that, that is much better than what they've been -- what they can get internally? Or is this just what your equipment partners concluded for you? Scott Bibaud: I think there's no doubt that the customers that we've been able to engage with and get down to lots of details on it, they have been impressed enough that they want to move forward with these further demonstrations. So yes, they definitely saw the benefit of using MST to conduct -- to block the dopant diffusion in the areas that we're talking about and how it works better than what they're currently implementing. Richard Shannon: Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Some really interesting stuff going on there. Maybe a couple of other quick questions. So on the DRAM side, it sounds like we made some progress here. But if I'm to compare that with the progress on the logic side to the memory side, it sounds like the logic is reasonably farther ahead than memory. Is that a fair comparison? Scott Bibaud: Yes, that's true. We are talking with the memory manufacturers, and they -- one thing, memory is quite a different architecture than logic that we're using gate-all-around. But in memory, they're having the same type of dopant diffusion problems with their newer architectures as the gate-all-around folks are and our technology is directly applicable to that. So we have a lot of interest in -- from the DRAM guys about that. We're also talking to them about some other solutions that may be able to help them in different ways. So it's lots of different vectors of how we're engaged with DRAM guys. I should say with the memory guys because it's also in high bandwidth memory, not just DRAM. But we're further ahead with the gate-all-around customers than we are with them. Richard Shannon: Okay. All right. Fair enough. Maybe a question on the GaN side here. So I think before -- my recollection is you're talking more about applications of GaN into the power space, but more recently, it's been in RF here. How would you characterize kind of the -- which one is kind of the leader in terms of getting to the next step here and getting installation licenses, I know that's not the right term, but it's kind of what I think of it, installation licenses or using the wafers with that already built in there, which one is kind of in the lead here if either one is notably better? Scott Bibaud: Okay. So it's kind of interesting where you're right saying that we initially targeted the power market for our GaN on silicon work. The power market is actually much larger than the GaN on RF market today. And that's one of the reasons why we targeted it first. And for the power market, we -- our big value that we've been talking about is to improve crystal quality and therefore, to allow people to manufacture on larger wafers because there'd be less ball and warp as they're growing the GaN and fewer defects and therefore, would have a lot of inherent value. Now the only challenge with that is to validate all that work, you actually have to build wafers and build electrical devices and do a lot of testing. So that takes some time. And everybody's GaN growth properties are different. So there's some tuning that has to happen -- and so that takes time. The new things I just mentioned, GaN on RF, we got some test data and we just spoke about it at a big compound semiconductor conference last week, and there is a huge amount of interest in the industry. And just looking at this early data that we got, it has to be validated and so forth. But just looking at that data could be enough for someone to adopt us because it's such a big breakthrough in such an area where the industry needs solutions. In RF, they don't actually have to do the full electrical testing before they can decide to move forward on something. So it could be that we're moving -- although we're earlier into the GaN on silicon for RF market, that one could move faster. Richard Shannon: Okay. All right. Fair enough. One last question for me. And maybe going back to STMicro here, and I'm not sure if this is the -- who you're now referring to the IDM customer or not here. So maybe correct me if I'm misassuming that here. But maybe just kind of indicate where we're sitting here with those guys. Obviously, we have put a pause on the power stuff that you're hoping to move forward with that you talked about late last year. How about the other applications with them? Are they still moving as full force as you had expected and had been seeing since the cessation of the power work with them? Scott Bibaud: Yes. Just to clarify, when I talk about the IDM, it's not STMicro. STMicro is another IDM, and we think we have a lot of different areas that we can engage with STMicro, but that's a separate engagement. So yes, we've been talking with multiple business units over there and been doing some work, some evaluation work, and we have recently got some results that lead us to believe that we're going to start reengaging with them on developing a product. We aren't at the point where we can talk about that yet, and ST hasn't specifically given us any okay to talk about it. But yes, we've been saying since we had to give that unfortunate news about the BCD program at ST that we are working with other groups and that our relationship with the company was great. And the thing is they really know and understand MST technology and have seen it and they believe in it. So this is kind of an indication of those comments that we've been making and I haven't been able to announce a new deal with them yet, but we hope to be able to do that in the future. Mike Bishop: Okay. There are a few questions that have been asked in the Q&A line, and I'll just bring them up one by one. So the first kind of question is about gate-all-around and it's that given the evaluation periods that we've seen in other areas of Atomera, are there specific milestones that need to be hit to convert these gate-all-around customers into JDA? And what's a realistic time frame for such a conversion? Scott Bibaud: Yes. At a high level, I'll -- maybe I'll put a little bit more structure on what I showed -- I talked about Richard before. It's typical customers who want to see kind of 4 different levels. They want to see TCAD results that show that you have the potential to deliver performance, and they have to understand all the TCAD background and believe in it. Then they'll move ahead and say, we want to see that captured on silicon. So we've done those 2 steps and gate-all-around. The next step, they say, okay, we want to see that captured in silicon, but on our silicon on our structure, we're going to send you guys wafers. We want you to deposit it on our structure and send it back to us, and we'll evaluate it. Now they know they're not going to get the most perfect performance out of that because the work we have to do together and tuning them up and getting everything to work fully integrated. But they're just trying to do a proof of concept on their platform, right? That's the stage we're at right now with 2 of the customers. Beyond that, the stage after that would be where they install and do the actual implementation on their device, tuning it all appropriately. So yes, it's a fair question to say when should we expect to see a JDA sometime during -- in this period of us doing the evaluation on their devices and when we get to the point we'll install there because that would involve a license, then we should be having a JDA in place. These companies do not move fast when you're talking about kind of legal agreements. So -- but we're working hard to make those happen, and we hope to be able to announce them at some point in the near future. Mike Bishop: Okay. And Frank, the question regarding the equity raise. An investor asked, he is curious about the background and reason for the third-party private placement. And given the stock price rise, was that -- could we have had better timing? Francis Laurencio: Right. Yes, thanks for that. One of the comments I've made in talking about the capital that we raised in Q1 was some funding that we got via the ATM. And if you look at that, the average price on that was $2.47, which is roughly about where we were trading about 1.5 weeks or 2 before we did the equity raise. And so the $5 price that we executed on there, given what we had seen so far, not only in Q1, but really looking back over the last couple of years, it made us look at this as a very good opportunity because, sure, the stock had run up to $7. And now in the last couple of weeks, it's run up again. But given the past trading levels that we had and again, a lot of geopolitical uncertainty in the middle of February, which we've kind of seen play out since then. Of course, you can't know how the equity market is going to perform. But on balance, it seems like a very good opportunity for us to execute on that. And then frankly, be able to work toward commercial outcomes and not worry about the day-to-day movements in the stock price to have to use the ATM to keep our balance sheet strong. So we've now strengthened the balance sheet. It's always kind of easier with the benefit of hindsight to second guess the price, but I think it was a very good decision to execute then. Mike Bishop: Question on the tool partner. How has your relationship evolved with your tool partner, the strategic partner? And are they giving you more engineering personnel? And how has that relationship changed over time? Scott Bibaud: Yes, that's a good question. We have been -- we try to be good partners with each of the big tool vendors. There's 3 main tool vendors that the industry uses for epi tools. And we typically want to be kind of an arms dealer work with whatever tool our customers want to work with. So we have good relationships with all of them. The tool vendor that we have the strategic partnership with we've been working with for more than a decade, and had a good relationship with. But now that we've entered into the strategic partnership, the level of co-development work that we're doing is at a whole new level. So we have weekly meetings with their engineering team where we are working on developing the test data that we need for marketing to customers. And as customers ask us questions and want to get more demos, and we dig in and do work on that together. So yes, on an engineering cooperation level, it's at a whole new level. The second area is on the marketing and sales to customers, and that's something that we've never really done with them in the past, and that's where we would be developing the right materials for us to both go into target customers and talk about MST technology and what a good solution that is. Now one thing I've calculated a number of times is that if we are successful licensing our technology to customers, in many cases, the tool vendor is going to make more money from us winning designs there than we will. So there's obvious advantages for them making us successful. And so they're not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. But the good news is, I think they've recognized that in the last year since we started this, and we're really seeing the benefit as we're engaging with customers. Mike Bishop: Okay. And this is a follow-up kind of to the when moving of the gate-all-around customer -- engagement. But investor asked last -- commented that the last call sounded like 2026, we would see several deals being made. Is it safe to say that now that sounds unlikely? Or is there still hope for inking an agreement this year? Scott Bibaud: We're only in the fifth month of the year, and I'm hopeful every month that we're going to be inking deals. So definitely, we'd say there's definitely a very strong chance. Mike Bishop: And if you look at all the areas in which you are working, which of the segments do you think is closest to producing a royalty-bearing license? Scott Bibaud: So I spoke a call or 2 ago about wafer-based products. And I think that the development effort in a wafer-based product is relatively easier. So some of the areas where we're offering wafer-based solutions are in gallium nitride and in RF SOI. And there's -- we have wafer-based solutions that we're offering in the memory space. So I think one of those could be the fastest. But we also have been working on power and on RF SOI with customers for a very long time. So those could also be quick time to market. It's very hard to call with so many moving pieces. Mike Bishop: All right. And with that, Scott, I'll turn the call to you for closing comments here. Scott Bibaud: Okay. Well, I want to just thank you all for joining us to hear the progress being made within Atomera. I hope you're feeling the excitement that we are. Please continue to look for our news, articles and blog posts, which are available along with investor alerts on our website, atomera.com. Should you have additional questions, please contact Mike Bishop. We'll be happy to follow up. Thanks again for your support, and we look forward to our next update call. Mike Bishop: Thank you. This concludes the call.
Operator: Morning. My name is Jason, and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Boise Cascade Company's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Forrey, Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Mr. Forrey, you may begin your conference. Chris Forrey: Thank you, Jason, and good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to Boise Cascade Company's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call and Business Update. Joining me on today's call are Jeff Strom, our CEO; Kelly E. Hibbs, our CFO; Joanna Barney, leader of our Building Materials Distribution operations; and Troy Little, leader of our Wood Products operations. Turning to Slide two. This call will contain forward-looking statements. Please review the warning statements in our press release, on the presentation slides, and in our filings with the SEC regarding the risks associated with these forward-looking statements. Also, please note that the appendix includes reconciliations from our GAAP net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, and segment income or loss to segment EBITDA. I will now turn the call over to Jeff. Jeff Strom: Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the earnings call. I am on Slide three. As I step into the role of CEO, I want to express my deep confidence in our company, our talented people, and our established direction. We have a strong foundation and a proven strategy that has positioned us well in the marketplace, and I am committed to building on that momentum. My thanks to our outstanding team whose dedication, expertise, and commitment to our customer and supplier partners are what drive our continued success. I am excited to lead us forward, focused on delivering sustained value for all of our stakeholders. Let me turn to our first quarter results. Total U.S. housing starts increased 1% compared to the prior-year quarter. However, single-family housing starts were off 5% for the same comparative period. Our consolidated first quarter sales of $1.5 billion were down 2% from 2025. Our net income was $17.8 million, or $0.50 per share, compared to net income of $40.3 million, or $1.06 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Our businesses delivered solid results for the quarter despite continued demand uncertainty resulting from geopolitical events, volatile mortgage rates, and severe weather. The challenges of consumer sentiment and home affordability remain the most significant headwinds for residential construction activity. In this environment, we are continuing to leverage our integrated model, which consistently demonstrates its value and resilience, particularly in challenging market conditions like these. As a follow-up to our previously disclosed legal matter that was resolved last week, this was a legacy issue involving certain hardwood plywood purchases made at a single distribution facility in Pompano, Florida between 2017 and 2021. We bought the wood from a former U.S.-based supplier that improperly imported the products. We were not involved in creating or operating the supplier scheme, but we did not follow some of our own internal processes that would have prevented us from making these purchases. We have taken responsibility for that and have strengthened our processes to prevent this from happening again. Kelly will now walk through our segment financial results, capital allocation priorities, and second quarter guidance, after which I will provide insights on our business outlook and make closing comments before we open the call for questions. Kelly E. Hibbs: Thank you, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. BMD sales in the quarter were $1.4 billion, down from the first quarter of 2025. BMD reported segment EBITDA of $48.2 million in the first quarter, compared to segment EBITDA of $62.8 million in the prior year. Selling and distribution expenses were up $8.2 million from the first quarter of 2025. In addition, gross margin dollars decreased $6.5 million compared to the prior-year quarter, reflecting lower gross margins on all product lines, particularly EWP. In Wood Products, our sales in the first quarter, including sales to our distribution segment, were $398.2 million, down 4% compared to the first quarter of 2025. Wood Products segment EBITDA was $32 million compared to EBITDA of $40.2 million reported in the year-ago quarter. The decrease in segment EBITDA was due primarily to lower EWP sales prices as well as higher per-unit EWP conversion costs. These decreases were offset partially by lower per-unit OSB costs, as well as higher plywood sales volumes and price. Moving to Slides five and six, BMD's year-over-year first quarter sales decline of 1% was driven by net sales price decreases of 3% offset partially by net sales volume increases of 2%. By product line, general line product sales increased 4%, commodity sales decreased 5%, and sales of EWP decreased 7%. Sequentially, BMD sales were up 2% from the fourth quarter of 2025. Weather had a significant impact on first quarter sales activity at our Southeast and Northeast distribution centers, as the affected locations were closed for a combined 35 days in January and February. The impacts were evident in BMD's daily sales pace during the quarter, with daily sales of approximately $21 million in both January and February before rebounding nicely in March to $24 million. Our first quarter gross margin was 14.4%, down 30 basis points year over year. The decline was driven by EWP competitive pricing pressures, as well as lower margins on general line. BMD's EBITDA margin was 3.5% for the quarter, down from both the 4.5% reported in the year-ago quarter and the 4.1% reported in the fourth quarter. Lower gross margins, coupled with the effects on our operating expense leverage from branch closures in the first quarter, negatively impacted our EBITDA margin result. Turning to Slide seven, on a year-over-year basis, first quarter I-joist and LVL volumes were down 51%, respectively. Sequential I-joist and LVL volumes were up 168%, respectively, driven by seasonal demand improvements and channel restocking ahead of the spring building season. As it relates to pricing, first quarter EWP sales prices declined about 7% year over year and remained flat sequentially. Turning to Slide eight, our first quarter plywood sales volume was 373 million feet compared to 363 million feet in the first quarter of 2025. The year-over-year increase in plywood volumes was due primarily to the restart of operations at our Oakdale mill in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sequentially, our plywood sales volumes were up 5% from the fourth quarter of 2025 as anticipated due to seasonal demand improvement. The average plywood net sales price was $343 per thousand in the first quarter, representing a 1% increase year over year and 4% sequentially. We attribute the recent improvement in plywood pricing primarily to weather-related supply constraints in the South combined with reduced imports. Notably, Brazilian imports declined by more than 60% year over year in 2026. However, following the late February Supreme Court decision that validated the use of IEPA to impose tariffs, higher import volumes are anticipated, which are expected to influence market dynamics in the coming months. I am now on Slide nine. We had capital expenditures of $40 million in the first quarter, $23 million of spending in BMD and $17 million of spending in Wood Products. The capital spending range for 2026 remains at $150 million to $170 million. Roughly a third of BMD's 2026 spending relates to growth projects across our system, with the balance of our spending in both segments attributable to business improvement and efficiency projects, replacement projects, and ongoing environmental compliance. Speaking to shareholder returns, we paid $10 million in dividends during the quarter. Our Board of Directors also recently approved a $0.22 per share quarterly dividend on our common stock that will be paid in mid-June. Through the first four months of 2026, we repurchased approximately $91 million of our common stock, including approximately $66 million in the first quarter. Since the beginning of 2024, we have repurchased approximately 12% of our outstanding shares. As of today, approximately $148 million of our outstanding common stock is available for repurchase under our existing share repurchase program. As expected, we utilized cash in the first quarter, primarily driven by seasonal working capital needs along with our planned capital investments and shareholder returns. However, the ongoing strength of our balance sheet remains in place, which positions us well to continue the pursuit of our strategic objectives. I am now on Slide 10, where we have outlined a range of potential EBITDA outcomes for the second quarter, along with the key assumptions underlying these projections. As we look ahead, end market demand remains uncertain, and certain cost inputs are volatile. For BMD, we currently estimate second quarter EBITDA to be between $65 million and $80 million. BMD's current daily sales pace is approximately 15% above the first quarter sales pace of $22 million per day. Gross margins are expected to be between 14.25% and 15%. Importantly, as our guide suggests, if our current sales pace is sustained, we expect BMD to show a healthy sequential improvement in EBITDA margin. For Wood Products, we estimate second quarter EBITDA to be between $32 million and $47 million. Our EWP order files are showing seasonal strength, and we expect sales volumes to increase mid-single digits sequentially. EWP pricing is expected to range from flat to low single-digit declines sequentially. In plywood, we expect sequential volume increases in the mid-single digits. On plywood pricing, quarter-to-date realizations were 8% above our first quarter average, with the balance of the quarter market dependent. We expect our per-unit manufacturing costs will be comparable to the first quarter, as higher volumes and early results from focused site improvement plans across our manufacturing system are expected to offset recent energy-related cost increases. I will turn it over to Jeff to share our business outlook and closing remarks. Jeff Strom: Thank you, Kelly. I am on Slide 11. Given the current environment, visibility into end market demand for 2026 is limited. For much of the first quarter, mortgage rates declined to the lowest level in over three years. However, recent geopolitical turmoil has led to volatility in Treasury and mortgage rates alike, introducing greater uncertainty on the remainder of the spring selling season. Homebuilders are responding to the cautious demand environment with thoughtful approaches to starts, home sizes, location, and inventory. As a result, maintaining our focus and staying agile remains central to Boise Cascade Company's strategy for delivering outstanding service across a broad selection of in-stock, industry-leading building materials in any operating environment. The alignment of our two business segments is evident every day and is a driving force in our world-class operations. Enhanced channel visibility supports the alignment of our production rates and inventory strategies with end market demand. Cross-divisional coordination and our strong financial position provide the security and flexibility for our teams to execute our strategy and deliver long-term value creation. We are committed to continuously seeking new opportunities to leverage our integrated model by driving greater efficiency, responsiveness, and innovation across our organization. As we consider the future of homebuilding, we remain confident in the structural drivers of U.S. housing demand, which include the persistent undersupply of housing driven by generational tailwinds, near-record levels of homeowner equity, a decade of underbuilding, and an aging U.S. housing stock with the average home being more than 40 years old. The strong fundamentals for both new residential construction, repair, and remodeling reinforce the industry's favorable outlook. Boise Cascade Company's investments throughout the business cycle give us confidence that we can outpace industry growth as these market tailwinds materialize. Thank you for joining us today and for your continued support and interest. We welcome any questions at this time. Jason, please open the phone lines. Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question comes from Michael Roxland from Truist Securities. Please go ahead. Michael Roxland: Yes. Thank you, Jeff, Kelly, and Chris for taking my questions. First question I had, Kelly, just in response to one of your comments regarding Brazilian import and lower tariffs. You mentioned expecting to see them in coming months. Have you started to see any increased plywood or wood flows from Brazil at this juncture? And it also seems like my second question, just EWP prices in the first quarter sort of stabilized quarter over quarter. One of your peers was showing mid-single-digit decline in pricing. Can you provide any more color around what is driving the price stability in your business maybe versus some of your peers? Kelly E. Hibbs: Yes. So my understanding, Mike, is that the true answer is yes. We are expecting to see more and more of that show up at the ports, maybe a little bit delayed because there was a phenol disruption at a manufacturing site in Brazil. But we know the wood is coming and we are seeing quotes show up in the coming months. Jeff, do you have some more color on that? Jeff Strom: I would add that there has been some that has showed up, but not significant enough that would cause any major impact. Troy Little: Yes. I mean, we were able to hold prices relatively flat since the third quarter of last year, but that is definitely not a function of less pressure in the market. It has come back. There has been more chatter. There is regional pricing pressure from our competitors still. We have the conversations with homebuilders and still a strong concern for home affordability. So right now, it is just a matter of being very strategic. It is regional conversations, making sure that we are competitive, but we are not leading with price, leading into our model and our service proposition. Fortunately, so far, we have been able to hold prices, and right now, quite honestly, our order file is strong, which allows us to be selective in how we address our pricing. Operator: The next question comes from Ketan Mamtora from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Ketan Mamtora: Good morning, and thanks for taking my question. Perhaps to start with, can you talk about freight and transportation inflation that you are seeing across both Wood Products and Distribution? If you can quantify that headwind and how you all are mitigating that? And then, when I think about the second quarter EBITDA guidance, appreciate that it is a dynamic environment. As I think about your top end versus the bottom end of the guidance range, can you at a high level talk about what that contemplates? Should I think about your current daily pace getting you to the midpoint of the guidance range in Distribution? Is that the way to think about it? Troy Little: Ketan, this is Troy. In terms of diesel prices, we are seeing that in various aspects of our business. The biggest one for us is probably in our resin costs. That is the input cost that is affected related to the increase in prices. We did have a price increase probably in the 10% range around our resin. Then we have some direct cost, if you think about fuel for rolling stock and things like that, which is not a huge spend for us, but that will be an impact. Moving veneer around the system, we see that in our wood costs. Then there is the indirect, every piece and part that comes into our system has some type of inflationary pressure around freight. We are working on our cost control on the opposite side of that to help mitigate some of that. It is hard to quantify all that, but I think we are still comfortable that we should have comparable manufacturing costs, as Kelly mentioned. Joanna Barney: And then I will jump in on the Distribution business. Diesel rose significantly during the quarter. We were paying almost double at the end of the quarter what we were paying at the beginning of it. Most of it we are able to pass on through our daily transactions with our customer base. There are some fuel surcharges, and our people have done a tremendous job of passing those along, but there has been some short-term impact to our margin on program business where freight was included as part of the original program. At times, there are delays in what we are able to go out and recoup as far as those costs. I would also add that there has been a lack of trucks and drivers due to tight immigration policies. That has impacted freight rates and the availability of trucks as well. Jeff Strom: The thing I would add on the BMD side is that every load that goes out of our warehouse every single day, we make sure that we optimize. We are sending out a full truck to spread that freight as efficiently as possible, and we have been working really hard on doing that. Kelly E. Hibbs: So, Ketan, let me take a shot at the guidance piece. I will start with BMD first and then give you a little color on Wood Products also. You kind of hit it in your question, which is we still have two months to go in the quarter. End market demand is pretty uncertain, and how much of the demand we have seen so far is replenishing the channel versus end market demand is a little hard to tell. There are unknowns and volatility around the cost inputs. That is why we draw a pretty wide range around our EBITDA forecast for both businesses. Specific to BMD, if you assume that the sales pace we spoke to so far this quarter is sustained, and our margins are at the midpoint of the range that we put out, that would get us into the midpoint of the range, into the low $70 millions. That would get us back to a really good spot in terms of a healthy improvement in EBITDA margin, into the mid-4% range. In Wood Products, it is a similar theme in terms of the challenges with forecasting. Troy spoke to good order files in EWP and pretty good order files in plywood, but we know, particularly in plywood, how quickly things can flip. Again, that is why we purposely put a pretty wide range around those results. Operator: The next question comes from Susan Marie Maklari from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Susan Marie Maklari: Good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking the questions. My first question is around thinking of the environment that we are in and the increase in macro uncertainty that we saw at the end of the first quarter. Has that had any impact on the mix you are seeing between sales coming out of the warehouse versus direct? What is the overall read of your customers, and how is that influencing the guide and how we should think about the flow through to results? And within general line, can you talk about what you are seeing from your suppliers in terms of competitive dynamics and pricing over the next couple of quarters? Jeff Strom: I will take a stab at the first part. What we did see in the first quarter, when commodities started to move and prices were down to begin with, was people stepping in and buying more directs than we have seen in the past few quarters. There was absolutely a shift to that. But as we move forward, with the uncertainty that is out there, that most often creates more reliance on distribution, and we are absolutely seeing that. Our warehouse business continues to be very strong and continues to be what people want to use. Joanna Barney: On suppliers and pricing, we saw late in the first quarter somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 price increases. Some of those were surcharge-driven, based on gas and freight, but most of them were product price increases. We are seeing broader product offerings and suppliers starting to understand that there has been some strength in the market that they are pushing into, and they are starting to move their prices accordingly. Operator: The next question comes from Kurt Yinger from D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead. Kurt Yinger: Great. Thanks, and good morning, everyone. I just wanted to go back to BMD. Looking at the volume performance there, even if we strip out an assumption on hold-in, it looks pretty flat, which I would say is good in this market. Can you talk about whether it is product category or customer initiatives that seem to be bearing fruit there? And then on the gross margin line, as we move into the back half, is the competitive environment so challenging that it would be tough to get back to that 15% plus gross margin level, or is that still an attainable goal? Joanna Barney: I would say it is both product and customer initiatives. As a backdrop, we had some margin return-on-sale impacts that were either a onetime event or not expected to be permanent. To Kelly's point in his prepared remarks, we had 38 days of closures with weather. Some of that business we recaptured, some of it we lost, but our costs remained fixed, so there was an impact there. We had fuel surcharges that we passed through, but there is timing that goes on there, so there is a margin shift. Within general line, we are focused on growth of our home center special order business, which we grew by double digits, and we continue to build out our door segments, gaining market share there. We are driving top-line revenue. Tied to our door initiative, we have pushed into the manufactured housing sector and saw double-digit growth in the first quarter, with a lot of upside opportunity there. We are making strides with our digital strategy. Our e-commerce business was up 57%. On commodities, you will continue to see us outperform the market because we have built out commodity technical systems that give us early indicators and real-time views into trends, inventory levels, and market segments, so that we can move quickly across our system. Our commodity volume and footage was flat to up in the first quarter, and we actually saw margin expansion, in spite of lower pricing. We feel confident that we are expanding our market share in commodities based on the systems we have built and the educated risks we take in putting inventory on the ground, built on years of experience and the expertise of our people. That has helped us in deflationary pricing environments to hold on to our volume and expand our margins. On gross margins versus 15% plus, I think it is an attainable goal. The current demand environment is uneven and rate-sensitive. There are still a lot of opportunities, but they vary by geography, product category, and builder type. When interest rates dipped below 6%, we saw strength return pretty quickly. If rates pull back and geopolitical tensions ease, BMD could see some improvement from seasonality as commodity prices improve. We are still seeing pricing pressure on EWP, although it is abating. We have had margin impacts across a wide breadth of general line products, and we saw year-over-year commodity price deflation, but we have offset that with margin expansion. If nothing changes in rates or tensions, we would have a more measured outlook: some seasonal improvement, but not a broad-based acceleration. Operator: The next question comes from George Staphos from Bank of America. Please go ahead. George Staphos: Hi, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. First, is there a way that you can give us a ballpark figure for the inflation you have seen in your cost of goods on an annualized basis that you have yet to recover in pricing actions already? Second, on plywood, you said there is some wood already showing up from Brazil and South America, but it has not had a big effect. Why do you expect it might have a bigger effect? What would some of the factors be, given your experience? Kelly E. Hibbs: I will start on the first one and speak specifically to Wood Products. In BMD, we are seeing some freight increases that we will largely be able to pass through over time. In Wood Products, the big items subject to inflationary increases that we are experiencing now and did not really see much of in the first quarter are glue, natural gas, and purchased electricity. Generally speaking, that is roughly 10% of Wood Products cost of sales. To the extent we see, and we have seen, about 10% increases in some of those key inputs, that gives you a sense of the cost impact, assuming volumes remain the same. On the second question around plywood imports, Jeff? Jeff Strom: We have not seen a huge impact because there has not been a whole lot that has come in so far. Why do we expect there will be an impact? It is supply and demand. It depends on where it comes in—what port, whether it is a big plywood market or not—and how much comes in. If there is a lot and a big price advantage, imports will grab some share. We have seen that before. But with what is happening there, there has been a delay with transportation and freight coming over. It will be wait and see when it gets here. George Staphos: As a quick follow-up, what are the spreads between current market pricing and what the quotes are coming in on imports? Can you give us a sense of the arbitrage? Jeff Strom: When it first got here, if I remember right, it was about a 10% difference between the two—what the pricing spread was when it first arrived or what they are quoting. Operator: The next question comes from Jeffrey Stevenson from Loop Capital. Please go ahead. Jeffrey Stevenson: Hi, thanks for taking my questions today. How much did restocking ahead of the spring selling season contribute to the improved sequential EWP volumes during the quarter? And could you provide an update on current EWP channel inventories at this point of the year compared with both last year, when they were elevated, and historical levels? Also, could you provide an update on the new Thorsby line and how we should think about the ramp and production at the facility as we move through the first half of the year? Troy Little: Undoubtedly, the better part of the first quarter was probably a restocking story. Maybe late in the quarter there was some follow-through, so it was a combination of both. Our order file grew to a solid two-week order file, and we have carried that through April and into May. On channel inventories, there is still a reliance on two-step distribution. Talking to our channel partners, they have increased inventory, but they are not back up to the high end of their targets for this time. On Thorsby, it is largely as planned. Right now, we are testing out and getting our products certified in the various depths and series. That is expected to go through the second quarter. In terms of sellable product, we would not have sellable product until probably the beginning of the third quarter. To a degree, that is capacity we have, but demand will dictate. To the degree demand is there, we will start producing out of Thorsby; to the degree it is not, we will use that as throttle. Going into the third quarter, I would not anticipate that being a huge volume contributor right now. Operator: Our next question comes from Reuben Garner from Benchmark. Please go ahead. Reuben Garner: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Maybe just a follow-up on EWP price-cost dynamics. I think you referenced an expectation of low single-digit sequential pricing declines. What is driving that? You mentioned a strong order file and inflationary pressures. Is it still just so competitive, or supply-related? Is there a lag from competitiveness several months ago that is flowing through now? Why would we see sequential declines when we have a strong order file and inflationary pressures? And then on the BMD side, I think, Kelly, you mentioned margin pressure in general line products. Is there something unique going on there in any specific categories driving that? And where do inventories stand today in general line, and how are you thinking about them for this year? Troy Little: It is flat to down. There is enough chatter out there that we could see continued erosion from the competitive environment—primarily on retaining business. On delivered cost, if freight increases are not fully passed through the channel, there is some impact to net sales price on the freight side. That combination may lead to a little erosion, but we are not anticipating a lot. That is why we have the flat to low single-digit range. Joanna Barney: From a margin compression standpoint, the biggest pressure we have seen has been across engineered wood, but that is abating. The rest of general line shows small margin impacts across a wide breadth of products, mostly market-based at the distribution level—nothing out of the ordinary. On channel inventories, the business starts we have seen are starting to normalize a bit. The channel is lean but relatively stable. Customer purchases have been more consistent than the start-stop we saw last year. We have started seeing price increases from multiple suppliers on the general line side as well. Jeff Strom: I would just add that single-family is such a driver for us, and single-family demand is very much muted. When it gets like that, everybody is fighting for what is out there. It is hyper-competitive right now across pretty much everything. Operator: And the next question is a follow-up from Kurt Yinger from D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead. Kurt Yinger: Great. Thanks. Troy, have you seen any derivative impact in terms of the EWP price conversations you have had, maybe specifically on floor systems, given what we have seen in dimensional lumber inflation? And then, looking at the outlook, it sounds like the order book is pretty strong. I know the first quarter benefited from some restocking, but it does not seem like much of a sequential seasonal lift in EWP volumes in the second quarter versus the first. Is that related to the restock dynamic or more of an assumption around some softening in single family as we progress into summer? Troy Little: Nothing that I am aware of on floor systems. Typically, once you get builders to convert to EWP floor systems, you do not see them convert back. On open-web truss, that is a competitive product to I-joist, and the cost inputs for those products have been quite volatile in recent quarters. But I-joists are maintaining share. We were happy to see the good sequential volume increase we saw in I-joist. Kelly E. Hibbs: On the outlook, it is a little hard to sort out exactly how much of the first quarter was end market versus channel restocking; it was some of both. As we move into the second quarter, if you read the transcripts from the national homebuilders, they are very focused on sales pace and moving spec inventory, moderating their starts pace to their sales pace. Some are talking about increasing starts, but more seem to be talking about decreasing starts and transitioning a bit more to build-to-order, given improved cycle times. That all plays into the narrative. We are doing our best to pick up the demand signal from the homebuilder channel, which suggests we are not going to see a big seasonal increase into the second quarter. Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Strom for any closing remarks. Jeff Strom: Thank you for your continued interest in Boise Cascade Company. Please be safe and be well, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter. Thank you all. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Eaton's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's program is being recorded. And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Yan Jin, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir. Yan Jin: Hey, good morning. Thank you all for joining us for Eaton's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. With me today are Paulo Ruiz, Chief Executive Officer; and Dave Foster, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our agenda today, including the opening remarks by Paulo, then I will turn it over to Dave who will highlight the company's performance in the first quarter. As we have done on our past calls, we'll be taking questions at the end of Paulo's closing commentary. The press release and the presentation we'll go through today, including reconciliations to non-GAAP measures have been posted on our website, and a replay of this webcast will be accessible on our website after the call. Before we begin, I would like to note that our comments today will include forward-looking statements with respect to sales, earnings and other matters. Our actual results may differ materially from our forecasted projections due to a wide range of risks and uncertainties that are described in our recent SEC filings. With that, I will turn it over to Paulo. Paulo Sternadt: Thanks, Yan, and thanks, everyone, for joining us. Starting on Page 3, I'm happy to report we have delivered solid results to start the year. From a demand perspective, we continue to see tremendous strength. Rolling 12-month orders are up in all businesses, 42% in Electrical Americas and 13% in both Electrical Global and Aerospace. We are winning business at unprecedented rates, resulting in our backlog hitting a new record high in both Electrical and Aerospace with book-to-bill increasing to 1.2 combined on a rolling 12-month basis and even stronger than that year-over-year. Our accelerating orders driven by data center orders up 240% prove continued strong demand and our winning value proposition as an end-to-end solutions provider. Overall, the businesses are executing nicely to start the year. We posted record revenue of $7.5 billion, along with Q1 record segment profit of $1.7 billion and margins of 22.7%. We are pleased to beat our adjusted EPS guide and consensus. All the bid was operational. We also delivered strong total revenue growth of 17% and higher margins than anticipated. We are also executing well on our deals to boost growth. We closed Ultra PCS in January and Boyd Thermal in March, both ahead of schedule. Our partnerships with NVIDIA resulted in a complete solution for their generation of chips, Vera Rubin. Thanks to our teams for the strong work as we keep shaping our portfolio. As we look toward the rest of the year, with an unprecedented demand backdrop we raised our organic growth outlook by 200 basis points to a midpoint of 10% and also raised our adjusted EPS midpoint expectations to now $13.28 for the year, which covers the EPS dilution from the Boyd acquisition. Another important update, on March 2, we announced Dave Foster as CFO. We are thrilled to have you back, Dave, and he has 29 years career with Eaton, which brings deep understanding of our business and markets as well as a proven ability to drive performance. Dave and I will dive into Q1 and the 2026 outlook. But first, let's move to Slide 4. We continue to drive eaten forward with our bold strategy to lead, invest and execute for growth. All 3 pillars are designed to accelerate our growth and create sustained value for shareholders. Today, we will discuss how we are executing for growth in Electrical Americas investing for growth, including the Boyd Thermal acquisition and leading for growth with a customer-centric approach. Slide 5 includes an update on how we are executing for growth in Electrical Americas. Demand remains incredibly robust. We are winning like never before, and the order and the backlog growth supports that. Meanwhile, we're accelerating our production ramp in the Americas to meet demand. The investments we are making over $1 billion in CapEx are at record scale for us, but well within our capability to navigate. And most importantly, we are on track as planned and feel confident on our path forward, given our strong position in growing markets and proven track record of solid execution at Eaton. Americas recovered well from a tough January and February with impact from the winter storms in our facilities and across the supply chain. Our team recovered well in March. April was another strong month. From both sales and margin perspective, Q1 will be the trough and as mentioned in our last earnings call in February. We expect progress as we enter Q2 and momentum in Q3 and Q4, which will set up the business to meet or exceed our margin target of 32% by 2030. Turning to Page 6 and our investing for Growth strategic pillar where we are doubling down on high-growth, high-margin markets to capitalize on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We've taken both portfolio actions in the last year, including the successful integration of Fiber bond, which enhances our model approach. Resilient power, which fast tracks our solid-state transformer technology and various partnerships like the design partnership with NVIDIA and the on-site power partnership with Siemens Energy to help solve for global power constraints. Now Eaton's broad portfolio has been further enhanced by the acquisition of Boyd Thermal. Our complete offering to data centers now has leading liquid cooling solutions, a true grid to chip approach that is unique to Eaton. We have solutions from power generation and the grid, gray space power infrastructure and now a stronger presence in the white space, along with cooling solutions. More specifically on Eaton's Boyd Thermal, this business is a core design partner to leading hyperscalers and silicon providers. As [indiscernible] plates expand across compute, networking and rack-level components, Boyd system level position drives also increased CDU adoption. Embedded at a cheap and system level, Boyd Thermal expands Eaton's presence in the white space and gives Eaton early visibility into evolving data center platform requirements, advancing next-generation power and cooling management. The cooling business is on track to record $1.7 billion or better in revenue in the full year of 2026, of which about $1.4 billion will be included in Eaton financials for the year with margins generally in line with the prior expectations. The Boyd business had a very strong start of the year, up well over 100% in Q1 versus prior year. In fact, Boyd's backlog doubled over the last 6 months. Boyd's recent wins underscore strong momentum in liquid cooling, reflecting customer preference for its deep engineering integration, early design engagement, speed of execution, manufacturing readiness and ability to scale globally. Therefore, we are confident in 2026 outlook. We are very excited to welcome the strong team to the Eaton portfolio and look forward to continued success together. Turning to Page 7. We are leading for growth by striving to move fast, co-creating innovative solutions with our customers at the center of everything we do. Here, we highlight the Eaton [indiscernible] DSX platform as part of our collaboration with NVIDIA to support the next generation of AI factories with end-to-end grid to cheap infrastructure. AI factories represent a new class of infrastructure, and they are driving a massive global build-out, where data center power demand could nearly triple between 2025 and 2030. This unprecedented demand requires end-to-end solutions for faster builds and more efficient energy usage. That's why we developed the Eaton [indiscernible] DSX platform. It delivers a complete modularized implementation of AI factory infrastructure, spanning grid connection, power distribution, advanced cooling and structural architectures engineered for higher speed, efficiency and resilience, truly an ideal solution. By integrating Eaton's grid to cheap architecture, we are enabling our customers to move beyond custom designs toward efficient, reliable and modular solutions. It's a unique collaboration tailored to help our customers with their greatest challenges, and we couldn't be more excited for our customers to benefit from this technology. Now I will turn over to Dave to walk through the financials. David Foster: Thanks, Paulo. I would first like to say how honored I am to be back at Eaton. I've seen a lot of great changes in my almost 30 years with the company, but I've never been more excited than I am today to be part of Eaton's growth journey by how well positioned we are to deliver on our commitments. I'll start by providing a brief summary of Q1 results on Page 8. Organic growth for the quarter was 10%, driven by strength in Electrical Americas, Electrical Global and Aerospace, partially offset by lower sales and mobility driven by -- primarily by a deliberate action to fix the tail, exiting a low-margin North America light vehicle business. Excluding declines in mobility, our organic growth would have been almost 12%. We generated record Q1 revenue of $7.5 billion, and a Q1 record $1.7 billion of segment operating profit. Adjusted EPS of $2.81 is a Q1 record and $0.06 above the midpoint of our guidance range. We also had a strong quarter for free cash flow, which was up 245% over prior year. Now let's move on to the segment details. On Slide 9, we highlight the Electrical Americas segment. Demand is accelerating. Our negotiations pipeline was up 81% in Q1 over prior year, translated into record orders and backlog. The business maintained strong operational momentum, delivering record sales and Q1 record operating profit. Organic sales of 14% was driven primarily by strength in data centers, up about 50% along with strong growth in commercial and institutional and machine OEM. Operating margin was 25.6%. As we discussed last quarter, we expected early 2026 headwinds as America's ramping capacity at an unprecedented scale to meet the accelerating demand. While revenue growth was very strong, we faced additional headwinds in the quarter from higher input costs than originally planned, along with costs related to delivering higher volumes in the quarter. The higher costs are short-term timing headwind, which is being offset with an announced April 1 price increase and other additional price actions. We have confidence to execute on our commitments for 2026. Now I will summarize the results for our Electrical Global segment. Total growth of 21% included organic growth of 9% and 6% attributed to the Boyd acquisition. Overall, a very strong performance for the quarter. We had strength in data center, residential and machine OEM. Operating margin of 19.2% was up 60 basis points over prior years, driven primarily by higher sales and continued operational efficiencies. As you can see on the chart, demand in Global remains incredibly strong, driven by strong orders, up 13% on a rolling 12-month basis with broad end market momentum and exceptional strength in data center demand. This reinforces a powerful growth trajectory ahead for the business. Before moving on to our industrial businesses, I'd like to briefly recap the combined Electrical segment's performance. For Q1, we posted an organic growth of 13% and total growth of 20%, a great start to the year, and we are pleased with the progress we are making on all of our acquisitions. Segment margins were 23.4%. On a rolling 12-month basis, orders accelerated up 32%, and our book-to-bill ratio for our electrical sector grew to 1.2 from 1.1 last quarter. In the quarter, Electrical Sector orders were up 47%. As a result, total electrical backlog increased 48% over prior year. Demand continues to surge, providing tremendous visibility and underpins our confidence in the Electrical business. Page 11 highlights our Aerospace segment. Organic sales growth of 9% remained at a high level and resulted in record sales with particular strength in defense aftermarket along with strength in commercial OEM and commercial aftermarket. We closed the acquisition of Ultra PCS in January and the business performed in line with our expectations, contributing 5 points of total sales growth. Operating margin expanded by 360 basis points to a record 26.7%, driven primarily by sales growth and a onetime facility sale gain in the quarter. Even excluding the onetime gain, aerospace margin expanded 80 basis points over prior year, very strong performance to start the year. The robust orders and a growing backlog continue to position Aerospace for growth. Moving to our mobility segment on Page 12. In the quarter, the business now including both vehicle and eMobility, declined by 6% on an organic basis driven primarily by the decision I mentioned earlier to exit a low-margin business. Margins are flat year-over-year, primarily driven by mix and operational improvements to offset higher commodity and wage inflation. We remain on track to execute the spin of the segment by the first quarter of 2027. Now I will turn it back to Paulo to discuss our updated guidance and close out the presentation. Paulo Sternadt: Thanks, Dave. Page 13 includes our end market growth assumptions. The demand in data center and distributed IT market continues to grow even faster than we estimated 3 months ago. We now estimate 32 gigawatts of total data center capacity under construction in the U.S., of which 70% is AI. Total data center backlog has grown to 228 gigawatts or 12 years of backlog at a 2025 build rates, up from the 11 years in our last update. As you can see on the chart, data center is not our only strong market. We see durable strength in many electrical markets and in Aerospace. These many paths for sustainable growth gives confidence to deliver continued differentiated growth in 2026 and beyond. Moving on to Page 14. We summarized our 2026 revenue and margin guidance. Following a strong quarter, we now expect total company organic growth to be between 9% to 11%, up 200 basis points at the midpoint, with strength in Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, which both increased 300 basis points at the midpoint. For segment margins, our guidance range of 24.1% to 24.5% is 50 basis points lower than the prior guide, primarily due to Electrical Americas Q1 performance. We are taking decisive actions to offset temporary cost headwinds in Electrical Americas. And as we discussed earlier, we are confident with our sequential margin improvement in Electrical Americas and expect to exit the year with margins north of 30%. On the next page, we have the balance of our guidance for 2026 and Q2. For 2026, we are raising the low end of our adjusted EPS guide. Now we expect full year EPS to be between $13.05 and $13.50, $13.28 at the midpoint. For the full year, adjusted EPS guidance includes flowing through the full Q1 beat and absorbing the Boyd dilution to EPS. The tariff impacts are included in this guidance and considered immaterial. We are reaffirming our cash flow expectations for the year, and we have provided a guidance for Q2 on this page. Healthy end markets, combined with our record backlog provides strong visibility into our outlook for the year. With the industry's best positioned portfolio, we are highly focused on disciplined execution throughout 2026. I will close with a quick summary on Page 16. Our strategy to lead, invest and execute for growth is working. We continue to transform our portfolio, allocating capital and resources towards higher growth, higher-margin businesses. The demand environment remains exceptional. We are winning at unprecedented rates. Our orders accelerated once again and our record backlogs provide visibility going forward. This was another strong quarter for Eaton. We delivered record Q1 adjusted EPS and segment profit, along with record revenue reflecting improved execution, ramping capacity as well as the impact of strategic actions we have taken to drive earnings performance. Bottom line, we see a compelling and exciting runway ahead with our strongest growth opportunities still in front of us. And with that, I look forward to taking your questions. Yan Jin: Thanks, Paulo. [Operator Instructions] With that, I will turn it over to the operator for instructions. Operator: Our first question for today comes from the line of Scott Davis from Melius Research. Scott Davis: I'm sure you're going to get a lot of questions on margins, so I'll go in a different direction. But there's a lot of debate around the long-term architectures and data centers and I think a lot of confusion out there. Can you guys just talk a little bit about your competitive position in the landscape for solid-state transformers or on the medium voltage side? And maybe even a TAM, if you could address that? Paulo Sternadt: Sure. Well, thanks, and thanks for starting with a strategic question. I appreciate that. I will start talking about this in broader terms. You said it correctly, a lot of the discussion is around the medium voltage solid state transformers technology, but we're also leading the pack more broadly as a company on how to transform the complete data centers into direct current technology. So it's broader than just the power transformers, right, all the way from the utility down to the chips. So we got to think about power distribution as well, power protection, 800 [indiscernible] DC or higher actually for future applications. And this is exactly -- I want to clarify, this is exactly the broad scope of our partnership with NVIDIA that we launched for the new generation of Rubin chips. So that the [indiscernible] scope is already 800-volt DC. But the most important question for investors is, why does this matter? Why does it matter so much for data center operators and I would say it is because the industry wants to increase tokens per megawatt. In other words, to increase the efficiency the data centers. So if you look at where we operate as a company and other companies operate as well, the biggest lever to increase this efficiency is to reduce the use of chillers because today, chillers consume around 20% of the data center power. So with the new cheap technology, for example, the one that NVIDIA announced at the beginning of the year, as they can run hotter and counting our advanced cooling solutions from Boyd, we can make this possible. So that's the biggest lever. But the second biggest lever is exactly what you mentioned here, Scott, is to move from AC architecture to DC architectures. If you look at today's efficiency, even in the most improved designs in AC, efficiency runs at 93% and we estimate and all the industry leaders estimate that switching to this direct current technology 800 volts or above can save up to 5% from data center operations, moving the efficiency all the way up to 98%. So if you think about this, this is huge dollars and huge efficiency gains that can change completely the economics of the data center. So I want to get that out. I would say this, we as a company, we are in a leading position to commercialize our medium voltage solid-state transformers to get more specific to your question. The fact that we acquired Resilient Power Systems accelerate their [indiscernible] development because we acquired an immersion code offering that drives much more power density in a much smaller footprint. So it really leapfrogged our evolution here. And we have more than a handful of solid-state transformer pilots actually approaching 2 handful, including hyperscaler customers. What we are getting from those discussions with them, it's a lot of positive feedback. We are working through those pilots. And in the meantime, we start taking the leading role also developing industry codes and standards in the U.S. but also in Europe. And as I mentioned before, as we are taking the commercial lead here, we're already providing quotes on 800-volt DC projects now. We expect orders in the second half of the year for shipments starting in late 2027 and some of those also beginning of '28. So we're making solid progress there. So if I'm to conclude here in summary, while there are other companies working on this technology, which I would say is good for quicker adoption of the industry, we are very confident in our leadership position in the solid-state transformers, and I would say more broadly to lead the complete power conversion to DC. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Chris Snyder from Morgan Stanley. Christopher Snyder: Maybe I'll balance for Scott and ask more of a near-term 1 here. So Q1 Electrical Americas margins came in below expectations. It sounded like there's maybe some unexpected cost inflation. So maybe just some incremental color on that. And then what gives you confidence or could you help unpack the drivers that get that Americas margin to 30% or maybe even a little bit higher into the back half. It sounds like from the prepared remarks that there's price coming. So just anything on how material that could be in the time line there to lift those back half margins. Paulo Sternadt: Thanks, Chris. Well, thanks for this question. Certainly top of mind for all investors, I'd like to get started by providing a little bit of context to this margin discussion because we need to take this discussion in a broader sense of our growth trajectory. And as you heard in our prepared remarks, the demand is fantastic. And I just want to give this team -- this group of people, 3 data points for us to reflect on. The first one, look at orders, right, 60% up year-over-year. And this is on top of a very strong base in '25, having data centers being 240% growth validating our strategic choices. So this is a one strong data point. The second one I will mention, as you heard, our backlogs are up 44% in Electrical Americas. So this was a high bar in '25, and this business added $4.4 billion to the backlog in just 1 year. It's incredible what the team was able to add, while we're still delivering double-digit growth on top line. So that's the second data point. The third one is the negotiation pipeline, as you heard from Dave, is up 81%. Now if you take a step back here and look at all those data points, I would say we are the precipice of a new growth cycle here for this business, a real growth cycle, an inflection point and we are starting to get ready for it. We need to get ready for that inflection point. So as a reminder to everyone, I'm getting to the weeds of the margin development. As a reminder to everyone, we finalized the construction, and we are currently ramping up 12 factories as we speak to handle this growth. The bulk of this ramp-up cost is concentrated in Q4 last year and the first half of this year and these expansions are going well. They are progressing as planned. Now to the details on the margin development, the year-over-year margin is temporarily impacted by 2 reasons. I reemphasize temporarily impacted. The first temporary impact is a negative price cost lag based on commodity inflation beginning of the year. This temporary impact will be more than offset in the full year by pricing that we already implemented on April 1. So that's the first part of the margin recovery. The second one, we accelerated ramp-up costs in Q1 to deliver 30% higher revenue growth. So as you remember, in February, when we discussed, we committed to a 10% midpoint growth for Electrical Americas. Now we are committing to 13% growth. So we needed to upload investments in Q1. So this is part of it. It's also a temporary effect, given this ordinance trends, we took this deliberate action and followed [indiscernible] investments in Q1, and we are accelerating our ramp. As you know, we discussed in the last earnings call, every time you add fixed cost, labor, depreciation of new CapEx and start-up expenses ahead of volume, it creates this temporary margin headwind. Most importantly, I want to report that if you look at the product unit economics, the product margins remain very healthy, and we continue to expect in this new guidance, we continue to expect our full year 2026 segment profit in dollars to be roughly the same, around $4.4 billion as per prior guide. And if you ask what the confidence we have, I have and the team has on our second half margins, I would say we're on the right trajectory to get started. We finished March with strong performance in Q1 and April was also a good start for Q2. So that's the first point I want to get out. But the second and most importantly, looking towards the second half as utilization increases and recent pricing actions take effect, we expect to have strong operating leverage and margin recovery over the coming quarters, which reflects into our guidance, as you see, that shows sequential margin improvement starting from Q2 and gaining momentum towards the second half. And as explained through our last 2 earnings calls, this is the year of execution for the Americas, for sure. And the team is very focused. I want to report the team is really focused and very supported by the whole corporation. And the progress is tangible at even weekly meetings we have with the team, we can see progress week over week. So we remain confident about the strong exit rate for 2026 and we are committed to the 32% margin by 2030. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Deane Dray from RBC Capital Markets. Deane Dray: Yes. Sorry, can you hear me now? Paulo Sternadt: Yes. Deane Dray: I'll also add my welcome back to Dave and my question is directed to Dave. I'd be really interested in hearing about your early observations now that you're back at Eaton and where are your priorities and focus as CFO? David Foster: Dean, thanks for the welcome. Let me start with culture, which is one of the reasons I've worked at Eaton for almost 30 years. So I can already see and feel positive changes within the company and we have an increased focus on our customers, and we've had a lot of focus on improving our team operating dynamics. It's been great to see. If I look at growth, I've never seen this level of organic growth across the company in my career. And it's more than just an Electrical Americas story. We see it in Electrical Global. We see it in Aerospace. And then Paulo talked about it a little bit in his last answer, but the commitment that we've made to invest to grow the company organically really stands out to me, both people and assets. I personally reviewed the growth projects in the Americas during my first 3 weeks on the job, and I came away very confident in our ability to deliver 2026. No, I'm going to -- this will be a little different take. But for me, coming back, I clearly see the benefits of functional transformation efforts that have been ongoing at Eaton over the last 4 years. I see it across the enterprise, but let me share 1 of the many examples from the finance function. So in late 2023, we went all in on centralized and specializing our credit collections teams. And I'm really happy to say that we delivered record past due percentage performance at the end of 2025, and then we beat it again by 100 basis points at the end of Q1. So the end result is improved cash flow and reduced risk, but it also helps us free up time in our plants and divisions to focus on operations. So very similar to what policies since I've been back for 9 weeks, I can see visible progress and improvement across the total company. I see it in the numbers. I see it in the reviews that I sit in. And again, secondly, what Paulo said, we finished March very strong and the preliminary results for April are continue to build the momentum that we take into the second half of the year. So if I look at the top priorities for myself and the company, one, obviously, deliver our commitments for growth, margins and cash flow in 2026 and make sure we're positioned well to exceed or meet or exceed our expectations for 2030. For me, personally, I get a chance to leverage my strong operations background and my pricing experience with large direct customers. I understand the Eaton business system very well and how we operate as a company. So it's made it very easy for me to plug back into the company. And then I have strong relationships with all the operating leaders across the globe, and that really helps to drive results and resolve issues as they come up. If I look at it, we're going to -- one of the big objectives this year is to successfully integrate the Boyd Thermal Ultra-PCS and fiber bond acquisitions as well as execute the spin of our mobility business. And maybe many of you don't know, but last year, I supported the businesses at Eaton on both the Boyd and Ultra PCS acquisitions. And I also spent some time on the mobility spend in the fourth quarter of last year. And that experience has allowed me to hit the ground running and engage with our efforts involving all of these projects. I clearly know what we need to do to deliver synergies in both of the deals as well as understanding the base business. And then finally, on a functional point of view, I'm going to continue to work with our leadership team in finance to drive finance transformation objectives. And personally, I'm going to really lead a continuous improvement culture across all the finance that mirrors the rest of the enterprise with the simple goal of just getting better every day. So hopefully, that answers your question. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Nicole DeBlase from Deutsche Bank. Nicole DeBlase: I guess just kind of following on to all the highlights of the strong order growth that we're seeing and Paulo, what you said about this kind of being an inflection with respect to demand. I'm just thinking about do you have enough capacity to address that inflection in demand based on what's been done so far and what's ongoing within Electrical Americas? Or should we be expecting maybe another tranche of capacity expansion in the quarters and years to come? And if so, like could that expansion be of a similar size to what you guys have embarked upon in EA already? Or could it be a bit smaller? Paulo Sternadt: Thanks. As we stated before, we announced the expansion of 24 facilities, and we are done with 12 of them. We are ramping there are still 6 to come online by the end of the year that we're going to ramp next year and the other 6 beyond 2027. Of course, there's a lot of success in our orders. There's a lot of success in our combined portfolio and our growing backlog, negotiation pipeline, all of that, but I wouldn't expect to see such an increase in capacity investments all at once hitting our business anytime soon. It's going to be more like a continuous investment over time. and something that we are really focused as well as the team is to sweat those assets, right? We are inserting very good operators inside every part of the Electrical business, they're showing results. We're going to make those new plans work, and we're going to get the high returns our investment. So in short, I would say half -- more than half of the pain is gone, is highly concentrated in Q4. As I said before, and then starts to get back in a much better situation for the second half as we ramp those volumes. And there will be a continuous improvement and continuous investment, but nothing of this magnitude of 24 plants in the space of 2 years. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Chad Dillard from Bernstein. Charles Albert Dillard: So I've got a question for you on competitors buying into the cold plate market. So I guess, part one is what share of cold places is represented in Boyd. And then part 2 is how do these acquisitions impact the competitive landscape? Paulo Sternadt: Great question, another top of mind topic for investors. Thanks for that question. I would just start by just showing my welcome and my excitement to have the Boyd team as part of Eaton. I would say, is a winning team in the fastest-growing portion of the data center market, the advanced liquid cooling. So we are really happy to be able to count the support of that talented team. And I'm glad I told you, I hope you were in our last earnings call, I made a short comment sarcastically that we should brace for comments around cooling coming up every month. And I would say this is truer than ever with the latest news we saw from the market. But now seriously, if I look back even a space of 3 months, I would say that I believe this investor community evolved in their thinking in the last months. And I believe most understand now that co plates are not commodities, I saw a couple of really good reports coming out from analysts. So there is understanding that cold plates are actually strategic assets for our customer co-development customer centricity and future wins that actually can be paired and can pull wins for system business like CDUs for cooling and power management, especially one of those 3 things under the same rule. So there is much more understanding of its growth potential. I'm happy that's the case now. If we start looking at the recent co plate acquisitions, I would say that a further, in my opinion, further validate our strategy because it demonstrates the attractiveness of this tremendous market growth opportunity we saw earlier on. And the other thing I want to highlight in terms of landscape -- competitive landscape to the second part of your question, before acquiring Boyd, the team really did -- our team really did the homework and we systematically evaluated the market landscape for over a year. So we did that on our own. We hired an external consultant. We hired a cooling expert from the Department of Energy. All those 3 independent data points of browsing the market pointed to Boyd. So we are confident we bought the BaaS business, the market leader at the right multiple, also very important to say that. And based on Boyd's world leading market position, we are also very happy about their capabilities and the scale they can implement in the next months and years. And as you said, there's a lot of deals. We are familiar with those deals. In my opinion, that does not change our view of the market because as I said before, we browse the market for the best deal possible. And this game around liquid cooling is a game, in my opinion, will define as a game of trust given the high stakes of being so close to the chips and keeping the servers working and the revenue generation assets operating well. It's a game of trust, it's a game of speed and cost on innovation. Constant innovation is what marks this market very strongly. So the other thing I want to say, and this is the mindset of our team here that we will protect you will learn from and will augment what made Boyd great, which is their speed, the superior engineering they have, the manufacturing quality at increased scale. So we are really focused there. Now if I stop, this is a big picture for the business and the cooling market. We know that the future is bright for this technology. But then we should ask ourselves what makes us feel good about the shorter term. And here, once again, if you look at the Boyd's business and now we call it our liquid cooling business at Eaton, revenues should meet or exceed this $1.7 billion in revenue, certainly a huge growth over $1.1 billion this team achieved last year. And we feel really confident. Why we feel confident on that number. Q1 revenues from this cooling business at Boyd more than doubled year-over-year. And also the backlog doubled from 6 months ago. So the business is really growing really fast and winning big. The second thing, I would say, the run rate in Q1 was already around $400 million. So we modeled to stay at that level in Q2 and raised the second half to $450 million per quarter, it's reasonable, it's conservative, and we think it's perfectly feasible as the business is ramping. Now we only owned the business for 3 weeks. So we thought it was premature to raise the full year forecast at this time. But I want to reassure everyone we are aiming for an upside and we'll be prepared for that upside. So in summary, just to give you my final words on this topic, market validation of our strategy given the last years, we're extremely happy to have Boyd in our portfolio, and I'm very confident in delivering our own growth plans for '26 and beyond. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Andy Kaplowitz from Citi. Andrew Kaplowitz: Obviously, you raised your organic revenue guide for the year which seems like it's mostly coming from data center strength, but what are you seeing in terms of other mega projects? Are you simply further unlock there? And maybe your thoughts on broader economic trends impacting EA and Electrical Global, any impact from the Middle East on your business, for instance? Paulo Sternadt: Very good question. I'll give you a flavor on mega projects first. Another strong quarter, another strong quarter. The announcements were up 29% year-over-year, growing 36% in full year '25. So if you put a 2-year stack, the stack [indiscernible] 65% up. So a very strong development in mega projects. So the backlog of mega projects now is around $3.3 trillion and is up 31% year-over-year. But the most important thing for Q1 is that we saw an uptick on mega project starts, which is when people start spending money and buying equipment. So mega projects parts reached $54 billion in Q1. So it's more than double the same period last year. And since we start tracking that in 2021, it's the third best quarter on record. So very strong tailwinds that will come from mega projects in the years to come. You had a second and third part to your question. I will just give you some flavor on the other markets, so we allow other colleagues to ask questions. But we also had strength -- we see strength in utility orders, we see strength in machine OEM, we see strength in aerospace more broadly for the company. So we have different vectors of growth, which are not necessary data center only. So I'll not give full details now, so we allow other colleagues to ask their questions as well. But thanks for your highlights on the mega projects. So strong quarter once again. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Patrick Baumann from JPMorgan. Patrick Baumann: I just had a quick one on the EA margin again for the commentary you made on March and April being better and then the incremental pricing you put through in April. I'm just wondering if you could give any insight into how much improvement that you saw in those months. And then what kind of improvement you expect in margin from first quarter to second quarter? Because it does sound like you expect it to get better. But it's not really clear to what extent? Paulo Sternadt: Great. So I would get started also allow Dave to make some comments later. We see the biggest mission for this business actually to reach the top line and keep growing. And they did that exceptionally well in March. We have a very strong end of the quarter. That performance repeated in April. And in terms of margin development, the 2 things I said before, I shared before, there are temporary headwinds. They will be solved as we execute on the volume ramp. So this is on the right track, and that give us confidence. The second thing, which hasn't hit our numbers yet entirely is the pricing that we implemented at beginning of April. So if you put these 2 together, the business is demonstrating top line growth and executing on the expansion well, also took the right measures in terms of pricing already implemented. So we'll see that coming in the second half. And to just go back to what we said last year in terms of the EPS split between first and second half is pretty much what we see in this guidance as well, right? So I will start by making those comments, and I'll allow Dave to give some color here from his perspective. David Foster: Yes. Based on our -- how we finished March and April, with our guidance, we're up 150 basis points from Q1 to Q2 and the Electrical Americas. And keep in mind, on the price actions we don't get the full take in the first quarter when we execute them. That tends to come through in the following quarter. So again, we're confident in our guide for Q2 for Electrical Americas. And again, April demonstrated that we're continuing the momentum that we saw at the end of Q1. Patrick Baumann: And that's 150 basis points you're saying from 1Q to 2Q is the expectation? David Foster: Correct. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Andrew Buscaglia from BNP. Andrew Buscaglia: I just wanted to check on -- a lot of discussion on the data center front and orders were quite strong there. But can you give some commentary on what's going on order-wise and trend-wise by the other subsegments within Electrical Americas? Paulo Sternadt: Sure. I will give you a commentary. Let me talk about utilities because it's an important market, and it's tightly connected with the data center boom as well as you guys know. So we continue to see very strong momentum in terms of orders for the utility business here. So we had double-digit growth on a 12-month rolling basis for Electrical Americas and for Electrical Global mid-single digits. So strong orders coming our way on the utility side. And on the strategic commentary, I want to say that we continue to make progress gaining share in voltage regulators, capacitors and switchgear, which are actually 3 product groups we are ramping up with our investments, so we keep winning shares in that area. And that's our focus because it has most differentiated performance. We are a bit more selective on single-phase transformers because it's the smallest part of our portfolio, also the least differentiated and I would say this, we expect the market to remain strong for a very long period of time. Just if you recall all those data center announcements triggered, what I would say, everyone already sees the power generation and transmission investment. So it's very well reflected in power gen and power transmission, but it's not so much yet reflected in the power distribution utility business, right? We see this uptick in orders, but we believe the biggest wave in investment is going to come later. And just to remind everyone, how good it is to see investment in power generation for us at Eaton, every investment in generation creates a compounding opportunity for it. And first of all, when there is a power generation project, we sell the medium voltage gear required for this project. And then in a later stage, when there's power to get distributed by the grid once again, opportunity for us to distribute protect those [indiscernible]. And then lastly, and even more impactful to us is when this power reaches our end customers, being data centers, being commercial, institutional, any other end market because we need to manage that power reliably and safely. So we are very, very convinced that the utility business is going to remain stronger for longer. And we also -- I would say this, I will give you some color on the short cycle businesses we have. So again, short cycle, high single digits in Q1 revenues from mid-single digits in Q4. So we see this continued momentum quarter-over-quarter. And then if you go through the details of what makes the short-cycle businesses, we saw some recovery in Americas for resi, low single digits. And once again, we are not counting on the resi market to be strong for us to make our numbers by any means. And we saw also a stronger recovery in the EMEA business in the residential space. MOEM is back -- up for both Americas and Global. And distributed IT, we see high single digit in the Americas, up, right? High single digits up, and it was a little bit down global versus last year. So we see green shoots coming from Q4 extending into Q1 on the short-cycle markets. And I will say this, and I'm proud to say our team is capitalizing on this market recovery and recovery and winning. And this is important because we also drive utilization of our factories that serve those end markets. I hope that helps. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Joe Ritchie from Goldman Sachs. Joseph Ritchie: I wanted to -- I wanted to circle back on Boyd. So clearly off to a great start this year. I'm curious, how are you managing like potential disruption from the integration of this asset with legacy Eaton? And then also as it relates to capacity, I know you addressed the capacity for your core business. But I guess, as Boyd coming in, what kind of capacity additions are necessary in order to fulfill like their backlog and how fast they're growing? Paulo Sternadt: Great question. So to the first 1 -- first part of your question, as I said before, it's a game of trust, it's a game of speed. It's a game of getting the technology implemented and also getting the ramp done in the right way. We are taking a very cautious and deliberate approach to integrating this business into Eaton. The reason we went after Boyd was that they were the market leader. We didn't want to go for a smaller asset, which we've found will be very difficult to make it work in our organization. So here, they know what they're doing. They were part of Goldman before and they were performing before. So our philosophy cannot be any harder or more difficult in side item at all. So we are taking very good care of the team, a very talented team. They are retaining them. They report directly to our COO at the sector level. They report directly to Heath, so high visibility, high attention. And in terms of investments, over time, this business grew fantastic rates at very low CapEx rates versus sales, like think about 3%, 4%. And with this explosive growth they have now, they have more investment in terms of sales approaching double digits temporarily is already part of our guidance for the year, and it's all been implemented. So the teams are running, and as I said before, a very good Q1 in terms of output and growth. We just got the April numbers yesterday, also very strong performance. So we are really excited about the business. We are respectful of what they built and we're actually leveraging some of their connections with cheap manufacturers to be a lead for other technologies of Eaton to win. And a good example of that could be also what we are doing with NVIDIA and other companies. So we keep high touch connection with this team. We want them to run fast, and we are supporting them to run fast. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Julian Mitchell from Barclays. Julian Mitchell: Maybe just to circle back to the sort of ramp-up slope that the guidance is predicated on, and I suppose 2 sides to that. One is overall firm-wide EPS, is the sort of guide based on a $4 type number in Q4? And sort of allied to that, on the Electrical Americas division, I think incremental margins you're guiding year-on-year at about 10% in Q2 year-on-year. should we think about third quarter in the 20s and then fourth quarter in the sort of 50s percent type incremental margin? Paulo Sternadt: Yes. I will start, I'll also, Dave, to provide color. Thanks for your question. Here, I would say couple of things. Once again, you're perfectly right in analysis. That's exactly what we're committing to. And the reasons behind are, once again, twofold: One is the pricing already implemented; and two, we're going to get the leverage from the ramp-up investments that we have that's going to start implementing our profits, improving our incremental here. And also all the efficiencies we are dealing with as we learn how to operate in those plants will be behind us. So yes, absolutely in line, and this is perfectly feasible and aligned with the previous guidance we had between first half and second half EPS breakdown. Any additional comments, Dave? David Foster: The only thing I would add is, in addition to the benefits we see on the scale of the growth on the manufacturing costs, we also see the benefit on reducing support costs as a percentage of sales in the back half of the year. Paulo Sternadt: Okay. Thanks. I'd like to make a couple of comments just to close here the call, some closing remarks. Very interesting questions. I'm glad we moved to this one question per analyst format, maybe more dynamic. We could talk to more people. Let me just make a couple of comments to conclude the call. I will start by saying that I would say our strategy is working, right? We are, in my opinion, we are closer to our customers, and we are designing the future together with them. This is really important for the future development of this company. We are shaping our portfolio at fast pace. Just think about how much ground we covered last year, we allocated capital boldly, and I also say, surgically, the proof point in our numbers, you can see the Electrical business grew 20% total sales with 13% organic and Aerospace grew 16% total sales with 9% organic. So those were 2 markets where we decided to invest and allocate capital. And in terms of execution, I would just highlight once again, we are executing an unprecedented demand. Record orders and backlogs are paired with strong negotiation pipeline, and this give us very high level of visibility and confidence moving forward. I would say also, we showed demonstrated operational improvements that allow us to beat our top line commitment for the quarter and also to raise organic growth guidance for the full year. And in terms of margins and the Americas development, the ramp is on track. We are accelerating the execution. As I said before, we have confidence in the top line and the margin upside as the year progresses. So in a nutshell, this allowed us to beat the Q1 EPS, have confidence to absorb the EPS impact of our acquisitions and still be able to raise the full year EPS guidance. So thanks to everyone for your time, and thanks for your questions. Thank you. Operator: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.
Operator: Welcome to the Match Group, Inc. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. By pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tanny Shelburne, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Tanny Shelburne: Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Today's call will be led by CEO, Spencer Rascoff, and CFO, Steven Bailey. They will make a few brief remarks, and then we will open it up for questions. Before we start, I need to remind everyone that during this call, we may discuss our outlook and future performance. These forward-looking statements may be preceded by words such as “we expect,” “we believe,” “we anticipate,” or similar statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from the views expressed today. Some of these risks have been set forth in our earnings release and our periodic reports with the SEC. Also during this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are provided in the published materials on our IR website. These non-GAAP measures are not intended to be substitutes for our GAAP results. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Spencer. Spencer Rascoff: Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. Match Group, Inc. entered 2026 with tangible progress on the three-phase transformation we outlined last year: reset, revitalize, and resurgence. We completed the reset phase in 2025, and we are now well into revitalize, focused on improving product experiences, strengthening the ecosystem, and rebuilding growth. We are operating with greater focus and discipline. The portfolio is sharper, execution is faster, and we are leveraging our scale more effectively through our OneMG approach. We are reinvesting where we see clear opportunities to improve user outcomes, while continuing to return meaningful capital to shareholders. Our progress is showing up in three areas: First, leading indicators at Tinder are showing momentum, reflecting better product experiences for Gen Z, and that progress is increasingly translating into top-line metrics like monthly active users, or MAU, payers, and direct revenue. Second, Hinge continues to scale, combining strong revenue growth, rapid product innovation—particularly in AI-driven features—and continued international expansion. And third, we continue to streamline our portfolio and organizational structure, simplifying how we operate and focusing resources on our highest-conviction opportunities. Looking ahead, our objective is to drive a resurgence with our audience by reestablishing Tinder as a growth business during 2027 through restoring durable user engagement and relevance at scale. And all of this is happening alongside disciplined financial execution. In Q1 2026, we exceeded our revenue and adjusted EBITDA expectations on the back of strength at Tinder. Steve will walk through the details shortly. Turning now to Tinder’s product-led turnaround. From the beginning, I have said this will be a product-led turnaround, starting with user outcomes and moving up the funnel towards user growth. Our most important leading indicators—Sparks and Spark coverage—continue to improve. In March, Sparks, the number of users engaging in six-way conversations, were down only 1% year over year, a meaningful improvement from down 11% year over year in March 2025. Spark coverage, which measures the percentage of our users who experience a Spark in a given period, was up 6% year over year in March, compared to down 1% year over year in March 2025. These are our clearest signals of product efficacy and real connection, and they are improving. As we have said before, our belief is improving Sparks leads to better retention and stronger word of mouth, driving MAU over time. We are now starting to see that play out. MAU declines continued to moderate in March, down 7% year over year, the slowest rate of decline in 31 months, compared to down 10% year over year in March 2025. This improvement was driven by a few factors. First, user retention increased, up 1% year over year in March after multiple years of decline. U.S. Gen Z women retention, a critical cohort for ecosystem health, was up 3% year over year in March. Second, registrations returned to growth for the first time since June 2024, up 1% year over year in March compared to down 12% year over year in March 2025. This is proof that the brand is resonating through marketing and word of mouth, driving new users into the experience. We are seeing this progress across different geographies and demographics, including in markets where we have had the most ground to recover. Progress may not always be linear, but the year-over-year trajectory of these leading indicators and user engagement underscores our confidence in the strategy, and we expect it to translate into revenue growth over time. Let me highlight a few of the efforts driving these improvements, many of which we showcased at our Tinder Sparks event in March, which is available on our IR website. First, recommendations. We have sharpened how Tinder understands what users are looking for and how we deliver matches across the ecosystem. By learning preferences earlier, showing more relevant profiles, and better serving both active and returning users, we are helping people find matches faster and driving more conversations, with particularly strong gains for women. Next, product innovation. Features like Astrology Mode and Music Mode are gaining traction with Gen Z following their mid-March launch, reaching 19% and 8% adoption, respectively. We are also seeing encouraging early signals on user outcomes. For example, in our early read, women who swipe on astrology cards are more likely to reach a Spark than those with non-astro cards. Like Double Date, these signals show new modes are resonating by making discovery more expressive and lower pressure, which is exactly what Gen Z users have been asking for. And finally, trust and safety. We continue to scale FaceCheck into more regions, including the recent launch in the U.K. and Singapore. FaceCheck is improving authenticity and user trust, with particularly strong trends in the U.S., where net promoter scores have been trending higher. Importantly, the revenue impact from our ongoing user experience tests remains within the range that we planned. Simply put, Tinder works better now. We are not at the finish line, but the turnaround is clearly underway. Turning to Hinge, where product-led growth continues to scale. Hinge continues to build thoughtful, best-in-class experiences for highly intentioned daters. The team remains focused on a key objective: helping users get out on great dates. That clarity is driving its product roadmap, which is both rapidly advancing the core experience and introducing new and compelling features. Starting with the core experience, Hinge is strengthening profile quality through a redesigned onboarding experience that encourages users to slow down and reflect on what they are looking for before viewing profiles. Structured prompts help users more clearly communicate their relationship goals, their personality, and preferences from the start. The experience is also more interactive, giving users more visibility into how they are represented and improving confidence during profile creation. We plan to expand this globally by Q2. In parallel, Hinge continues to strengthen trust within the experience with FaceCheck, which is now fully rolled out in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico, with additional markets planned for Q2. In these markets, the feature has reduced interaction with bad actors by 20% to 30% with minimal impact on revenue. Originally developed by Tinder, FaceCheck showcases portfolio-wide innovation, enabling Hinge to quickly iterate and bring the feature to market faster. Building on its stronger core experience, Hinge is introducing a set of category-first features designed to better express intent and help users move from connection to date. First, Hinge is reducing friction in getting to great dates with Date Ideas, a feature formerly known as Direct to Date, which allows users to propose a date idea and time upfront to clarify intent and move matches to real-life meetings faster. Early feedback has been encouraging, with nearly 9% adoption in testing—one of the highest rates we have seen for a new profile feature—and users expressing genuine excitement on social media. So far, users are defaulting to familiar, low-effort date ideas like dinner, drinks, and walks, while custom date ideas skew toward light, conversational activities like bowling, arcades, museums, and mini golf. Second, Hinge is expanding the role friends play on daters’ profiles with Friends Take, which addresses two core tensions: representing yourself authentically and navigating dating alone without community. Building on Hinge’s prompt-native format, the feature allows users to invite trusted friends, on and off Hinge, to contribute short reflections to their profiles, adding credibility and helping users get to know one another more deeply. Friends Take will begin testing by Q2 with broader rollout expected in Q3. We see potential for it to be a top-of-funnel driver similar to Voice Prompts a couple of years ago. Third, Hinge began testing Signals, a new feature designed to make effort and intentionality more visible. When users consistently demonstrate thoughtful participation—by doing things like completing their profile, responding to messages, and engaging in meaningful conversations—they earn a Signals badge on their profile. This badge signals to others on the app their level of effort and intentionality, addressing a long-standing friction point in the category, particularly for women and younger daters. Early results show improvements in dating outcomes and user behaviors that benefit the overall ecosystem. As we invest in these types of intentional features, we are creating new surface areas to potentially monetize later. Hinge demonstrates the simple principle that when product-market fit is strong and user outcomes are clear, growth follows and the model scales. Hinge continues to lead the category in product innovation through its consistent focus on user outcomes, and it has led to strong financial results. We are excited to see the impact of Hinge’s product roadmap on the business this year, as it continues on its path to be a $1 billion business by 2027. Now turning to our OneMG approach in action. We are continuing the work that we began last year to simplify the organization and operate more effectively as one Match Group, Inc. As part of this effort, we folded our MG Asia business unit into our E&E business unit. This brings our two Asia-based businesses, Azar and Pairs, closer to the rest of the company, removes a management layer, and improves efficiency, while maintaining in-region cross-brand go-to-market capabilities. We expect this change to result in roughly $15 million in annualized cost savings, including stock-based compensation. It also enables more cohesive portfolio management, faster execution, and application of shared capabilities and resources. On Azar, as we previously disclosed, Apple temporarily removed the app from the App Store on 02/22/2026. The team moved quickly to make adjustments, which led to the reinstatement of a new version on 04/06/2026. While still early, registrations and MAU are beginning to recover, but the new app experience is monetizing at lower levels than the previous version. We are testing changes to the product to improve monetization, but expect continued pressure on Azar direct revenue over the balance of the year. With the consolidation of MG Asia into E&E, we have transitioned our Seoul-based MG AI team of more than 20 talented data scientists and machine learning engineers to report into Tinder’s CTO. This team will continue building shared OneMG technologies, including AI-driven photo uploading and AI-enabled recommendation algorithms, but will now operate with closer alignment to our largest business unit. In addition, we are shifting nearly 30 product, engineering, and analytics employees from Azar to Tinder in Seoul. These moves concentrate resources into Tinder at a critical moment, supported by excellent executive leadership, an accelerating product roadmap, and improving business momentum. Following this move, we will have a nearly 60-person team focused on Tinder in Seoul, making it our third-largest tech hub after Palo Alto and Los Angeles. We have also made progress in unifying performance marketing by further centralizing teams and resources into a OneMG organization that buys digital media across brands. We spend nearly $600 million globally across 20 or more brands, with significant efficiencies available to us as coordination increases. We are also bringing certain areas of E&E closer with Tinder, starting with the executive layer where I now directly oversee both business units. This has unlocked significant opportunities for better coordination and synergies, including the marketing changes I just mentioned. As I have dug into E&E the last few weeks, we have identified many areas Tinder and E&E results can be improved through tighter coordination, collaboration, and integration. Finally, it would not be a 2026 earnings call without discussing AI. We see AI as a core enabler of improving user outcomes, enhancing product experiences, increasing relevance, and accelerating development and iteration across the portfolio. To support this, we have launched a global AI enablement program that gives every employee access to leading AI tools with the goal of becoming an AI-native company. We are also reassessing our hiring plans with AI enablement in mind and plan to reduce headcount growth over the remainder of the year. And we are standing up a cross-company AI leadership team to help ensure consistent deployment of capabilities and avoid fragmentation across brands. These changes are about operating more simply and more effectively. We are simplifying the portfolio, focusing resources on our highest-conviction opportunities, and adapting quickly where we believe the category is going, not where it has been. That is OneMG in practice. Now for some final thoughts. Stepping back, we have aligned our business around distinct user intents, with each brand serving a different and important role. Together, they expand our reach across a broad and growing market for human connection. Within that framework, in April, we made a $100 million investment for a significant minority stake in Sniffies, a differentiated platform with strong product-market fit and a highly engaged user base. We have the option to acquire the remaining equity in the future, similar to the approach we took with our initial investment in Hinge back in 2017. Sniffies reinforces our commitment with non-heterosexual men, which represent a large and growing portion of the category. We see a clear opportunity to lend our expertise in areas like trust and safety and geographic expansion, while preserving what makes the platform unique to its community. As part of this investment, we plan to wind down our gay male app, Archer, which we expect to result in roughly $10 million in annualized cost savings including stock-based compensation. We built a stronger foundation and are now seeing that translate into real momentum. By improving how people connect and delivering better outcomes for users, we are setting the business up for durable growth. That is what gives us confidence in the path to resurgence. Over to Steve now. Thanks, Spencer. Steven Bailey: We delivered a strong start to the year, exceeding both our revenue and adjusted EBITDA expectations. The outperformance was primarily driven by better-than-expected direct revenue and payers trends at Tinder and a benefit associated with Canada’s rescission of its digital services tax. I will walk through the key drivers of the quarter and then turn to our guidance. Unless otherwise noted, all amounts are on an as-reported basis and comparisons will be discussed on a year-over-year basis. More details can be found in the financial tables below and in the financial supplement on our IR website. In Q1, Match Group, Inc.’s total revenue was $864 million, up 4%, flat on a foreign-exchange neutral basis. FX was $3 million better than we expected at the time of our last earnings call. Payers declined 5% to 13.5 million, while RPP increased 10% to $20.90. Indirect revenue of $16 million was down 14%, largely driven by a decrease in spend from top advertisers as compared to a record quarter the prior year. In Q1, Match Group, Inc.’s adjusted EBITDA was $343 million, up 25%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 40%. Canada’s rescission of its digital services tax positively impacted adjusted EBITDA by $11 million in the quarter. Tinder direct revenue in Q1 was $455 million, up 2% and down 3% FXN. Q1 direct revenue includes an approximately $5 million negative impact from user experience testing in the quarter. Payers declined 5% year over year to 8.6 million, a marked improvement from the 8% year-over-year decline in Q4 2025. RPP increased 7% to $17.56. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $237 million, up 4%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 51%. Hinge maintained momentum in Q1 with direct revenue of $194 million, up 28% and up 24% FXN. Payers increased 15% year over year to 2 million, and RPP increased 11% to $33.13. Adjusted EBITDA was $71 million, up 66% year over year, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 36%. E&E direct revenue in Q1 was $139 million, down 7% and down 10% FXN. Payers decreased 16% to 2 million, while RPP increased 11% to $22.97. Adjusted EBITDA was $39 million, up 37%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 28%. Match Group Asia delivered direct revenue in Q1 of $60 million, down 6% and down 7% FXN. Azar direct revenue was down 6% and down 9% FXN, and was negatively impacted by an estimated $3 million from its temporary removal from the App Store. Pairs direct revenue was down 6% and down 4% FXN. Across Match Group Asia, payers declined 9% to approximately 900,000, while RPP increased 2% to $21.74. Adjusted EBITDA was $21 million, up 11%, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 35%. As a result of the organizational changes associated with Match Group Asia that Spencer discussed, beginning with our Q2 2026 results, we will combine the Match Group Asia and E&E business units into a single operating segment called E&E and report Match Group, Inc. results across three operating segments: Tinder, Hinge, and E&E. Now on to consolidated operating costs and expenses. Including stock-based compensation expense, total expenses in Q1 were down 5%. Cost of revenue decreased 11% and represented 24% of total revenue, down four points as a percent of total revenue, primarily driven by alternative payment savings. Selling and marketing costs increased $6 million, or 4%, but remained flat at 19% of total revenue, as a result of increased marketing spend at Tinder and Hinge, partially offset by reduced marketing spend at E&E and Match Group Asia. General and administrative costs decreased 20%, down three points as a percentage of total revenue to 10%, driven by the Canadian digital services tax reversal of $11 million and lower employee compensation, including stock-based compensation. Product development costs decreased 3%, down one point as a percentage of total revenue, at 14%. Depreciation and amortization increased by $16 million to $48 million due to impairments of intangible assets of Azar totaling $25 million, resulting from changes required to reinstate the app in the Apple App Store. Our trailing-twelve-month gross leverage was 3.1x, and net leverage was 2.3x at Q1. We ended the quarter with $1 billion of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments on hand, and plan to use $424 million of cash to pay off the 2026 convertible notes on or before the maturity in June. Year to date through Q1, we delivered operating cash flow of $194 million and free cash flow of $174 million. We repurchased 2 million shares at an average price of $31 per share on a trade-date basis for a total of $60 million, paid $44 million in dividends, and deployed $75 million of cash towards net settlement of employee equity awards, equating to 103% of free cash flow. Between 04/01/2026 and 04/30/2026, we repurchased an additional 700,000 shares at an average price of $32 per share on a trade-date basis for a total of $22 million. As of 04/30/2026, we reduced diluted shares outstanding by 5% year over year. We also used $100 million in cash on hand to acquire a minority stake in Sniffies, which we announced on 04/27/2026. Our capital allocation strategy centered on returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and a dividend remains unchanged. Now for guidance. We expect Q2 total revenue for Match Group, Inc. of $850 million to $860 million, down 2% to flat year over year. This range assumes a one-point tailwind from FX. FXN, we expect total revenue to be down 1% to 3% year over year. Q2 total revenue guidance assumes a $10 million negative impact from Tinder’s user experience tests and a $20 million negative impact from lower Azar direct revenue. We expect Match Group, Inc. adjusted EBITDA of $325 million to $330 million, representing a 13% year-over-year increase and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 38% at the midpoints of the ranges, as we remain financially disciplined and continue to optimize our cost structure while making the necessary investments that we believe will drive long-term growth in the business. We will now open the call for questions. Operator: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question today comes from Shweta R. Khajuria with Wolfe Research. Please go ahead. Shweta R. Khajuria: Thank you for taking my questions. One on the Tinder sort of turnaround and the leading indicators you are seeing—the metrics you called out are very promising. Could you please talk to whether you saw continuation of these trends into April and I guess now early May? That is the first question. And then the second question I have is around your AI cost savings. How should we be thinking about all these cost savings that you may have either from integrating business units and also driving productivity with AI tools? And it seems that you have greater and greater potential for margin if you wanted to, either this year or next year. So how should we be thinking about that? Thanks a lot. Steven Bailey: Yes. Thank you for the questions. Spencer Rascoff: So, firstly, yes, Tinder’s momentum has continued into April. Just to take a step back, and then I will share some April data. The product-led turnaround at Tinder is clearly well underway, and I am feeling really good about it. As I said in the prepared remarks, MAU declined 7% year over year in March, which was the slowest rate in 31 months, and then it went on to decline 6.6% in April, so it continued to improve. DAU—which I do not think we talked about in the prepared remarks—but daily active users was down 9% back in March 2025, then down 6% in March 2026, and was only down 4% in April 2026. So every month, every week, almost every day, we continue to chip away at the audience declines at Tinder. The big needle movers on improving user outcomes have been, first of all, recommendations. We are just doing a much better job today of showing women the men that we think they will want to see. Obviously, that is the most important thing for a dating app—figuring out whom to show to whom—and we are much better at it than we ever were before. We have made lots and lots of changes, but for example, one set of changes improved women’s Sparks by 6%, and that improved women’s DAU by 2%, which in turn improved men’s Sparks by 5% and then men’s DAU by 1%. That is just one example of one set of recommendations changes, and that plus other recommendations changes we thought might hurt revenue actually, on balance, resulted in a $15 million annualized revenue gain because improved women’s retention then improved men’s revenue. So it is not always a trade-off between recommendations improvements and revenue—sometimes they actually work together. The second big needle mover on Tinder product improvements was Double Date. Around one in five global users aged 18 to 22 are using Double Date. Around one in four U.S. women aged 18 to 22 are using Double Date. It is an important way that people are now using Tinder. Music Mode and Astrology Mode also drove great adoption in the quarter—about 8% for global Gen Z for music and 19% for global Gen Z for astrology. Then there is a variety of things that we do not talk about very much because they are kind of mundane improvements, but this is really important blocking and tackling—things like improved CRM for better emails and notifications, better app performance so the app does not crash the way it used to, better website performance, and just a generally better operating cadence of the company. All those things really do work together. The last one I will add is the IRL pilot in Los Angeles has been successful, and we are working to expand that—just another example of how we are creating these low-pressure ways to connect. The last piece is the marketing support of these products, which I can come back to, but let me give it to Steve now to talk about the AI and cost savings. Steven Bailey: Sure. Here is the way I would think about it, Shweta. We are making a big push around AI enablement. We are giving every employee in the company access to cutting-edge tools, we are giving them the training they need to succeed, and we are setting expectations. We really want to become an AI-native company. We think it is a huge opportunity. These tools cost money, and the way we are helping to pay for that is by slowing our hiring plan for the rest of the year. I think of that as a bit of a cost neutral—lower headcount cost, higher software expense. Down the road, over the long term, it could result in cost savings, but it is a bit of a neutral for us in 2026. Hopefully, it leads to not just cost savings over time, but increased productivity and ultimately revenue growth through higher throughput and output from employees. On the structural changes, we talked about Match Group Asia and Archer. What we quoted in the prepared remarks are annualized savings including SBC. I would think of that more as a 2027 savings—it is less so in 2026 due to timing and some of the one-time costs that come along with it. But it certainly does give us optionality in 2027 around margins. Spencer Rascoff: Next question, please. Operator: The next question comes from Cory Alan Carpenter with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead. Cory Alan Carpenter: Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I have two—Steve, these might both be for you. Just on the Q2 guide, it implies flat revenue that you are expecting, and that is despite a $20 million headwind from Azar. My question is where are you seeing offsets and which brands make up for that? And any comments you can give on your expectations for Tinder in Q2 specifically? And then, looking beyond Q2, any update you can provide on how you are thinking about the full-year outlook? Thank you. Steven Bailey: Sure. I can take that. Thanks, Cory. On Q2, the way to think about it is, yes, Azar is a $20 million headwind because of the changes we needed to make there to get back in the App Store. That is being nearly fully offset by Tinder strength—that is really where it is coming from. Tinder performed quite well in Q1, and we expect that to continue in Q2, so that is where the offset is coming from. For the full year, we made no changes to the full-year guide, but let me give you some puts and takes. We expect that Azar revenue pressure to continue for at least another few quarters, so I would think about it for the rest of the year. The team is hard at work with a roadmap to address the added friction to improve monetization, but I think it will take some time. At Tinder, we will have to see how things play out. One of the things I am looking at pretty closely is we have a $45 million user investment budget still slated for the second half of the year, spread out pretty evenly between Q3 and Q4. I would expect us to end up at the lower end, lower half of the full-year guidance range given Azar weakness if we end up using that $45 million user investment budget. What we have seen in the last couple of quarters is that we have not had to, but for now we are assuming we will, and that is all baked into the guide. If we do not end up using it, that could offer some further offsets to Azar in Q3 and Q4. That is the revenue story. On the adjusted EBITDA story, I feel really good about the guide there, same with free cash flow, even if revenue comes in a little softer because of Azar. That is because we mitigated a lot of the adjusted EBITDA impact from the Azar changes through reducing marketing there and reallocating headcount at Azar towards other parts of the business—namely Tinder—and closed some open roles at Tinder in the U.S. We have reduced costs across other parts of the portfolio too. Our payments initiative in particular is doing better than expected, so that is helping. And then the changes we just talked about at Match Group Asia, as well as the shutting down of Archer, are helping too. Again, they are more 2027 savings impacts, but they also benefit 2026 as well. So that is the way I am thinking about it—Tinder helping to offset Azar in Q2; we will have to see how the user giveback budget goes for the rest of the year; and then feeling really good about EBITDA and free cash flow because of some of the cost savings efforts we have made. Spencer Rascoff: Operator, next question please. Operator: Sure. The next question comes from Nathaniel Jay Feather with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Nathaniel Jay Feather: Thanks for the question, and really encouraging to see the progress you have been making here on Tinder. Just help me chart the path over the remainder of the year—understanding there will be some puts and takes here—but what is the hope for that glide path for MAUs as we continue in Q2 into the back half? And then given a lot of these improvements that you talked about that are driving this MAU improvement were just launched in Q1, but kind of in the cumulative impact over 2025 up until Q1, how should we think about the product release cadence and how that interplays with MAU? And have you uncovered any maybe delayed impact as the tools get released and then users start to use them that can eventually drive MAU? Spencer Rascoff: Thanks, Nathan. A couple of things. First, with respect to the product release cadence going forward, we are not taking our foot off the gas. The March 12 event was a great catalyst. It generated a ton of urgency, and a lot of the innovations that we announced or shipped came from that urgency, but the team has not slowed down since then. Upcoming initiatives include things like Video Speed Date, which we announced at the Tinder Sparks event on March 12 and we will be shipping in the next month or so; real-life events expanding to other cities; rolling out Tinder Connect with partners like Duolingo and Bally; and a number of other features that we are not ready to share publicly. The work is definitely not done, and I am excited about the roadmap for the balance of the year. In terms of how it will play out on Sparks and MAU, that is hard to predict. We have been setting ourselves up to get to flat MAU by the end of 2027, and clearly I am very proud and pleased that we are already in the negative 6% to 7% year-over-year range. You could argue that maybe it could accelerate the pace with which we improve now because product efficacy improves as you start to bring more people into the ecosystem—there are just more good people to match with. You could also argue that the rate of improvement could slow down because we started with the low-hanging fruit first when this new leadership team took over about six to nine months ago and started knocking things down. It is very hard for me to predict what the exact path will be from negative 7% MAU to flat and then MAU growth. Operator: The next question comes from Ross Sandler with Barclays. Please go ahead. Ross Sandler: Hey, guys. Hey, Spencer. The 1% growth in 30-day retention—that is pretty bullish. I know it is an early signal, but how long has it been since you had growing 30-day user retention, and it sounds like some of the safety and product changes you mentioned on a previous question are driving this trend, but any other details—any color you can provide on what is turning that key metric up—would be helpful. Thank you. Spencer Rascoff: Thanks, Ross. It had been years since we had retention improvements up year over year—at least several. Equally encouraging is that retention among U.S. Gen Z women is actually up 3% year over year, even better than the overall number that I put in the script and, I think, in the press release. What is driving this is better recommendations, Double Date, Music Mode, Astrology Mode, blocking and tackling, and changing perception of Tinder—moving more towards the fun and safe way to meet new people, improving social sentiment on TikTok and Instagram. Better marketing is now working more effectively because when we market these types of features, our marketing budgets go further. Prior campaigns were focused on more amorphous brand reconsideration—“Hey, Tinder’s great, check out Tinder.” Now we are able to market very specific features that have great resonance with our key user segments, and the marketing is much more effective. Taken altogether, this is what is improving retention. As I like to remind people, this is a network effects business. We are already seeing in certain countries in Asia and Latin America, where MAU is flat or in some countries actually up year over year, better user efficacy—better Sparks, better Spark coverage, better retention—because more people just improves user results for everybody in the ecosystem. It is really encouraging and starting to show up in some of the retention data that we are sharing. Operator: The next question comes from Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Eric Sheridan: Thanks so much for taking the questions. I wanted to ask about capital allocation priorities because you have now made an outside investment in Sniffies. I believe you backed Justin’s venture in parallel with Match when he left Hinge to go down that road. How are you thinking about the competition for capital between outside investments that can be made versus application of capital internally to build and scale some of the platform product initiatives you are trying to accomplish? Just want to understand if there has been any evolution in the thought there. Thanks so much. Steven Bailey: I will take that first, and Spencer, feel free to jump in. Our approach has not changed. Our priority has always been, first, organic growth in the portfolio. We are prioritizing investments in Tinder and Hinge to drive growth in those businesses, and we feel like we have the capital needed to do that. Number two is returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and the dividend. We will continue to be acquisitive when we find opportunities to do M&A; we will do that—we have shown a good track record of it. These are pretty small investments relative to our scale. The Sniffies investment is a $100 million investment in what we think could be a big opportunity. Overtone is a much smaller investment than that. This is something we can easily handle while still remaining committed to returning the vast majority of capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. I do not think that is new, and over $1 billion a year in free cash flow allows the flexibility to do all those things. Spencer Rascoff: Just in case I do not have the opportunity to address Sniffies later in the call, I want to address it now. Steve is right—in the grand scheme of things, it is a relatively easy investment for us to fund because we are so profitable and have such a solid cash flow generation machine. It is also a big swing in a huge TAM. Arguably, the non-heterosexual male segment is the most attractive, largest, and most highly engaged segment in the dating category. This is a big investment in the number two player that we think has the potential to become the number one player. This is a company that is not even in the App Store right now—Sniffies, despite all their success to date, has only been on the mobile web. We expect to be able to help them create a safer experience that gets into the App Store, which will be a huge unlock. I am really excited about this investment. Since I started, we have done two deals: acquiring HER and investing $100 million in Sniffies with the right to buy the rest of it. We are very focused on these two segments—the sapphic segment and the non-heterosexual male segment. We think these are huge TAMs, and I am very excited to own the number one player in the sapphic segment and own a significant portion of the number two player in the non-heterosexual male segment with an option to buy the rest. Operator: The next question comes from Benjamin Black with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Benjamin Black: Thank you for taking my questions. Spencer, you clearly have a lot of product initiatives underway right now at Tinder. If you step back and look ahead to the next 12 to 18 months, I would be curious to hear which one is the most needle-moving in your perspective, or is this maybe a situation where smaller product initiatives build on top of each other and create compounding benefits? And then quickly, Steve, I would be curious to hear what you are embedding in your guidance for the year-on-year trends for Tinder payers and maybe for RPP as well? Thank you. Spencer Rascoff: That is a hard one to choose among all these different product initiatives. As I said, the one that has driven the most improvement to date has been improvements in our recommendations algorithms. Looking ahead—and I will keep it a little vague for competitive reasons—it is kind of an expansion of Double Date and IRL, tapping into these lightweight, lower-pressure ways to connect, which is what Gen Z wants. I will give a little plug here: on June 11, we are going to have an investor- and media-focused webinar. We are creating a new investor relations product called the CEO Connection, where outside of earnings we will do a double-click on something that we think is of interest to all of you. The first one on June 11 is on this topic: decoding Gen Z dating. We will have a number of our social scientists who study Gen Z and Gen Alpha share insights and learnings of how these generations want to connect and how our roadmap reflects it. Look for more information from our IR team for that event on June 11. It will be an hour webinar, and I think it will be really insightful and interesting. Steven Bailey: I will take the question on Tinder payers and RPP. First of all, Tinder payers in Q1 were down 5%, which you probably saw, and that is a huge improvement from down 8% in Q4 and about 7% the couple quarters before—so a lot of progress there that we are really excited to see. I would think of payers as being in a similar range—maybe some small improvement—but similarly down for the rest of the year as Q1, only because of the $45 million in user investment. For now, we are assuming we make those investments because we want to give the product teams the optionality to do it, but that is what is leading to similar payer trends over the rest of the year. We gave you Tinder full-year revenue guidance last quarter, which has not changed, so you can back into the payers assumption. What I would tell you is payer growth would slow a little bit over the rest of the year too, but again, a lot of that slowdown is related to the user investments, which we will only do if we think it is the right long-term thing to do for the business. Operator: The next question comes from John Blackledge with TD Cowen. Please go ahead. John Blackledge: Great. Thanks. Two questions. I thought another good signal was the new user registrations returning to growth. Could you add a little bit more color there and how things are trending with that metric thus far in the second quarter? Second question is around FaceCheck rollout. How is it going, and should we still expect it to be about a one-point headwind to revenue growth this year? Thank you. Steven Bailey: Let me start with FaceCheck. FaceCheck is rolled out in most markets now for Tinder. It is also now rolled out in all major markets at Hinge. It is showing great results at Hinge too—just like it has at Tinder—in terms of reducing bad actors on the app. In terms of revenue impact, it is pretty negligible at this point—about 1%—and that has not changed for the total company. That is included in the guidance, and that is about where it is trending now. Spencer Rascoff: John, I do not have new registrations from April at my fingertips, but it is a really encouraging statistic. I think the registration improvement speaks to overall improving social sentiment and our ability to drive reconsideration. A lot of that speaks to the product, but a lot of it speaks to marketing, frankly, because a new registration is basically somebody that has not used Tinder before or maybe had a Tinder account many years ago but deleted the app. It speaks to general social sentiment, improving word of mouth—some of that is due to product, but a lot of it is due to marketing that is really resonating. We are encouraged by it. Operator: The next question comes from Jason Stuart Helfstein with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead. Jason Stuart Helfstein: Thanks. One on Hinge, and then a quick one on Tinder. For Hinge, RPP is accelerating. Is that reflecting mix within plans and user choice? Are there some headline price increases? And then, obviously Hinge payers did decelerate. Is there any connection between price and volume there? And then just a second quick one. Spencer, how do you know that the new product innovations have staying power—like Astrology Mode, Music Mode, Double Date? They are definitely cool. How do we know this is not like when a new AI image generator or casual game launches, gets virality, and then kind of fades after a few months? Thanks. Steven Bailey: Yes. What we have done at Hinge is optimized pricing geographically over the last few quarters. Some of that means a price up, some of that means a price down. That is what is moving the payers and RPP numbers around a little bit. It is not really package mix shifts per se. With that said, payer growth is still very strong—15% in Q1—and I expect that to be the case for the rest of the year. I still feel that the bulk of the revenue growth in 2026 will come from payer growth, not RPP growth. Spencer Rascoff: On Hinge overall, Hinge continues to crank. Revenue was up 28% year over year in the quarter, which is pretty amazing. Brazil and Mexico launches both went very well. Hinge became a top two or three dating app basically right out of the gate. Based on the success of Brazil and Mexico, we accelerated the launch of more international markets. We quietly launched 10 more markets earlier this week—Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru in LatAm, and several European markets like Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Iceland, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic. We continue to march across the world with Hinge, which has terrific product-market fit. There is huge potential for MAU growth in these new markets and monetization potential on the path to $1 billion of revenue in 2027. Hinge’s MAU in English-speaking markets has flattened as we would expect because those are more mature markets, but revenue growth even in those core English-speaking markets was up 17% year over year in the quarter. It is consistently the number one downloaded app in English-speaking markets or number one or number two. The rate of product innovation at Hinge continues to impress. This quarter we have three great innovations—Date Ideas, which lets people indicate what types of dates they want to go on; Friends Take, which brings friends into the dating experience; and Signals, which lets people show if they are high intent. Those are features that directly speak to Gen Z and Millennial needs in the category. Again, we will be talking more about that at the June 11 event. On your question about staying power of new features: a lot of the improvements in our data have come from recommendations algorithm improvements, which are not “shiny new features.” Regarding the shinier features and whether their appeal might fade over time, Double Date is a good indicator—its usage continues to grow every month and quarter as more people become aware of the feature. The same thing is happening with Music and Astrology. Right out of the gate with Music Mode, when few people had it, there were not many profiles to see in Music Mode. Now that you see more users with their music connected to their Tinder profile, it becomes more immersive; you are more motivated to connect your Spotify to Tinder to bring in your music, and awareness grows as the network effect fills out. In that sense, it is quite different from feature launches in mobile games. Operator: The next question comes from Youssef Squali with Truist. Please go ahead. Youssef Squali: Spencer, a couple of questions for you. Can you talk a little about the health of the overall online dating market, both from a competitive standpoint with some of the new modalities that we are seeing offline—like run clubs and book clubs and all kinds of other clubs? How is that impacting the online dating environment, if at all? And then on Sniffies, what makes that model so successful and so superior to Archer’s that you decided to invest $100 million and fold Archer into it? Spencer Rascoff: On the overall market, Gen Z desperately wants to connect. They know they want to meet new people; they just want to do it in a low-pressure, low-stakes way that does not feel like a job interview. Traditional dating apps are very highly structured and can be intimidating to a user under 30. The growth of these alternative ways to meet new people speaks to how Gen Z is trying to find lower-pressure ways to connect. We have adapted our roadmap to this reality. Double Date was our first foray into this; the in-real-life events product in Los Angeles was our next big foray. At Tinder and Match Group, Inc. more broadly, we are embracing this trend of meeting people IRL in different modalities rather than hiding from it. Again, the June 11 event will give us an opportunity to bring a lot more data and learnings from our team of experts into this conversation. In terms of the Sniffies investment, Sniffies is very different from Archer. Sniffies is basically a map-based experience for more instant connection—people looking to meet right away, this evening, or nearby—whereas Archer was much more of a serious, high-intent “helping a man find a husband” type experience. Sniffies has incredible product-market fit with 3 million monthly active users—again, only on web, not even on app—and it really resonates with this community in a way that Archer did not. Because Sniffies has such a huge audience, the network effects are self-reinforcing—people use Sniffies because people use Sniffies. People were not using Archer because people were not using Archer. It is a very different product and has a wildly different level of product-market fit. That is why we decided to place this bet on the non-heterosexual male market on the Sniffies team and experience. We have moved our Archer team—mostly New York-based—either into Hinge, Tinder, or E&E. It was a very talented team that built a beautiful product that had not yet found product-market fit, and with the Sniffies investment, that team has found other roles at Match Group, Inc. Operator: The next question comes from Analyst with Jefferies. Please go ahead. Analyst: Yes, great. Thanks for the question. I just had one. You talked in the letter about your objective to get Tinder back to growth in 2027. When you say a growth business, do you mean revenue, payers, MAUs, or just some other engagement metrics? Just trying to understand how you are thinking about growth in 2027. Spencer Rascoff: I think the line in the sand that we have committed to is: by 2027, year-over-year MAU growth, and for full-year 2027, revenue growth. So those are the stated goals, and you know where we are at on our path to achieve them. Operator: The last question comes from Bradley D. Erickson with RBC. You may go ahead. Bradley D. Erickson: Thanks, guys. When you think about collaborating across brands—Spencer, earlier in the call you talked about this—Hinge has had so much success with lots of new product innovation in the last few years. Is there anything you could add or bring over to Tinder that could be impactful there—anything you have done to date where you are seeing similar results—or how do you think about the collaborative opportunity there? Thanks. Spencer Rascoff: Great one to end on. This is a huge focus of mine, and I have changed the culture internally away from being siloed to being much more deeply collaborative and communicative, and in some cases integrated organizationally. Probably the most notable example is something we call Project Mercury, which cross-sells one app to another. A BLK user, for example, might get a pop-up that says, “You have been invited to join Tinder,” and they can create their Tinder profile with one tap, or an OkCupid user might get a notification that they have been invited to join Hinge and can create a Hinge profile with one tap. That has driven a lot of incremental revenue and goodness across the different apps. There are many other initiatives brewing that extract greater synergy between the brands. Pairs, for example, in Japan has been a leader in the in-real-life events space; so has Meetic in France. Tinder is learning a ton from Pairs and Meetic and what they have built out in the events space. There are many dozens of examples around the company, and we are just getting started in terms of extracting the full benefit of the combined scale and synergies as we move away from being siloed and more towards being deeply integrated. We will wrap with that. Thanks, everyone, for joining. I am incredibly proud of the team and the last couple months of accomplishment. We are not out of the woods yet, but things are much improved and improving more every day. We will talk to you again at the June 11 event, Decoding Gen Z Dating, and thanks everyone for your time today. Bye-bye. Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Q1 2026 results conference call and live webcast. I'm Moritz, the Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. [Operator Instructions] At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Christian Stohr, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Christian Stoehr: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our first quarter 2026 results presentation. Hosting our conference call today is Yves Muller, CFO and COO of HUGO BOSS. Before we begin, please be reminded that all revenue growth rates will be discussed on a currency-adjusted basis, unless stated otherwise. In addition, starting with Q1, we have adjusted our sales reporting structure. BOSS Menswear and BOSS Womenswear are now reported jointly under BOSS, while digital sales are included within retail and wholesale. As usual, during the Q&A session, we kindly ask you to limit your questions to 2, allowing for an efficient discussion. With that, let me hand over to Yves. Yves Muller: Thank you, Christian, and a warm welcome from Metzingen, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today to discuss our first quarter results. As outlined in our release this morning, Q1 marked the first full quarter of execution under CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN following its introduction at the end of last year. As such, the first quarter was shaped by implementation, translating strategic priorities into concrete actions across brands, distribution and operations. Accordingly, our focus in the quarter was on disciplined execution. We implemented targeted top line measures to strengthen brand equity, continued to advance sourcing efficiencies and maintained rigorous cost control across the organization. These actions represent the first concrete outcomes of our realignment and are already translating into structural progress, particularly in gross margin and cash generation, which I will come back to shortly. Overall, we are pleased with the progress made in Q1. At the same time, we recognize that there is more work ahead, and we remain cautious on the near-term visibility given a high volatile macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. Let me now walk you through the quarter in more detail. Under CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN, 2026 is designed as a year of deliberate realignment rather than a year of chasing volume. In the first quarter, we made progress across all 3 pillars: brand, distribution, and operational excellence. This included refining product assortments, reinforcing our focus on full price execution, and taking targeted steps to optimize our distribution footprint. As part of this progress, we closed a net 15 freestanding stores globally, largely through expiring leases. As expected, these deliberate actions were reflected in our first quarter performance. Group sales declined by 6%, driven by the intentional quality focus embedded in CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN, alongside continued muted consumer sentiment. EBIT amounted to EUR 35 million, reflecting the planned impact of our strategic measures, partly offset by solid gross margin expansion and rigorous cost management. While these actions have a temporary impact on our top and bottom line performance, they represent important building blocks in strengthening the fundamentals of the business and laying the foundation for improved profitability over time. Beyond these deliberate actions, the external environment also remained demanding in the first quarter. Consumer sentiment was subdued across most key markets with continued pressure on traffic levels. Over the course of the quarter, conditions became more challenging, driven by the geopolitical developments in the Middle East. In this context, let me briefly put our exposure to the Middle East into perspective. The region accounts for around 3% of group revenues and is served through a limited and well-defined store network, primarily in the UAE and Qatar. The Middle East is also a high-quality and very profitable business for us, reflecting an upper premium store portfolio, a favorable channel mix and disciplined cost structures. From March onwards, store traffic in the region declined sharply, leading to meaningful disruption to overall retail activity and weighing on regional demand. As a result, developments in the Middle East reduced group sales by roughly 1 percentage point in the first quarter. In addition to these direct effects, developments in the Middle East also contributed to increased uncertainty more broadly. In particular, we observed early signs of a softening in consumer sentiment in selected markets alongside some moderation in international travel flows, which began to affect demand outside the Middle East towards the end of the quarter. Against this backdrop, we actively steered the business while remaining fully committed to our strategic priorities within CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN. With that, let me turn to our first quarter performance, starting with our brands. At BOSS, revenues declined by 3%, reflecting the challenging market environment as well as deliberate strategic actions. Menswear performed comparatively better, supported by continued strong demand in casualwear and athleisure, underlying the relevance of our 24/7 lifestyle positioning. This resilience was particularly evident at BOSS Green and BOSS Camel, both of which recorded growth in the first quarter. Womenswear by contrast was more affected by intentional assortment streamlining and targeted distribution refinement, measures fully aligned with our strategic priorities and aimed at strengthening brand positioning and long-term profitability. Turning to HUGO. Revenues declined by 21%, reflecting the strategic repositioning of the brand. During the quarter, we further advanced the streamlining of HUGO's product architecture into one overarching brand line, creating a clearer, more focused brand proposition and a more consistent market presence. While these measures continue to weigh on volumes in the near future, they represent fundamental steps to strengthen brand relevance, operational effectiveness and scalability over time. Speaking about our brands, let me emphasize once more: investing in powerful brand moments remain a core pillar of our strategy. While marketing investments were below the prior year level in Q1, primarily due to phasing effects, marketing spend amounted to 7.3% of group sales, fully in line with our CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN target range of around 7% of sales. Also for the full year, we continue to expect marketing investments as a percentage of sales to remain broadly in line with last year's level. In the first quarter, our brand investments focused on key initiatives such as the BOSS fashion show in Milan, which ranked among the top 10 most engaging brands during Milan Fashion Week; the launch of our Spring/Summer 2026 collections; and the third, BOSS BY BECKHAM. Together, these moments generated strong social media engagement and brand visibility. Importantly, these initiatives are designed to drive long-term equity and relevance rather than prioritizing short-term volume. From a regional perspective, revenues in EMEA declined by 8%, reflecting targeted measures to enhance distribution quality as well as muted consumer sentiment across several key markets, particularly the U.K. Despite the solid start to the year, revenues in the Middle East declined by a low double-digit rate in Q1, reflecting a sharp decline in store traffic in March, following geopolitical developments, which also weighed on overall EMEA performance. In the Americas, revenues declined by 5%, largely reflecting deliberate CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN measures in the U.S. market aimed at improving distribution quality across both wholesale and retail channels. As a result, reported revenues were intentionally impacted in the quarter. In addition, developments around Saks weighed on our U.S. concession business. Importantly, underlying performance in our U.S. brick-and-mortar retail business remained resilient with comparable store sales up modestly in the quarter. Outside the U.S., Latin America saw a slight normalization following a strong period of strong growth. In Asia Pacific, revenues increased by 1%, marking a return to growth. This was supported by renewed growth in China, aided by a successful Chinese New Year, as well as early progress in strengthening brand positioning and enhancing relevance in the market. Modest growth in Southeast Asia Pacific, particularly in Japan, also supports our regional performance. Turning to our channels. In retail, which includes brick-and-mortar and self-managed digital, revenues declined by 3%, also impacted by a negative space effect. On a comparable store basis, brick-and-mortar sales declined by 2%, reflecting lower traffic and our deliberate focus on full price execution, partly offset by a higher average basket size. Retail performance was also impacted by developments in the Middle East. Self-managed digital on the other side declined by 5%, reflecting our continued prioritization of full price sales in support of brand equity and margin quality. In wholesale, revenues declined by 10%, reflecting our ongoing focus on enhancing distribution quality through greater channel selectivity, a more curated assortment and a stronger emphasis on strategic partnerships. Performance was also influenced by a more cautious order behavior in the current environment as well as the known delivery timing shift of around EUR 20 million into Q4 2025, which has supported our wholesale business in the final quarter of last year. Turning to profitability. Q1 delivered a notable improvement in gross margin. Gross margin increased by 110 basis points to 62.5%, primarily driven by additional sourcing efficiency, including a further reduction in the airfreight share as well as improved pricing associated with the Spring/Summer 2026 collection. A slightly more favorable channel mix provided additional support during the quarter. Importantly, this performance demonstrates that the structural margin improvement we have been driving over recent years remain firmly intact even in a lower volume environment. Turning to cost and earnings. We maintained strict cost discipline in the first quarter. Operating expenses declined by 4%, supported by lower marketing spending due to phasing effects, ongoing efficiency improvements and further optimization of our retail cost structures, including rent renegotiations and productivity measures across our store network. As expected in a lower revenue environment, operating expenses deleveraged as a percentage of sales. As a result, EBIT amounted to EUR 35 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 3.9%, while earnings per share totaled EUR 0.24. Overall, this performance is fully aligned with CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN and our full year 2026 outlook. Let me now turn to cash flow and working capital. Building on the meaningful inventory reduction achieved at the end of 2025, inventory developed more moderately in Q1, in line with expectations. Year-over-year, inventories declined by 13% on a currency-adjusted basis, reflecting prudent buying, more focused assortments and targeted inventory optimization measures. As a result, inventory stood at 22% of group sales at the end of March, while trade net working capital declined by 10% currency adjusted. At the same time, capital expenditure remained at 3.2% of sales, continuing its normalization and remaining fully aligned with our midterm targets. Supported by both the improvement in working capital and continued CapEx discipline, free cash flow before leases improved by nearly EUR 100 million year-over-year, amounted to EUR 33 million. Let me conclude with a brief look at the remainder of the year. 2026 continues to be a deliberate year of realignment under CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN. Following our first quarter performance, we reaffirm our full year outlook. We continue to expect currency-adjusted group sales to decline mid to high single digits, reflecting targeted brand and channel measures. Currency effects are anticipated to remain a moderate headwind for reported sales. We likewise confirm our EBIT outlook of EUR 300 million to EUR 350 million. Gross margin expansion and continued cost discipline are expected to support profitability, while operating expenses are anticipated to deleverage due to lower revenues. At the same time, we expect macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility to remain elevated with heightened uncertainties related to developments in the Middle East. In this context, we remain vigilant and continue to closely monitor both direct effects and broader implications for consumer sentiment, international travel flows and overall trading conditions. Against this backdrop, we maintain a clear focus on operational delivery and the strategic priorities set under CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN. We will continue to prioritize profitability, cash generation, inventory discipline and flexibility over short-term growth. Ladies and gentlemen, let me close with 3 takeaways. First, the execution of CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN is firmly underway. 2026 is a year focused on strengthening the fundamentals of the business and elevating its quality rather than pursuing growth at any cost. In this context, we have made initial progress in sharpening brand focus, enhancing distribution quality and structurally strengthening the earnings profile of the business, marking an important milestone in delivering our strategy through 2026 and beyond. Second, Q1 delivered solid underlying performance. Gross margin improved, cost discipline remained intact and cash generation strengthened despite intentional top line effects from our strategic measures. Third, based on our Q1 performance, we reaffirm our full year outlook for 2026. While the external environment remains demanding and volatile, we are confident in our strategic direction and our ability to translate execution into stronger brand equity, improved profitability and long-term value creation. With that, thank you for your attention. We are now happy to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Thomas Chauvet from Citi. Thomas Chauvet: Two questions, please. The first one on your introductory remarks, you said that demand outside the Middle East weakened towards the end of the quarter. Can you elaborate a little bit on what that means in the various regions? And how much was retail in April compared to the minus 3% you registered in the quarter? Secondly, on your comments about the resilience of menswear, particularly with BOSS Green and B Camel positive, can you comment on whether this is due to a very different customer profile you're now seeing in the store purchasing these 2 lines that are quite differentiated, I believe, or rather you think some relative weakness perhaps of the offering of black and orange, whether that's -- I don't know -- product quality or value for money proposition or simply the creative part. That would be useful. Also that you perhaps elaborate a bit on the 2 divisions you've created with menswear and womenswear and how this new unit of menswear is helping on the creative side? Christian Stoehr: Excuse me, this is Christian speaking, but we have to quickly follow up on question one, which was obviously a long question, but the quality was really bad on our end. I'm sorry for that. There was a bit of constraining in it. I remember you asked for retail trends in April, but what was the beginning of your question, if you can recall that, please? Thomas Chauvet: Yes. Sincere apologies for that to everyone. Yes, the comment -- can you hear me better now? Christian Stoehr: Yes, I'd say so. I mean, it's still -- it's not perfect but. Thomas Chauvet: Otherwise move to another question or two. You commented on demand weakening outside the Middle East towards the end of the quarter. And could you elaborate on what that means in the various regions? And was retail overall in April very different from the minus 3% you registered in the period? Yves Muller: So Thomas, you're asking whether the retail performance in April was different from the minus 3% in Q1. Is this your question? Thomas Chauvet: Yes. You mentioned that things weakened outside the Middle East at the end of the quarter because of the war. So I suspect that the consumer may have been impacted in the U.S. and Europe. So could you comment on the various geographies in April, please? Yves Muller: Yes. So perhaps let's take the first question regarding, let's say, current trading question. So firstly, I think we have to see that, of course, our retail business and the Middle East business is -- the Middle East business itself is predominantly a retail business, was definitely affected -- ongoing in April. So I think this refers to everybody. We are not alone in this, but we see that traffic is very low. It has slightly improved over the latest weeks, but now the last 2, 3 days have been also bad. So I would say it's a very, let's say, volatile environment. Secondly, I think this is the question around what do we see in terms of consumer sentiment. I would say here, we see in some selected markets that consumer sentiment is also affected, for example, like U.K. is affected -- was already affected in Q1, especially March, and is also affected in April. And we see that actually also the international tourist flow is also coming down and affecting the business. On the other side, I think I want to make the comment in terms of our strategic priorities. I think for us, it's also important to stay on track with regards to our strategic execution of CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN. And this means also for us in April, which is the month of, let's say, mid-season sale that you see very often due to the summer. For the summer collections, we decided in executing our CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN for this year that we don't take part in mid-season sale. So that is also one of the deliberate decisions that we have taken in order to improve the quality of our business and to have this long-term focus on brand equity. So definitely, of course, we are looking at the current trends up and down. But I think for us, it's now very important to keep our compass and to keep the course of our strategic execution. And therefore, we do not participate in April. And therefore, the month itself, it's difficult to read between the different effects that we have been seeing. With regards to your second question, actually, we are very happy with the development of BOSS Camel and BOSS Green. BOSS Green was actually up mid-single digit. You can see that our 24/7 lifestyle image is really working, especially with younger consumers. And you can also see that this is the current trend of the business with, like sports kind of activities. You've also seen that we have announced now the cooperation with Australian Open for next year. So this creates BOSS. We are working on kind of tennis and golf collection. So we are really deliberately driving BOSS Green going forward. And on top of this, we also opened some BOSS Green stores, especially in the Asian markets, where you can see this kind of positive trend. And we are following this kind of trend. With regards to BOSS Camel, which is, I mean, the majority is definitely a retail business. You can really see because of the outpricing of the luxury players and luxury competitors that some of the high value, high affluent consumers are trading down to us, and that's also driving BOSS Camel in selected markets, especially also we saw this in Asian markets, but also in the U.S., where we are actually happy. So I would view this -- I would see this positively in terms of that we have a certain portfolio to offer, and price value proposition for Black, I think, is good. Please keep in mind that we also increased the prices for the Spring Campaign 2026. And we get actually good feedback for this kind of measurement, and this is also driving our business. Operator: Then the next question comes from Manjari Dhar from RBC. Manjari Dhar: I also had 2, if I may. My first question was on COGS and raw materials. I just wondered if you could give some color on how you see the outlook on the raw material side as a result of what's going on in the Middle East? And does that have any impact on your own sourcing facilities in Turkey? My second question was on tourism. Yves, I know you commented on international tourist flow weakness. I just wondered if you could give some color on sort of how much of the BOSS estate is exposed to international tourist flows and perhaps maybe some more color on how you're seeing the performance in some of those stores. Yves Muller: Yes. Thank you very much, Manjari, for your 2 questions. First of all, regarding the COGS. So taking your concrete question regarding Turkey. So we -- for the time being, we don't see any implications regarding our factory in Izmir. Regarding raw materials, please keep in mind that the majority of the products that we have are coming from cotton and actually wool. So they are not so much influenced by this kind of high oil prices. We only have, let's say, limited exposure to polyester. You see price increases there. We have to look at it whether it's -- whether the duration will be longer. But I think what remains is that we are not as much exposed as perhaps like other sports brands, for example, and we don't see major implications for the year 2026. I think we have to observe the situation, but rather from the COGS development and also -- this also includes freight. We feel that we can compensate those effects that we might be seeing and that from -- with regards to the COGS, that we see further improvements regarding sourcing efficiencies, further reduction in airfreight share, and that these developments will support gross margin also going forward, alongside -- although we know that the Middle East has somehow implications on the oil prices. Regarding tourism, we know that our business is around overall 20% to 25% is coming out of tourism flow. We have seen some implications because of the Middle East, because of the big hubs in Dubai and Doha were closed for a certain period of time, there's less traveling. I think this has impacted the business in March and also in April, and we have to see how long it will last. I think it will also be slightly compensated in domestic revenues then, because people might be staying more at home or might be traveling less. So we have to observe this kind of development. Operator: The next question comes from Grace Smalley from Morgan Stanley. Grace Smalley: The first one would just be a quick clarification, please. So you mentioned that you are -- you're starting to see some impact from the Middle East in regions outside of the Middle East. And I think, Yves, if I heard you correctly, the U.K. was the main region that you pulled out. I just wanted to see if there were any other regions where you're also starting to see an impact outside of the Middle East or it's mainly centered within the U.K. Also on the answer on current trading, appreciate it. It sounds like April is very difficult to read given the Middle East disruption, but also the changes in the seasonal sales. But just if there's anything you can say to help us with how we should think about modeling Q2 relative to current consensus? My last one would just be on marketing. I believe you mentioned that the lower marketing spend in Q1 was partially due to timing and phasing. So if you could just help us with how we should think about the cadence of marketing spend throughout the rest of the year and how we should think about marketing on a full year basis? Yves Muller: Yes, another 3 questions. Thank you very much. So regarding marketing, I think -- so first of all, like I said during my presentation, we invested 7.3%. We have had the Milan fashion show. We have had BOSS BECKHAM. We had also the HUGO campaign, Red Means Go. So we -- you can really see that we invested. I think we invested wisely, and we get more out of the euro spend. And regarding -- and actually, this is all well in line with what we have said during CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN. There will be definitely a focus on the second half of the year, especially in Q4, which is actually the holiday season, which, as you know, Grace, is the strongest quarter for us. So we will, in terms of phasing, focus broadly on the second half of the year and especially on Q4 where we have the commercial and holiday moments of the year and where you have also some gifting in this kind of big quarter because as we know, the fourth quarter is between 20% to 30% higher than the first 3 quarters. Regarding the comment in terms of global sentiment, I think, like I said, and I can just repeat this, that we have seen in some selective markets like the U.K., some implications of the Middle East conflict, also slightly less tourists from the Middle East coming into the U.K. So these were also some implications that we have seen. But I think it's -- I think we have to observe the situation. And I think nothing more to comment right now because it's really changing on a weekly basis. Then was the question, was that regarding Q2? What was that question again? Christian Stoehr: Yes. It was -- Grace, you got your question, right? It was a bit of a quarterly phasing question, right? How to think about Q2 in terms of modeling, but also for the remainder of the year given the current trading comments that were made. Is that right? Grace Smalley: Yes, exactly. Christian Stoehr: So I'll take that, Muller, if that's okay for you. So I think the 2 comments we can make is, Grace, one related to Q4. I start with the final quarter of the year. And that's basically a reminder of what we have already said in March, the comps are particularly difficult in Q4. So that's something you will have to bear in mind. And I'm sure you're doing that in any case. On Q2, I think only the comments we've made on the Middle East, I guess, you probably will try to find these numbers or these comments finding the way into your Q2 modeling numbers. But that's all the comments we are making. Hard to be overly precise on current trading given the volatility we're seeing in the markets, and you said it, weeks can be quite different from one week to the other. But like I said, I think the implications from the Middle East in April were pretty clear, and that is something you should bear in mind -- and then Q4, as I just alluded to. Operator: Next question comes from Anthony Charchafji from BNP Paribas. Anthony Charchafji: The first one would be on the guidance. Curious to know the breakdown between the gross margin expansion and the OpEx. I mean, we've seen that the OpEx were down 4% reported, but rather 2% at constant FX. Do you see the OpEx cut, I would say, fading and being a bit less of a tailwind going into Q4? And in terms of gross margin, just to know if you have in mind gross margin expansion to be really back-end loaded Q4. So can we see Q4 gross margin expansion above the 110 bps that you just delivered? My second question is on pricing, but also pricing net of markdowns. Do you expect it to be net positive like in Q1 in each quarter in 2026? And do you expect to do more pricing versus the one that you did beginning of Q4 of mid-single digit? Is there anything planned? Yves Muller: Yes, Anthony, thank you very much for your questions. So regarding pricing, we have done now the pricing in Q4 2025, which will prevail in due course for 2026. There will only be, let's say, some slight adjustments, but not this kind of broad-based adjustment we have made. We might do it smartly. We will observe, of course, the competition, but nothing that I would call out in terms of pricing. What I would also -- what I would call out is definitely that we will give less promotions. We have started this already. And I think markdowns will go down and will turn over the course of the year also into a tailwind for gross margin in comparison to last year. We will strictly actually execute our CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN strategy. This means less discounts in the online channels. This will be shorter sales period. This will mean not participating in mid-season sale, like I said. So these are several measurements that we are taking to reduce our markdowns, always with the implication to drive the long-term profitability and the brand equity of the company. So it's -- all the measurements that we are taking are directed to increase our full price sell-throughs, and this will also help the gross margin going forward. I think we have been happy with our gross margin development already in Q1, which was primarily driven by sourcing efficiencies. But I also expect that we will see a good performance regarding gross margin over the next quarters regarding gross margin. As we have the history of having the OpEx overall under control -- minus 4%. I think it's -- for us as a management team, it's important to have the costs under control and to reduce the costs. I think you have also seen kind of deleverage this year, but this was overall well expected also in our guidance, and we will focus on those things that we can control on our own. And these are definitely gross margin things and also OpEx. And you have seen the direction also in Q1, and you can expect that this will continue in the next quarters, meaning gross margin being up and costs going down. Operator: The next question comes from Andreas Riemann from ODDO BHF. Andreas Riemann: Two topics. One is the HUGO brand. So the HUGO brand is written in red letter. So my question would be what actually happened to HUGO BLUE? Is HUGO BLUE still relevant within HUGO? The second topic, the tariffs. So in the press call, I think you indicated that you expect that U.S. tariffs will be paid back. Can you help us to guess how much that might be? And linked to that, what was actually the impact from U.S. tariffs on your gross margin in Q1? You didn't mention it. So was it that small? That would be my second question. Yves Muller: Andreas, thank you very much for your questions. Well, I will start with customs. Yes, of course, like every other brand is expecting that this kind of surplus that was introduced last year will be paid back. I think this is what might be expected. We are not quite sure because as we all know, the administration in the U.S. is also very volatile. So no effects have been included in our numbers so far. And actually, we are not disclosing the exact amount of the customs that we are having, but it's not such a huge amount that you can expect. Regarding HUGO, definitely, we streamlined the assortment regarding HUGO. We have the big campaign Red Means Go in terms of HUGO, and we are integrating the HUGO BLUE products into our HUGO -- in our HUGO appearance and have a clear focus on contemporary tailoring. So this means that we're going to streamline the assortment going forward. This has been a kind of -- also kind of strategic measurement. And of course, the effect regarding the net sales at HUGO are visible, but they were more or less expected from our side. And on top of this, we are also reducing here and there some of our distribution points also with HUGO. So these are the effects that we have seen with HUGO, but I think the most important thing is that we are streamlining the assortment and integrate HUGO BLUE into HUGO. Christian Stoehr: Ladies and gentlemen, that actually completes today's conference call. There is no more people in the queue wanting to ask questions. So we leave it with that. And we thank you for your participation. And of course, if there's any further open topics or questions you have, please reach out to the Investor Relations team. Thank you for joining today. Thanks for your interest and speak to you soon. Thank you. Bye-bye. Yves Muller: Thank you. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Chorus Call, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.
Operator: Greetings. Welcome to Ball Corporation First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Brandon Potthoff, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin. Brandon Potthoff: Good morning, everyone. This is Ball Corporation's conference call regarding the company's first quarter 2026 results. During this call, we will reference our first quarter 2026 earnings presentation available through this webcast and on our website at investors.ball.com. The information provided during this call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made today. Some factors that could cause the results or outcomes to differ are described in the company's latest Form 10-K, other SEC filings and in today's earnings release and earnings presentation. If you do not already have our earnings release, it is available on our website at ball.com. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may also be found in the notes section of today's earnings release. In addition, the release includes a summary of noncomparable items as well as a reconciliation of comparable net earnings and diluted earnings per share calculations. I would now like to turn the call over to our CEO, Ron Lewis. Ron Lewis: Thank you, Brandon. Today, I'm joined on our call by Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I will provide some brief introductory remarks and discuss first quarter 2026 financial performance and our outlook for the remainder of 2026. Dan will touch on key metrics, and then we will finish up with closing comments and Q&A. As we begin, I want to start with the big picture because it continues to matter how we think about Ball and our long-term value creation. We believe Ball is positioned to win and the fundamental supporting that belief remained firmly in place. Packaged liquid volume is continuing to grow globally, and aluminum cans are taking share as consumers, customers and retailers increasingly prioritize convenience, performance and sustainability. That dynamic creates a durable long runway of demand for our products. Within that growing market, Ball is executing at a high level. Across our regions, we continue to leverage long-term customer partnerships, a well contracted portfolio and an unmatched global footprint. Our utilization levels are strong, reflecting both disciplined capacity management and consistent commercial execution. We are pairing that execution with financial strength. We delivered solid results to start 2026, supported by a healthy balance sheet and a capital allocation framework grounded in EVA. Our focus remains on deploying capital where it earns returns above our hurdle rate and on continuing momentum as we move through the year. Operationally, our teams are performing well. Standardization, cost discipline and the Ball business system are driving improved profit per can and reinforcing our ability to generate operating leverage as volumes grow. While we are proud of the progress we continue to see opportunity ahead. When you bring together attractive industry fundamentals, disciplined execution, financial strength and an operating system built for continuous improvement, Ball remains exceptionally well positioned, not just for this year, but for the long term. Our strong start to the year underscores the resilience of our business, particularly in a complex geopolitical and macroeconomic environment. Our strategy is clear, consistent and grounded in our 4 strategic pillars, and that strategy is working. First is executing exceptionally in our core business. That discipline shows up in how we operate every day across our plants and regions, and it underpins our ability to deliver solid Q1 results in an uncertain world. Second, we stay close to our customers and maximize our global network, long-term partnerships strong service levels and a well-balanced footprint allow us to respond quickly and reliably. Third, we continue to accelerate the substrate shift to aluminum and expand categories. Aluminum, sustainability and performance advantages matter, reinforcing demand and long-term growth opportunities. And fourth, we manage complexity to our advantage. Our scale, standardization and systems enable us to remain focused on execution rather than distraction. The Ball business system brings these pillars together, connecting commercial excellence, operational excellence and continuous improvement. At the center are our people and our culture. Low ego, high collaboration and a shared commitment to doing the right things the right way. This is what makes our business resilient, supports strong Q1 performance and positions Ball to continue delivering disciplined execution and long-term value creation regardless of the external environment. The Ball business system is how we operate, and EVA remains our North Star. Together, they drive disciplined execution and capital allocation, enabling us to deliver results. That discipline showed up in our first quarter performance. We executed well and stayed focused on the levers we control, earning returns above our cost of capital while maintaining flexibility. This approach underpins a growth algorithm of 10-plus percent comparable diluted EPS growth, strong free cash flow and consistent returns to shareholders. The results we delivered this quarter are a direct outcome of this operating and financial discipline, and they set up the discussion on our performance in the quarter. Turning to our first quarter performance. We had a good start to 2026. Global volumes were up nearly 1% year-over-year, reflecting slightly stronger-than-expected volumes in North America and in-line performance in South America, partially offset by volumes in EMEA. What stands out is our execution. Comparable operating earnings grew 10% year-over-year, exceeding our 2x operating leverage objective for the quarter. That performance flowed through to the bottom line. with comparable diluted EPS up 22% year-over-year, driven by strong operational execution, cost discipline and capital allocation. The first quarter performance reinforces our confidence in delivering 10-plus percent EPS growth for the full year. We also remain focused on shareholder returns and are on track to deliver in the range of $800 million to shareholders in 2026. Operationally, we continue to advance our priorities, including completing the Benepack acquisition to expand EMEA capacity and making good progress at our Millersburg, Oregon facility, which remains on track towards full ramp up in 2027. Overall, this was a solid first quarter that reflects the resilience of our business, disciplined execution and the strength of our operating model. With that outlook in mind, I'll let Dan walk you through the details of our first quarter financial performance and provide more color on our current expectations for 2026. Over to you, Dan. Daniel Rabbitt: Thank you, Ron. Before walking through our first quarter 2026 performance, I want to spend a moment on the changes we made to our financial reporting this quarter. As you saw in the earnings release this morning, we updated how we report our segment financials. As Ron and I stepped into our roles, we took a fresh look at how we measure performance and align accountability across the organization. It became clear that we needed to more clearly distinguish between operating decisions made within the businesses and financing decisions made at corporate level. As a result, we amended our definition of comparable operating earnings to exclude such items as factoring fees interest income and other impacts driven by corporate financing activity rather than the underlying operations. Importantly, these financing-related items remain included in comparable net earnings in comparable diluted EPS. So there is not a material change to how we measure or report overall company earnings. In addition, we moved our beverage can plants in India and Myanmar into the EMEA segment, which has had management and P&L responsibility for those operations for several years. We believe these changes provide a clearer view of underlying operating performance by segment, while continuing to give investors full transparency into our consolidated financial results. And to be clear, these changes do not materially impact comparable net earnings or comparable diluted EPS. Additional information can be found in notes of the earnings press release as well as on investors.ball.com under financial results. With that context, I'll now walk you through our first quarter 2026 financial performance. Overall, the business delivered a good start to the year. Global ship beverage volumes increased approximately 1% year-over-year, low single-digit volume growth in North America and EMEA, partially offset by lower volumes in South America. Despite ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic events, our teams executed well across the business. Comparable operating earnings increased 10% year-over-year. That performance translated into comparable diluted earnings per share of $0.94, up 22% year-over-year. This first quarter performance reflects the strength and resilience of our operating model and is consistent with the financial framework we've laid out for 2026. In North and Central America, segment comparable operating earnings increased 2.5% in the first quarter. Volumes increased low single-digit percent year-over-year, reflecting slightly stronger demand, particularly in energy drinks and nonalcoholic beverages. The team continues to execute at a high level, supporting customers, managing costs and navigating a dynamic operating environment. As we look to the remainder of 2026, we continue to expect volume growth at the low end of our long-term range of 1% to 3%. As previously discussed, we anticipate $35 million of start-up costs related to the Millersburg facility and U.S. domestication of ins to begin later this year. While these costs represent a near-term headwind, they support long-term volume growth and operating leverage. In EMEA, segment comparable operating earnings increased 20% in the first quarter. Volumes were up low single-digit percent year-over-year. The team continues to perform well operationally and during the quarter, we completed the Benepack acquisition, further strengthening our European footprint and expanding capacity in Hungary and Belgium. As we integrate these assets, we see meaningful opportunity to drive both volume growth and operating leverage as capacity is filled. For 2026, with the inclusion of Benepack, we continue to expect volume growth above the top end of our long-term 3% to 5% range, along with operating leverage of 2x. In South America, segment comparable operating earnings were flat in the first quarter. Volumes declined mid-single-digit percent year-over-year, reflecting customer timing and inventory position coming into the quarter. Despite lower volumes, the team remained disciplined on cost and execution supporting earnings and positioning the business well as growth normalizes in the next 3 quarters. Looking ahead, we continue to expect volume growth at the low end of our long-term range of 4% to 6% in 2026 with operating leverage of 2x. Focusing on modeling details for 2026. As Ron noted, with the resilience of our business and our pass-through models, we continue to expect to be on track with our algorithm of 10% plus comparable diluted EPS growth. We anticipate free cash flow of greater than $900 million in 2026. Our 2026 full year effective tax rate on comparable earnings is expected to be slightly above 23%. Full year 2026 interest expense is expected to be in the range of $320 million. CapEx is expected to be in line with GAAP D&A in 2026. Full year 2026 reported adjusted corporate undistributed costs recorded in other nonreportable are expected to be in the range of $175 million. We anticipate year-end 2026 net debt to comparable EBITDA and to be around 2.7x, and we will repurchase at least $600 million of shares, which will bring our total capital return to shareholders to $800 million in 2026. And last week, Ball's board declared its quarterly cash dividend. With that, I'll turn it back to Ron. Ron Lewis: Thanks, Dan. Overall, our strong first quarter results reflect exactly how we intend to run Ball. Amid ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic factors, our teams stayed focused on what we control, serving our customers, running our operations with discipline and allocating capital through an EVA lens. The Ball business system and our strategic pillars are not theoretical. They are driving resilience in our business and translating into earnings, cash generation and returns for shareholders. We had a good start to 2026 and just as importantly, we are executing in a way that reinforces our confidence in the year ahead. Thank you. And with that, we are ready for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from George Staphos with Bank of America. George Staphos: Question for you first. With the performance, are you seeing any effects that you could call out from the Middle East tensions in terms of increased costs that won't necessarily be passed through real time this year, any effects on volume, particularly as regards to Europe, was there any effect on the segment's volumes related to the conflict that you could call out? And then a couple of follow-ons. Ron Lewis: George, thanks for the question. Nice to talk to you. From the impact on the Middle East, First, it's important to note that we do not have any direct business in the Middle East. And as a rule of thumb, we maintain supply chains that are as short as possible. So there's no supply assurance impacts either for our business or for our customers. It is a fact, however, the cost of all things, commodities that are affected by the conflict in the Middle East to have affected our business like others, especially aluminum. And that's where our resilient business model comes to the 4. The way that our contracts work generally is we pass on the cost of aluminum to our customers on an immediate basis, and then they choose how they will manage that cost impact. So thus far, the can is winning. The can is winning in every region we operate. And EMEA is no different than that of North America or South America. Our volumes are actually accelerating as we begin the second quarter of the year across all of our businesses. and EMEA is no different from that. George Staphos: Okay. I appreciate that, Ron. Maybe the related question did European volume perform as you expected? Were there any one-off factors that might have led to better or worse performance related? Are there any important contracts qualitatively that we should at least have in the back of our mind that you'll be managing against and to renegotiate for 2027. And then lastly, with Europe with the contracts. The last point being, we appreciate all the detail you're giving us and the granularity and getting back to basically operating performance within the segment. Are there any other metrics that you would call out that you're using as a guide point or a North Star user term for the segment in terms of profitability over time beyond the 2x leverage? Ron Lewis: Thanks, George. So any one-offs related to our EMEA volume would be specifically, we purchased the business known as Benepack, the 2 plants, 1 in Belgium and 1 in Hungary. And we purchased that from basically the beginning of February, we assumed that we would have it from the beginning of the year. So that probably affected what we had versus what we had planned. The second thing is, we sold a business in Saudi Arabia called UAC. And that business was reported previously in our other segments and with the change in our segment reporting, that's now from a comparable perspective, Q1 of last year is reported in our business. So that shows up as a headwind in our business. Those 2 things probably would have been some one-offs for us. But the core of our Europe business, we believe we're in line with market. We're within our algorithm that we talk about in the 3% to 5% growth, and we feel pretty good about how we started the year there. basically as expected. You asked about contracts. It gives me a moment to just say that for this year, we are fully contracted. And we actually are volume constrained in North America, as you know, and we have been volume-constrained in Europe because it grew so fast last year as did North America. And those 2 things why we are building a plant in North America and why we acquired the Benepack plants. So we're sold for 2026. For 2027, we're more than 90% sold and out through the end of the decade, we are basically 50% sold. So no, we don't have any specific contracts that we are concerned about. We've got long-term contracts in place. And that's just the nature of this business, which makes it a wonderful business to be in because we're able to establish some great long-term relationships that help our customers win and win with they can. As it relates to what metrics we would like point you to, it would probably be operating earnings per can. And that's why we've had the segment changes that we did. And I'm sure we'll get questions about that as well. But it's basically we want to have the most transparent cleaner for you all that analyze and comment on us and advise on us. We want you to have the cleanest looking Canada. So the operating earnings per can would be the metric that we would point you to. Operator: Our next question is from Ghansham Panjabi with Baird. Ghansham Panjabi: I guess just picking up on the last question from George. So if I have this right, it looks like 1Q was pretty much in line with your expectations on a volumetric basis, but was really the operating leverage that was quite strong. And if that's accurate. Can you just give us the specifics, Ron, on what drove that improvement in operating earnings specific to the first quarter? Ron Lewis: Yes. Ghansham, nice to hear your voice. Thanks for the question. I would say, yes, we were largely in line with what we expected from a volume perspective, even with our South America business down year-on-year. We were probably a little bit ahead of what we expected in North America. And we were a little bit behind in EMEA. And let me just take a moment to talk about volume. While we were down in South America -- well, how did we compare versus the market? We think we were in line with market in North America. We think we were in line with the market in EMEA, and we were obviously below the market in South America given what our competitors have already already publicly stated. As we begin Q2 at an enterprise level, our volumes as we finished April were up mid-single digits. Again, that's as we expected them to be. And importantly, our South America business is up 20% April on April, and that erases all of the declines we saw in Q1, and we're back to flat volume for the year. So we are very confident in our predictions for how our business will finish on a volume basis for 2026. We expect to finish in our 2% to 3% towards the top end of our range of the 2% to 3% volume at enterprise level, and we expect North America to be towards the bottom end of our range because we are capacity constrained. We expect EMEA to be above the 3% to 5% commitment that we've made because of the inorganic acquisition that we made as well as a business that's performing in line or better with market. And in South America, we expect to still achieve the 4% to 6% volume growth as it relates to our long-term commitment. Now as for the operating leverage, maybe I'll give Dan Rabbitt a moment to reflect on that for us because I think I want to hear his voice in this meeting, and I think you do, too. Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. Thank you, Ron, and Ghansham, thanks for the question. We are -- as we've been speaking to a lot of you all very focused on trying to improve the profitability. And that is why Ron really highlighted the the growing importance of our metric of profit per can. We measured in profit per 1,000 being manufacturers, but regardless, it's profit for can focus. And I think the business is responding very well to how to this focus. And you've seen -- we saw good performance, good cost management, good pass-through of our cost really on top of our game that came through to deliver that 10% growth on operating earnings quarter-over-quarter. Ghansham Panjabi: Okay. Fantastic. Very comprehensive. And then just on the resegmentation, if you will, and just moving the plants in India and Myanmar to the EMEA segment, should we take away from this that you're just going to focus on North America, Europe and Latin America and not so much on the emerging markets, including those regions? Or is it just an interim move, if you will, before before you start looking at capital deployment in the other regions, the emerging markets outside of South America. Ron Lewis: Let me start with that question, Ghansham. Thank you for it. And I know we probably have some follow-up work to do with you and others after this call. But number one, the reason we made this segment operating change is this is the way we manage our business. It really is. We -- the management team that manages our EMEA business is also the management team that manages those plants that we've now included in our EMEA business. So we're doing it for the way that we operate our business. We want you to look at us and advise on us the way we operate our business. Number two, we want it to be as clean as possible for you and others to analyze us from an operating earnings perspective. So it's about transparency for us, both the way we operate internally and the way that we want you to look at us. the 3 regions in which we operate, including those regions that we've now added to our EMEA business are our core business, and we are the market leader in North America, South America and what is our EMEA business, the footprint that we have there. And we're very excited about our EMEA business. It's a growing business, especially those parts of the world that we just added. India is growing high teens and has been for years, and you saw us add capacity and announce additional capacity adds to India and you see our competitors looking to add capacity there. So it's a great market, and there are other great markets out there. I wouldn't take from this that we are focusing only and solely on the markets we operate in. And maybe, Dan, if you wouldn't mind commenting a bit on the other segment changes. Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. As far as the segments goes, the other thing that we did noteworthy really and was taking out the financing, the treasury-related items of the businesses to allow for better transparency on how the businesses are performing. And we really like our prospects in all 3 regions. And as you know, we measure everything from how we want to grow this company through the lens of EVA, and we see great opportunities in all 3 of our regions. And -- so I think now you have a better picture on how they're performing. And really, if the changes may be contrary to what people might think is actually were slightly negative, but the operating earnings would have been higher had we not made them on the quarter. I think over the long haul, we see this as a de minimis change. And again, reinforcing that the net earnings really have not changed. We're really materially the same place where we are when you look at the bottom line. Operator: Our next question is from Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Bryan Burgmeier: This is Bryan Burgmeier on for Anthony. Just wanted to ask about tariffs. Curious if there's any impact to Ball from sort of the latest changes announced early last month, specifically just thinking about covering some of the derivative products or applying the tar value to the whole value of the product and conversely, maybe some changes to Mexican beer. Just not sure if that alters the Dew for Ball at all. Ron Lewis: Bryan, thanks for the question. again, the tariffs that manage and govern the aluminum ecosystem and industry are Section 232. That's what's most impactful on aluminum cost and pricing. And the recent changes I think they're de minimis for our business. There's a slight positive for products that can come to the U.S. filled products, be they impact extruded aerosol packages or, as you said, beverage packages that are filled. So net-net, it could be slightly positive. But we're focused on serving our customers. And when they look for supply from us, that's what we're intending to do. And yes, so far, so good. Bryan Burgmeier: Got it. Got it. And then you touched on India already, but just wanted to follow up there. You've seen maybe some reports like energy shortages or material shortages. Just curious if that region has been impacted at all by what's going on in the Middle East? And it seems like a pretty good growth outlook over there. But Yes, if you could just maybe share some details on the near term and long term for India. Daniel Rabbitt: Thanks, Bryan. India, for sure, is an exciting place. That's the real story is that we've seen multiple years of high teens plus 20% growth. So the can industry is really moving quickly to establish supply locally as we are. As I noted, we've recently added capacity to 1 of our 2 plants there, and we've announced the adding of capacity to the second of our plants. So that's the real story of just managing growth in a high-growth market with with capacity constraints. There are continuing to be imports into that country because we cannot, as an industry manage to fulfill all the demand locally and there are some minor supply chain disruptions in that market that are, I think, come and gone. So we're running our plants and our plants at capacity. So if there there's any -- there was no material impact and nothing to note really to talk about on this call, and we're excited about the long-term prospects of India. Operator: Our next question is from Phil Ng with Jefferies. John Dunigan: This is John on for Phil. I just wanted to start on EMEA. The comparable EMEA earnings came in quite a bit better than we expected. It sounded like Benepack wasn't much of a contributor, at least compared to where you were thinking it was going to close. But you did note that the FX actually supported the earnings in the segment. Could you just maybe give us a little bit more detail on what drove some of the higher year-over-year comparable EBIT in the quarter? Daniel Rabbitt: Sure. This is Dan. I mean, I think we have to start with is that the business performed really well. We're again, focusing very much on improving profit. This region really has probably the most runway to improve profit and indeed, they're doing that. So I think it's a credit to that. But when you look at the overall puts and takes that Ron previously had talked about. The driver of this region is the EMEA segment, as you've always heard about at the last few years. It is performing very well. We're getting good now with the India plants and the Myanmarr plant coming in. Those 2 are showing growth and good operating leverage as well. So I think the 2 inorganic opportunities that we took on buying Benepack and selling the UAC really kind of neutralize each other. So I think really mostly what's happening is good performance in this segment. John Dunigan: Great. And maybe you could just quantify how much the FX supported earnings in 1Q? And then my second question is just on the corporate undistributed cost. It sounds like they stepped up. Maybe that was just a factor of some of the recasting that you did, but going up to $175 million, I think you said. Could you just tell us what's going on there? Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. Well, a lot of the positive FX now is moving out of the segment reporting for what we did. So -- but for the company as a whole, I think we probably had about $15 million of positive earnings from the translation and a lot of that is the euro when you compare it year-over-year from the first quarter because it was at a low point a year ago and now it's kind of, I don't know, about 0.15 higher on the foreign exchange. Ron Lewis: As it relates to EMEA specifically, John, I think it was less than half of the gain in operating earnings in our EMEA business was related to FX. John Dunigan: Great. And then the corporate undistributed? Ron Lewis: That's what I think Dan referred to earlier, which was the $15 million. John Dunigan: I apologize. Ron Lewis: So there's a corporate undistributed. That's where we put the FX gains and losses as the translational impact on EMEA was less than half of the operating earnings gain, and that's what you heard from from others in the industry as well. Operator: Our next question is from Edlain Rodriguez with Mizuho Securities. Edlain Rodriguez: I mean clearly, I mean, one, we are clearly in an inflationary environment globally. Like how do you expect this to impact consumer mood and ability to spend. And if there is any impact, like in which region would you expect to kind of start seeing that first? Ron Lewis: Thanks for the question. Well, first of all, the can is winning in every single region in which we operate, and it continues to take share from other substrates. That was true last year and the year before, and it's true this quarter, and we believe it will be true for the foreseeable future. So the can is winning. And we can -- you see the same data we see, and we're really pleased for that. And why is that? It's because of the unique nature of the can. It provides a robust transportation. It provides a robust shelf life. The can has a shelf life of the year. It provides a great billboard effect. You could sell it a singles multiples. I mean, I can talk for for hours about the benefits and the filling your product in an aluminum beverage package and especially one made by Ball. So that's what makes it unique and helpful. As it relates to inflation on the consumer, I mean, all inflation -- all costs are going up. And all I can say is our customers are excited about winning with the can as well. Every time I go to one of our plants, I see new promotional activity coming into summer, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. So every one of our plants is running and most of those labels are promotional labels. And I think our customers will continue to lean into the can as a means of helping them to support the consumer as they seek value. Daniel Rabbitt: And Ron, the only other thing to add is that as consumer really is in place -- has headwinds, it tends to kind of retreat to doing more home consumption. Ron Lewis: And that's been the reason why it's remained so strong. Edlain Rodriguez: Now clearly, that's the case. And 1 quick one. In terms of like the past to make and assume you have for aluminum and other costs, can you remind us how -- like is there a lag? And how much is that lag in terms of like how quickly you pass to those costs? Ron Lewis: Okay. Well, let me do very quickly on aluminum, it's I say immediate, and our other cost pass-throughs are formulaic in nature, and usually, they pass through on an annualized basis. Is there more detail you'd like to add to that, Dan? Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. I think the 2 areas I would add on to that is that really we're talking about higher energy costs and how does that impact us. Ron covered the aluminum, so I won't go back to that. It's really about the customer often pays for the freight, more often at pace for the freight, too. So that's a pass-through to and that's a fairly immediate pass-through in many circumstances. And then when we look at the year, we always look at trying to hedge and lock in our energy cost. And so we're in a pretty good position from what it takes to run our plants right now, too. Ron Lewis: And we do those hedging to align with our customer contracts so that we want to be valued for the additional values that we add to the aluminum that we buy and make into aluminum beverage cans and ends and bottles for our customers. Operator: Our next question is from Mike Roxland with Truist Securities. Michael Roxland: Congrats on all the progress. First question I had is, Dan, you just mentioned in response to John's question that the EMEA business has the most runway to improve profit and they're doing that. That segment was already achieving operating leverage target, whereas North America is. And so I'm just wondering what you see in terms of potential for EMEA and why it has the most runway relative to other businesses. . Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. Thanks, Michael. I think the main thing to do is when you take a look at the profit per can, MEA is our lowest, okay? So for the regions. And they actually have been focused for several years and making the biggest strides on it. And as far as the profit per can. So that's why I highlight that there's the most opportunity and the most progress has been made, too, as we think about that from them. Your question about North America, really, right now for the last quarter or 2, we see North America on target for trying to -- for the 2x operating leverage. It's been pretty close to that number. As we measure it this quarter and last. So I think good things are happening in North America as well. And it is also increasing its profit for [ CAM2 ] as we look at it. Ron Lewis: And if you don't mind, Dan, I'd like to add a few things, Mike, thanks for the question. How are we going to improve our -- why do we believe we can improve our operating earnings in Europe? It comes back to our operational excellence platform. Number one, we need to implement manufacturing standards in our business, and we're doing that. Number two, we need to manage our network well and adding 2 new plants in countries where we didn't operate in Belgium and in Hungary are certainly going to help us. And we're investing in our people and our systems. So those are the things that I think will -- that give us confidence that we can continue to compete and operate our plants and our network well. I would say the other thing is Europe, we always talk about it as a land of opportunity. There is still significant opportunities for can penetration. So we know there's a lot of runway to go. We're really proud of our ability to deliver our operating leverage this quarter. We delivered and then some across the enterprise, we certainly delivered it and then some in our EMEA business. We delivered flat op earnings in South America despite the volume declines in North America. We achieved our operating leverage there as well in the quarter, although for the enterprise for the full year, we expect to do more or less operating leverage as compared to our volumes at 2x. That's what we're planning to do. Daniel Rabbitt: And Ron, I think I'll use this as an opportunity to reiterate the outlook for North America. We've been talking about the $35 million of ramp-up costs for Millersburg and the domestication of some in production as well. And that was not in the first quarter. So as we start to think about the rest of the year, you're going to see those costs come in later in this order and heavily in the third quarter, possibly a little in the fourth quarter as well. So that's going to distort some of that operating leverage. And that's why we've been saying all year long, you're going to have to make some adjustments for those, and you will see the operating leverage on the base business. Michael Roxland: That's perfect. And if I had just one quick follow-up. In terms of some of the incremental costs you're experiencing, obviously, they're believed to be transitory of freight, chemicals, energy, and I think I know the answer is going to be but going to ask the question anyway. What levers do you have available to you internally to offset those higher costs? I'm assuming operational efficiencies, deploying best practices, the bold business systems, some of the things you mentioned on your commentary. But are those are the levers that you have in your wheelhouse to basically offset incremental costs and to even potentially drive margins higher when those costs recede. Ron Lewis: Mike, I think you're thinking about it the right way. We have to be operationally excellent every day, and that's the first pillar with our strategy. So that -- those are the primary means by which we offset those costs. And they're real. So -- and then the second thing is we are a resilient business model. We are rewarded for and paid for making cans, bottles and ins as efficiently as possible. . And the cost that we manage on behalf of our customers are generally passed on to them in a formulaic way, be it freight, be it other direct materials, be it aluminum through various means. So that's what makes us a very resilient business in a very resilient industry. Operator: Our next question is from Arun Viswanathan with RBC Capital Markets. Arun Viswanathan: I guess I just wanted to get your thoughts on maybe the contracting environment. You guys are adding capacity in North America and Europe and and elsewhere. So presumably, supply and demand is relatively tight in all regions. But are you expecting to -- given that tight capacity, would there be any pricing opportunities over the next few years? I mean how should we still expect about 1/3 of your contracts roll over every year? Or maybe you can just kind of help us frame those kinds of opportunities as well. Ron Lewis: Arun, thanks for the question. I would say you saw the industry grow significantly the last few years. Certainly, last year, Ball, we grew more than 4%, so above our long-term algorithm. And we used up a lot of the latent capacity that we had. So strong growth in the last several years has led to a relatively tight supply demand scenario. We, as a business, are operating certainly at asset utilization levels in the mid- to high 90s depending on the region on a percentage basis. So the supply and demand is relatively balanced to tight. The next thing I would say is the long-term nature of our business is also reflected in the long-term nature of our contracts with our customers. So I mentioned earlier on the call, we are sold out for this year. We are more than 90% sold for next year, and we're more than 50% sold for the balance of the decade. We have a heavy capital deployment in our industry. So it requires that level of commitment from a customer for multiyear contracts. So we're well contracted. You said there's roughly 1/3 of our volume turnover every year just based on those numbers, it's significantly less than that. Is there an opportunity for us for pricing, I would say, we want to be fairly rewarded for what we do. including down to all of the value-added things that we do, whether it be a different type of specialty can or a special special promotion or a different type of ink. Those are the things that we deserve to and get rewarded for when we're able to bring that sort of innovation to the market. the market will be what it will be, and we just know that we need to be operationally excellent to compete in it. Thank you, Arun. Arun Viswanathan: Okay. And then if I could ask a follow-up. Just curious on if you will be putting in more capacity here in North America. Obviously, you have the Millersburg plant, but Presumably, that will only bring you down to the low 90s and maybe even in the mid-90s. So is that -- would you be adding more capacity? And what are your customers, I guess, when you do go through this process, you kind of presell the plant out? Or is it kind of more done in the future? Ron Lewis: Yes. Thanks for the question, Arun. It gives us a chance to talk about Millersburg, which will be commissioning late this year, and it will bring material volume to our network next year. It will allow us to remove some supply chain inefficiencies because we do not have capacity in the Pacific Northwest and the U.S. So that will help us and our customers. The most important thing about that plant that you should know is it comes on the back of a long-term offtake agreement with one of our most strategic customers. So that plant is -- capacity is spoken for, for many, many years to come when we build it. And that is the second thing that you said, the case for any plant that we would build, we will not build a plant unless we have a long-term offtake agreement filling essentially all of the capacity for that plant. So we're excited to bring new capacity to North America, but we only bring it on the back of a customer's commitment to us because they see the growth of the beverage can. Maybe a specific comment, for example, the energy drink category, as you know, and we all know, is growing and continues to grow unabated. And as it grows, we're excited to help our customers in that regard. And we have potential to build another plant on the East Coast at some point before the end of the decade, but I wouldn't get too excited about it because it won't be in the next several years. But we have intentions to build a plant in the East Coast in North Carolina because of the growth of one of our more -- most strategic customers as well. And we'll do that when it's appropriate. And hopefully, that gives you a sense of how we deploy our capital related to our customers. Thank you. Operator: Our next question is from Hilary Cateno with Deutsche Bank. Unknown Analyst: Could you talk about what you're seeing from the CPGs and in terms of promotional activity? Are you seeing them be more promotional than they have been in the past? Any color on that would be helpful. Ron Lewis: Hilary, thanks for your coverage of us. We appreciate it. Yes, it's great. Our customers, we've really them and look to them for guidance on how they view the consumer. They're much better at this than us, and we really appreciate the insights they provide us. Based on what we know and we hear from them, I'm going to talk specifically about the summer coming up. When I go into our plants and our factories around the world, be it in Europe, in South America or in the U.S., at least one of the lines is running a World Cup label. So that's exciting. Everyone is excited about the summer's World Cup coming up. And if you're walking through one of our plants in North America, I can almost guarantee you, you will also see another rhine -- line running America 250-year celebration labels as well. So clearly, our customers are looking forward to taking advantage of some exciting consumer-driven marketing activity this summer. And it should be at least -- it will be no worse than neutral, and we think it will be a net positive for us. We couldn't put a number on it right now. We're just pleased that our customers continue to see the value that I spoke about earlier of the beverage can. It provides an amazing billboard for them to talk about that promotion. They can use it as a multipack or a single different sizes and the robustness of the package means that they can lean into the can as opposed to other packaging substrates because of the shelf life and the quality that, that can provides for their product. Unknown Analyst: Got it. That's helpful. And then just a follow-up question. The EVA framework really seems to be working well in setting a clear guideline and goals on the corporate level. So could you just talk a little bit about how the EVA framework is being used to like incentivize employees at the plant level and to make operational decisions and is that what's driving operational efficiency on the corporate level as well. Ron Lewis: Thanks for the question, Hilary. I'll let Dan say a few words in a moment about EVA, but it just gives me a chance to say, EVA is our North Star. It hasn't for a long, long time, and it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. So how we deploy capital, running a cost-efficient business, that's what acting like an owner means. So as it relates to our plants, all of us are rewarded for delivering EVA dollars, every single person in this company. And maybe, Dan, could you give some nuance around how we're thinking about EVA operationally? Daniel Rabbitt: Yes. Yes, the nice thing about having EVA is it's been here longer than Ron and I have. And so it's really ingrained in the culture. We do like to have everybody included in these plans. And what we're really focused on now is breaking EVA down from this financial concept into what they can actually do to improve EVA. So we're making it much more personal. And that's one of the key items we're doing to improve the profitability of the company right now is really getting much more granular and breaking down EVA. Operator: Our final question will be from Matt Roberts with Raymond James. Matthew Roberts: I got a couple of messages clarifications on first April. I know you said that was up mid-single digits. What region was that? Or was that enterprise wide? I believe South America, you said April up 20%. How much of that 20% was the catch-up from 1Q? Ron Lewis: Thanks for the question, Matt. So enterprise-wide, we started the quarter, the month of April, up mid-single digits as an enterprise. Within that enterprise, South America, April volumes were up 20%. How much of it was catch-up from Q1? Well, what I can say is that April volume made up for all of the declines we saw in the first quarter. And it gives me a moment to just say what happened in the first quarter. What happened in the first quarter for us was you saw a really strong volume for us, high single digits in Q4 2025. So we came into the to Q1 with a pretty healthy sales of cans to our customers who had built a strong inventory. The peak season in South America, weather wasn't probably as good as on average that it would normally be. So it was a little weaker than average, but the -- coming out of peak, the weather has been quite good. And we're seeing a strong pull through as we come out of that peak selling season in South America. And we think that's some of what's happening. And it wasn't asked, but we delivered flat operating earnings in the region, which we're really proud of. And how we did that was we actually got to a position where our inventory levels were a bit lower than we expected. So we were able to build back our inventory, which helped us to deliver the P&L in South America. And also, we had some good size mix and country mix there as well that helped us deliver flat operating earnings while we had volumes down a bit. So hope that answers your question about the volume and a little bonus on color on South America. Okay. Thank you very much, Matt. And Sherry, I think that's our last question. So I just wanted to thank everybody again for your interest in our company. our analysis of our company, your partnership in helping us tell our story. We really appreciate that very much. We look forward to talking with all of you more and sharing our story. So we're excited about how we delivered the first quarter of 2026. We're confident in how we're going to complete 2026. And importantly, we're confident in the long-term nature and the resilient business that we have the privilege to run. So thanks again, everyone, and we look forward to talking to you very soon. Operator: Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect at this time, and thank you for your participation.
Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Duke Energy First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Mike Switzer, Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Mike, please go ahead. Mike Switzer: Thank you, Jen, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Duke Energy's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Review and Business Update. Leading our call today is Harry Sideris, President and CEO; along with Brian Savoy, Executive Vice President and CFO. Today's discussion will include the use of non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking information. Actual results may differ from forward-looking statements due to factors disclosed in today's materials and in Duke Energy's SEC filings. The appendix of today's presentation includes supplemental information, along with a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. With that, let me turn the call over to Harry. Harry Sideris: Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to be with you to share our results on the continued progress we're making on our strategic priorities. Today, we announced first quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $1.93, which builds on our momentum from last year and marks a strong start to the year. These results are primarily driven by critical infrastructure investments to meet growing customer demand in our service territories. We are on track to achieve our 2026 guidance range of $6.55 to $6.80 and are reaffirming our 5% to 7% long-term EPS growth rate through 2030. And we are more confident than ever that we will deliver in the top half of the range beginning in 2028 when we expect to see accelerated growth from the economic development projects we have secured under ESAs. Our growth is strong. Economically attractive jurisdictions is underpinned by the industry's largest regulated capital plan, efficient recovery mechanisms and a long track record of constructive regulatory outcomes, and we continue to see strong fundamentals across our business. In the first quarter, we achieved key strategic milestones in support of the growing states we serve. With every investment, we're ensuring the dollars deliver long-term value for our customers and communities. We will continue to execute this strategy with discipline and look forward to updating you throughout the year. As we invest in our system, I want to underscore that our priority has been and always will be providing customers reliable power at the lowest possible cost. As a result of this unwavering focus, our rates are below the national average and have risen below the pace of inflation. We continue to find new ways to deliver affordable energy for our customers, including leveraging our scope and scale to achieve top-tier cost management. As shown on Slide 5, I'm pleased to announce 2 major accomplishments that will provide more than $5 billion of customer benefits, further demonstrating our sustained commitment to providing customer value. First, last week, we reached a multiyear agreement to monetize up to $3.1 billion of clean energy tax credits expected to be generated through 2028. The proceeds will flow back to customers to support keeping rates as low as possible. We also received all regulatory approvals, including from FERC, North Carolina and South Carolina regulators for the proposed combination of our 2 Carolina utilities. Combining these utilities will enable us to meet the Carolina's growing energy needs more efficiently with estimated customer savings of $2.3 billion through 2040. With these approvals, we're working towards an effective date of January 1, 2027. Our customers remain our top priority, and we will continue to utilize every tool available to keep rates as low as possible. We had several other significant accomplishments in the first few months of 2026, which are outlined on Slide 6. Starting with the 2 strategic transactions announced last year. We closed on the first tranche of Brookfield's minority investment in Duke Energy Florida in early March, receiving $2.8 billion in cash proceeds for a 9.2% interest in our Florida utility. Several weeks later, we completed the sale of our Piedmont Natural Gas Tennessee business to Spire for $2.5 billion. The more than $5 billion in proceeds strengthen our credit profile and help cost effectively fund our $103 billion capital plan as we invest for the benefit of our customers. Moving to economic development. We continue to seize the growth in our attractive regions driven by innovation in AI technologies and advanced manufacturing. Since the fourth quarter call, we've signed an additional 2.7 gigawatts of ESAs with data center customers, bringing our total executed agreements to approximately 7.6 gigawatts, nearly 2/3 of which are already under construction. We recognize that we're in a once in a generation build cycle and have been collaborating with state and local officials, policymakers and regulators to attract these investments to our communities while protecting our existing customers. We've taken a leading role in developing contract structures that establish greater certainty for planning and ensure that new large customers pay their fair share of the overall system costs. Contracts include minimum demand provisions, credit support, refundable capital advances and termination charges. Importantly, these incremental volumes will benefit all customers over the life of the contract as system costs are spread over a larger base. For decades, our teammates have had the privilege of living and working alongside the customers we serve, and that experience has made community engagement and core competency in our planning and delivery. When projects are built with communities and not around them, we are able to support growth in a way that both protects and benefits customers. And finally, I want to touch on several regulatory updates, beginning with North Carolina. The rate cases for both Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress are proceeding on schedule. The next step will be intervenor testimony, which is due for DEC at the end of May. We look forward to continuing constructive engagement with stakeholders as we advocate for the critical investments needed to reliably serve our growing communities and provide value for our customers. And in mid-March, we filed our initial electric rate stabilization adjustment in South Carolina under legislation that was signed into law last May. This efficient process allows for annual true-ups that reduce rate volatility for customers. The investments we're making in our systems support critical upgrades to improve reliability, harden the grid and support growth. Whether it's a blue sky day or responding to winter storms like we experienced earlier this year, we continue to provide value by keeping the lights on and restoring power safely and quickly. Moving to Slide 7. We continue to advance our all-of-the-above strategy, adding 14 gigawatts of generation over the next 5 years. We're also maximizing existing generation by extending the lives of our nuclear fleet. In April, the NRC approved the subsequent license renewal for Robinson Nuclear Plant, marking our second nuclear plant to reach this important milestone. As the operator of the largest regulated fleet in the nation, nuclear is foundational to our strategy, and we intend to seek similar extensions for all our remaining reactors. Our gas generation program, which is a critical component of our strategy is well underway with 5 gigawatts under construction and an additional 2.5 gigawatts in development. In March, the South Carolina Commission approved our application for a 1.4 gigawatt combined cycle plant in Anderson County. The plant is the first to be approved after the enactment of the Energy Security Act last May, and is our first new baseload generation asset in the Palmetto State in a decade. Construction is expected to begin in 2027. And last month, we implemented a CWIP rider in Indiana for our Cayuga combined cycle plant. This recovery mechanism supports the state's focus on affordability by reducing overall costs to customers while maintaining balance sheet strength. We have agreements in place to secure the long lead time equipment and workforce needed for this dispatchable generation, which reduce risk and leverage our size and scale to complete these projects efficiently, maximizing the value for our customers. The first turbine secured under our framework agreement with GE Vernova are being built, with the turbines for the first Person County combined cycle project expected to be delivered in the second half of this year. Our gas generation build will create thousands of construction jobs and we have a solid plan to ensure we have the skilled labor needed to meet our construction milestones on time and on budget. In the Carolinas, we have signed EPC contracts for the first 3 new gas generation facilities, a programmatic approach that gives our EPC provider Zachry line of sight to an order book of projects. We have deliberately laid out the construction timelines for Person County and Marshall plants to create a road map for Zachry to stage the regional workforce. This will support developing and retaining a local craft pool for years into the future. We're building on the success we've had supporting talent pipelines to address needed skills in our service territories, like we've done with lineworker training programs, and we're sharing these best practices with our EPC partners. To bring all this together, our project management and construction team has a robust construction monitoring process in place. We are working closely with our equipment suppliers and EPC providers, including conducting quality assurance checks of equipment and manufacturing and leveraging AI technologies to track milestones. This includes monitoring construction at a granular level down to the cubic yard of dirt excavated and concrete being poured. Overall, our scope and scale as well as our extensive experience and infrastructure development uniquely position us to lead this record generation build. And we've been actively preparing for this next build cycle for more than 3 years given us full confidence in our ability to execute the work ahead. With that, let me turn the call over to Brian. Brian Savoy: Thanks, Harry, and good morning, everyone. As shown on Slide 8, we delivered strong first quarter results with reported and adjusted earnings per share of $1.97 and $1.93, respectively. This compares to reported and adjusted earnings per share of $1.76 last year. Electric Utilities and Infrastructure was up $0.16, driven by infrastructure investments to reliably serve customers in our growing jurisdictions as well as favorable weather. Partially offsetting this was higher O&M and depreciation expense on a growing asset base. The colder temperatures we experienced in the quarter drove higher usage, but this was offset by higher O&M expenses incurred responding to winter storms. We budget for storms and have solid recovery mechanisms in place. So the impact in the first quarter is largely timing, and we continue to target flat O&M for the full year. Gas Utilities and Infrastructure was up $0.01 compared to last year, with contributions from riders and customer growth, partially offset by higher depreciation expense. The Other segment was essentially flat to the prior year. Our results for the quarter continued to build on the momentum from the past year, reflecting the strength of our utilities and consistent execution of our strategy, positioning us well to achieve our full year EPS targets. Turning to Slide 9. Our economic development success continues as we progress additional large load projects through the pipeline and signed contracts. We have now secured approximately 7.6 gigawatts of electric service agreements with data center customers, including an incremental 2.7 gigawatts since the fourth quarter call. As Harry touched on, these contracts include provisions that protect existing customers and deliver value to those customers over time by spreading fixed costs over a larger base. As we continue to convert economic development prospects into firm projects, we are locking in contracted ramp schedules that provide us with increasing confidence in our long-term load growth projections. On Slide 10, I want to highlight the work underway to sign additional contracts and bring new large loads onto the system. We continue to see robust interest from large load customers with our late-stage high confidence pipeline now at 15.4 gigawatts, inclusive of the ESAs we've signed. Our teams are working diligently to advance projects through the pipeline, and we expect to convert additional prospects to ESAs over the next 12 months. Construction is underway on the first 5 gigawatts of new data centers, and we are putting the necessary infrastructure in place to support speed to power, preparing the grid to deliver energy as soon as they are ready and executing our generation build to grow together over time. Consistent with our load forecast, we expect these customers to begin taking energy as early as the second half of 2027 and into 2028 and ramp into their full contracted load through the early 2030s. We expect the 2.7 gigawatts signed in the first quarter as well as any incremental projects signed to begin taking energy late in the 5-year planning window and ramp into the early to mid-2030s, strengthening the durability of our long-term growth potential well into the next decade. Turning to the balance sheet on Slide 11. We remain well positioned to meet our financial commitments for the year. In March, we received over $5 billion of proceeds from the sale of Piedmont's Tennessee and the first tranche of our -- of the Duke Energy Florida minority investment. Closing these transactions provides financial flexibility to execute our strategy and demonstrates our commitment to pursuing the lowest cost of capital to support our investment plans. Also in March, we issued $1.5 billion of convertible senior notes at a 3% coupon, providing interest savings as we pay down higher cost debt. We took advantage of the strong market conditions and priced $300 million of equity under our ATM program, which will settle in December 2027, consistent with the timing of our future equity needs. This balanced funding approach, along with improving cash flows from efficient recovery mechanisms keeps us on track to deliver 14.5% FFO to debt in 2026 and 15% over the long term, providing meaningful cushion to our downgrade thresholds. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge a major achievement we celebrated as a company this year, our 100th consecutive year of paying a quarterly cash dividend. This milestone marks a long-dated commitment to the dividend that's directly tied to the company's financial strength, regulatory execution and disciplined long-term investments. We have a diverse investor base, including many who live and work in the jurisdictions we serve, and we are proud to deliver this consistent cash flow they can count on. Let me close with Slide 12. We are off to a strong start in 2026, and I'm proud of our team's unwavering commitment to deliver value for our customers each and every day. We are on track to achieve our 2026 EPS guidance range of $6.55 to $6.80 and 5% to 7% EPS growth through 2030 with confidence to earn in the top half of the range beginning in 2028. Economic development success across our states generates an extensive runway of customer-focused capital investments that position us to deliver on our growth targets, which combined with our attractive dividend yield, provide a compelling risk-adjusted return for shareholders. With that, we'll open the line for your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: So just as it pertains to the Carolinas cases here, right? I mean, obviously, they're proceeding, as you say, on schedule. How do you think about any potential to settle them up here partially or otherwise here? Again, obviously, we're ticking through the milestones here. But just how would you set expectations against the wider backdrop here? A lot of noise in the system here, would love to hear how you set expectations. Harry Sideris: Yes, Julien. So we always pride ourselves in working closely with our regulators and stakeholders to make sure everybody understands the benefits of the case, the value that we're providing to our customers. Like I mentioned, the next big milestone is the intervenor testimony later this month. I think once we get that out, we will have more extensive discussions on settlement opportunities. We always are open to that, but we also feel like we have a strong case if we have to litigate it. We understand that affordability is front and center for everyone, it's front and center for us, and we're taking every action that we can. The announcement that we made yesterday with over $5 billion of savings over time for our customers is just one of the tools. And we have other tools in our tool bag to help as we have those stakeholder discussions. So we feel very confident that we will be able to continue our regulatory outcomes -- strength in regulatory outcomes that we've had for the last several years. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Awesome. Excellent. And then just coming back to the load growth, I mean, kudos again on that here in the quarter. Can you give us a little bit of an update in South Carolina, where do we stand on the generic large load tariff docket? How do you think about that being a catalyst in its own right? And any differences in the framework that you're expecting between the 2 different Carolinas here? Harry Sideris: Yes. We're looking at several dockets and several tariff opportunities in all our states, but they're all grounded on the contracts that we have mentioned before, making sure that the data centers pay their fair share through minimum take provisions, deposits, refundable deposits, clawback provisions if they terminate. And also the benefits that they provide over time is a tremendous value to our customers. So making sure that people understand that. This is billions of dollars over the life of these contracts that are going to go to help offset the fixed system costs that we have with the larger loads. So we're in discussions in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and other states to make sure that these are memorialized and that we have the right provisions and tariffs in place to be able to do that. We feel our contracts do that now and then tariffs will just add to that. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Carly Davenport with Goldman Sachs. Carly Davenport: Maybe just on the tax credit monetization that you announced this morning or mentioned in your prepared, any details you can provide in terms of counterparty or terms there? And just are there any other opportunities like that, that you could utilize to continue to provide customer benefits as the focus on affordability remains top of mind? Brian Savoy: Carly, this is Brian. I'll take that one. As we monetize tax credits over the past couple of years, we've tested the market and we found a couple of partners that we wanted to go longer with. And that's what was the catalyst to negotiate a multiyear contract with this counterparty. We can't disclose the counterparty, but they have a healthy tax appetite, obviously, because they're acquiring these credits and going to be applying them on their tax return. And we feel like that, that's the best approach to partnering with companies as this IRA monetization market has continued to mature because going through an auction each year does take a lot of churn and effort in the system and you don't necessarily get the best prices. Like we tested the prices. We got great value for our customers with this contract. And after we've proven out that the discounts on the tax credits are as good or better than any market we've seen. So I think you could expect us to continue doing this. And just to be clear, this is a forward contract. So we're going to earn the tax credits and sell them in those given years, but we predetermined the set value for our customers, which is a great, great opportunity. Carly Davenport: Great. Super helpful. And then maybe just on nuclear. I guess across the industry, there's been some discussion on perhaps a consortium of utilities, hyperscalers, government entities kind of coming together to try to address some of the cost overrun issues and move forward on new build AP1000s in particular. I guess, is that sort of a structure something that you might consider participating in? And maybe just refresh us on kind of what specifically you're looking for to feel confident to move forward on new nuclear development. Harry Sideris: Yes, Carly, obviously, nuclear is very important to us. We have 11 reactors that provide safe, reliable, dispatchable clean energy to our customers. And like Brian just mentioned, also helps us with customer value by providing almost $600 million of tax credits a year to our customers. So obviously, nuclear is important to Duke Energy. I think nuclear is important for the future of the country and the utility industry in general. We're going to need nuclear in the future to be able to deliver reliable power and clean power to handle the growth that our country is experiencing. But like we've said before, our main focus right now is to make sure that we get the most out of our current reactors. So we have about 300 megawatts of upgrades that we're executing and also getting the life extended. So we just announced Robinson's life extension, we'll be extending the lives of our other reactors as well. And we're working with the government, with hyperscalers and others to make sure that the things that we need to solve to be able to go forward with the new nuclear build are being managed. So those risks like we've talked about before, first-of-a-kind risks on the technology, what are we going to do with supply chain and workforce and making sure that that's available out there. And last but definitely not least is how we manage the financial risks that protects our customers from overruns as well as protects our investors from that. So we continue to have those discussions. We continue to maintain optionality in our IRPs and our planning to be able to do that if those answers come. But we will not make any moves till we get those 3 questions answered. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan. Jeremy Tonet: Just wanted to maybe go into the backlog a little bit more for the ESAs. Just wondering if you could, I guess, share a bit more of the view of the larger pipeline, as you said, the 15 and change, and how you think the cadence of this could come together in the future as far as the potential to expand the plan and what that could mean over time? Harry Sideris: Yes, Jeremy, like we talked before, we're taking a very disciplined approach to this, really focused on those counterparties that are -- that can deliver those projects, and we're very conservative in what we're putting into that. So our pipeline is much bigger than that. But what we focus on is that late-developed stage, and we feel confident that the discussions that we're having are going to land a lot of these that are in our late development pipeline in the next 12 months. So we'll continue to update you on that. But we continue to have prospects further deeper in the pipeline that we're moving up into this more advanced stage as well. Brian Savoy: Jeremy, if I could just add, I can't help myself. I'm so proud of our focus on speed to power. We've really retooled how we approach these large load customers, pulling together our transmission and grid teams as well as our economic development teams, ensuring that we're looking at every solution to get these customers signed. And I think it's evident. We signed 2.7 gigawatts this quarter, which was more than half we signed last year is really a testament to that speed to power focus, and you should expect more of that in the future. Jeremy Tonet: Got it. That's helpful there. And just wanted to turn towards the current rate case. Are there any direct offsets here from the savings that you announced with the merger of the Carolinas and as well as the tax credits? Just wondering if you think about the potential to -- levers, I guess, to reframe the ask as a result of what was accomplished here just looking at forward prospects. Harry Sideris: Yes, Jeremy, we have a lot of levers, tax credits being one of them. The one utility, that's going to go into effect at the beginning of next year. So that will be more over time, but it does definitely provide a lot of value to the customers over that time, $2.3 billion. So our focus with the levers that we have now is how we can offer some of those up to mitigate some of the increase. So think about tax credits, then we have some other options as well. Again, we'll be talking to our stakeholders and our regulators after the intervenor testimony is filed at the end of this month. Jeremy Tonet: Got it. One quick one, if I could, just as it relates to the legislative session, if there's anything that you're watching there? I think there might be some bills talking on tax incentive for data centers, fuel cost sharing mechanisms. And just wondering if -- any thoughts on the legislative session you could share? Harry Sideris: Yes. We share the goals that our legislators and our regulators and our stakeholders have in the states. They want to make sure that customers are protected from the large load that's coming to our territory to make sure they pay their fair share. They want to make sure that the reliability is maintained. And they also want to make sure that we continue to have economic development in the states grow. Those are all things that we're in tune with, and we're working with them. I think a lot of the things that are being discussed are already in our contracts. It's just codifying some of that. So we'll continue to work with them, but we all have the same goal in mind to make sure that our customers are protected and our states can continue to grow and we can continue to have reliability. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. David Arcaro: I was just wondering -- just one question from me. Have you seen any -- just in terms of the data center activity in the broader pipeline, have you seen any acceleration in that activity in terms of top of the funnel interest in your service territory? Wondering if there are any areas, any regions that are showing indications that they could be bigger hubs and develop that way over time? Harry Sideris: Yes, Dave, we're seeing an acceleration in interest in our territories. Being a vertically integrated utility has a lot of advantages to these hyperscalers. We plan our transmission, our generation. It's a one-stop shop. We also have a very vast experience and skill around community engagement that can help these folks as they navigate zoning and other issues that crop up. So we're getting a lot more interest in our service territories. We're seeing in North Carolina around the Charlotte area kind of becoming another hub. We have a lot of interest in Florida as well as the southern part of Indiana. I know a lot of activity has happened in Northern Indiana originally, but we're getting a lot of incomings for the Southern Indiana region now as well. So we'll continue to work on those. Like Brian mentioned, we have a team in place that their goal 7 days a week, 24 hours a day is how do we get these things signed quicker, how do we service them quicker, maintaining the reliability and the value for all our customers. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Richard Sunderland with Truist Securities. Richard Sunderland: Circling back to the customer savings outlined on Slide 5. The tax credit agreement, can you speak a little bit to the timing of flowback to rate payers there? I think you've discussed this a little bit in the past. Just trying to get a sense of if the latest monetization agreement is consistent with that or any changes in thinking there? Brian Savoy: Thanks, Richard, and congrats on the new role. I know you started covering Truist recently. So it's good to hear your voice. The tax credit agreement, I would think about it as we're locking in the value per customer. So we're not going to be negotiating discounts year in and year out. The flowback is different for North Carolina versus South Carolina for DEP and DEC currently. But you think of -- we've been signaling to a 4-year amortization generally, and that's what is in North Carolina. And as Harry said, as we work through the rate cases, this might be a tool to accelerate to keep the rates even lower during this time. But it's not additional tax credits, it's ones we expected to earn through our nuclear, solar and battery investments. It's monetizing them at these predetermined discounts and locking in that value for customers. Richard Sunderland: No, I appreciate that commentary as well. I guess on the ESA update too, just if I caught that in the script, I think it was 2/3 are under construction. Curious what you see as the timing for those remaining projects to begin construction. And I guess anything you're focused on locally around moratoriums, what have you in terms of the confidence of those projects advancing until they start turning dirt? Harry Sideris: Yes. So we're very confident in all our projects that are in the ESA bucket. Our ESAs require having zoning nailed down, having permits in place. So we feel confident, and that's why a lot of them have been able to start construction as soon after we sign those ESAs. We anticipate the same thing with all the new ones that are coming into us. They'll start construction very rapidly. And in fact, we're looking at ways of how we can accelerate some of the bridge power to them -- to get them online and have them start taking their service a little bit earlier as well. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Steve D'Ambrisi from RBC Capital Markets. Stephen D’Ambrisi: I just had a quick one to follow up on kind of the load commentary in the 2.7 gigawatts. I was just looking at the North Carolina IRP that you guys had filed in October. And I think in that IRP, you had included the moderate development forecast, which included something like 6 gigawatts of advanced stage, but it was risked at like a 25% or 30% rate. And so I mean, it seems like signing this 2.7 gigawatts, even if it's in the tail end, looks like it would be upside to what was kind of laid out in the moderate development plan. So can you just talk about what that means and like what the avenue is to update load forecasts in North Carolina or elsewhere just as you continue to sign these large loads? Harry Sideris: Yes. It's a very dynamic environment that we're dealing with. That's why we put a high case in that IRP. So this 2.7 gigawatts that we just recently signed, that moves that load up to that level. So it's been contemplated in our plans there. It will be discussed in our rebuttal as well. So that just solidifies that other line in there. This is very dynamic. We're also talking to our stakeholders on how we can update that a little bit more frequently than what we have in the past because it's such a dynamic environment. But we're doing everything that we can to make sure that we're planning the generation, staying ahead of it so that we can sign these ESAs as fast as possible and not have any delays. Operator: We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Harry Sideris for closing remarks. Harry Sideris: Thank you again, everybody, for joining us. And before I close, I just wanted to reemphasize how proud I am of the results that this team has delivered in the first quarter, and we're going to continue to build on that momentum as we move through the rest of the year. But I want you to know that we're executing our strategy effectively. We're reaching our new milestones in our generation build, and we're converting those economic development opportunities into real projects, and we're going to continue doing that in the future. So I'm very confident in our ability to earn in the top half of the range -- EPS growth range in 2028 as these loads materialize. And our plan is very durable well into the future. So again, thank you for joining us today, and thank you again for your investment in Duke Energy. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Investor Relations. Roy Nir: Joining me today to discuss our results are Michael Christenson, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mark A. Boelke, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin, I would like to inform you that this call will contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Please refer to Entravision Communications Corporation’s SEC filings for a list of risks and uncertainties that could impact actual results. The press release is available on the company’s Investor Relations page and was filed with the SEC on Form 8-K. Additional information may also be found in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which was also filed today. If you would like to ask a question, please use the Q&A function on your screen, indicate your name and company, and submit your question. We will try to answer any questions that relate to the topics contained in today’s call during the Q&A session. I will now turn the call over to Michael Christenson. Michael Christenson: Thanks, Roy. And thank you to those of you joining this call today. We appreciate your interest in Entravision Communications Corporation and your support. As you saw in our press release, on a consolidated basis, Entravision Communications Corporation revenue increased 114% to $197 million in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. We had operating income of $21 million in Q1 2026 compared to an operating loss in Q1 2025. We report our results for two segments, Media and Advertising Technology and Services, which we call ATS. This is the first quarter of our third year with this segment reporting. As you may know, we started in 2024. For our Media segment, revenue increased 4% in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. This increase was primarily due to higher digital advertising revenue and retransmission fees. This was partially offset by lower broadcast advertising revenue and lower revenue from spectrum usage rights. Our Q1 2026 results included a 6% increase in local advertising revenue and an 18% decrease in national advertising revenue. These numbers exclude political revenue. Local advertising revenue is from our sellers working with local advertisers. They sell broadcast and digital marketing solutions. National advertising revenue is from our partners, primarily TelevisaUnivision, selling our broadcast to national advertisers and agencies. Our local advertising operations had 4% higher monthly active advertisers in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, and a 2% increase in revenue per monthly active advertiser. Our operational priorities are to grow monthly active advertisers and revenue per monthly active advertiser. In terms of operating expenses and profitability, as we have discussed in the past, we made a number of important investments in our Media business in 2025 that we continued into Q1 2026. We added capacity to our local sales teams—more sellers—and we added digital sales specialists and digital sales operations capabilities. More digital. When we analyzed our local markets and our local advertiser base, we saw an opportunity to increase revenue by adding sales capacity. All of our local advertising customers are advertising in digital channels—search, social, streaming video, and streaming audio—and we believe we can serve their needs in those digital channels as well as our traditional broadcast video and audio channels. As we discussed in our fourth quarter report, we have two other important initiatives underway to generate incremental revenue. We are broadcasting a new network on our multicast capacity called Altavision across all of our markets. We produce the local news for Altavision, and we provide the sales and the broadcasting infrastructure. The balance of the programming is currently provided by Grupo Multimedios from Monterrey, Mexico, and we share the revenue. It is still early in the development of Altavision, so we have operating expenses but no significant incremental revenue. In addition, at the beginning of this year, we launched new programming on our full-power Orlando television station WOTF-TV, in partnership with Hemisphere Media. Hemisphere owns WAPA-TV, the number one television station in Puerto Rico. We launched WAPA Orlando channel 26 to serve the large and growing Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Central, and South American Spanish-speaking communities in Central Florida. More than 500 thousand Puerto Ricans live in the Orlando market, and we are very excited about this new revenue opportunity. Again, since it is early in the development of WAPA Orlando, we have operating expenses but no significant incremental revenue. Pulling this all together, in our Media segment, operating expenses increased $2 million in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, so we had an operating loss of $5 million in Q1 2026 compared to an operating loss of $3 million in Q1 2025. As we discussed on prior calls, we are committed to growing our business and earning a profit. So we acknowledge that we have more work to do to improve our operating performance and profitability in our Media business. The new leadership team that we announced in March is evidence of this commitment: Maria Martinez Guzman, President of Entravision Media; Eduardo Meitorrena, President of Entravision Audio; and Winter Horton, our new Chief Revenue Officer. These new leaders are aligned on our core objectives: serve our audience as a trusted source of news, information, and entertainment, and serve our advertisers by connecting them with our audience. This team is committed to growing revenue and earning a profit. Now for our Advertising Technology and Services segment. ATS revenue was $155 million in Q1 2026 compared to $51 million in Q1 2025. We had more monthly active customers and more revenue per monthly active customer. We continued to invest in our ATS segment in Q1 2026 to grow revenue and operating profits. We invested in our engineering team to continue to improve our technology and build more powerful AI capabilities into our platform. And we invested to increase the capacity of our sales and customer service organizations. In addition, our infrastructure costs continue to grow as our revenue grows, but we are beginning to see operating leverage with infrastructure costs growing at a slower pace than revenue. The combination of these investments in ATS increased operating expenses by $10 million in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, or $40 million on an annualized basis. Operating profit for ATS was $34 million in Q1 2026 compared to $7 million in Q1 2025. So to summarize, in Media, we are investing to increase our local sales capacity and to expand our digital sales and digital sales operations capabilities—more sellers and more digital. In ATS, we are investing to add more engineers to advance our technology and to increase our sales and customer service capacity—more technology, better technology, more selling. We believe these investments will help us build a stronger company. I will now turn the call over to Mark A. Boelke to share more details of our financial results for Q1 2026. Mark? Mark A. Boelke: Thank you, Mike. I will start by reviewing the performance of each of our two reporting segments—again, Media and Advertising Technology and Services. In our Media segment, first quarter revenue was $42.4 million, which was up 4% compared to first quarter 2025. This increase was primarily due to increases in digital advertising revenue and retransmission consent revenue, partially offset by decreases in broadcast advertising revenue and spectrum usage rights revenue. We have undertaken initiatives focused on increasing our Media advertising revenue, and we are seeing momentum and progress in the execution of these initiatives, particularly in local ad sales and digital ad sales. Let us look at total operating expense for the Media business—that is the sum of direct operating expenses plus selling, general, and administrative expenses as those two line items are reported in our segment results. Media segment total operating expense in the first quarter increased $2.1 million compared to first quarter 2025, an increase of 6%. One of our goals in the Media segment is to optimize organizational structure and expenses to be aligned with revenue and to generate profit, as Mike noted. We continue to work on achieving this goal, and we have taken steps under an ongoing organizational design plan begun in Q3 2025 intended to support revenue growth and reduce expenses in our Media segment. Key components of this plan have included a reduction in our Media business workforce, reduction in professional expenses, and the abandonment of several leased facilities. We recorded a charge during the first quarter totaling $1 million for the expenses associated with moves under this plan, and these charges were reported as restructuring costs on our income statement. The Media segment had an operating loss of $5.2 million in Q1 2026 compared to an operating loss of $2.6 million in Q1 2025. The decrease was mainly due to higher cost of revenue associated with the increase in digital advertising revenue in our Media segment. We remain focused on providing compelling content, growing revenue, streamlining our organization, and reducing operating expenses during 2026 and beyond. At this time, I will turn to our Ad Tech and Services segment, or ATS. First quarter revenue for the ATS business was $154.6 million, an increase of 204% compared to first quarter 2025, and a sequential increase of 74% from fourth quarter 2025. We had a higher number of monthly active accounts and higher revenue per monthly active account. As discussed on previous calls and as Mike noted earlier, we have had success executing our strategies in the ATS business, including strengthening the AI capabilities that are part of our technology platform and expanding the ATS sales team and geographic sales coverage. ATS total operating expenses increased 72% in the first quarter 2026 compared to first quarter 2025, an increase of $9.8 million. The ATS expense increase was primarily related to the increase in revenue. For example, the expense of cloud computing services has increased as a result of processing more transactions and using stronger AI capabilities in the ad tech platform. There was an increase in sales commissions and performance compensation as a result of the revenue increase and achievement of other performance metrics. And the ATS business has also hired additional sales, engineering, and ad operations staff in recent quarters in order to drive ATS growth and expand into new geographic territories. One of our goals for the ATS business is to continue to grow revenue and generate positive operating leverage, and the ATS revenue increase exceeded the expense increase in terms of percentage and absolute dollars. Operating profit for the ATS segment was $34.3 million in Q1 2026. This was an increase of 427% versus Q1 2025, and a sequential increase of 178% from the prior quarter, Q4 2025. Combining our two operating segments, on a consolidated basis, revenue for first quarter 2026 was $197 million, up 114% compared to first quarter 2025. The two segments together generated a consolidated segment operating profit of $29.1 million in Q1 2026 compared to $3.9 million in Q1 2025. The increase was a result of operating profit in the ATS segment partially offset by a decreased operating profit in the Media segment. We had consolidated operating income of $20.7 million in Q1 2026 compared to an operating loss of $52.8 million in Q1 2025. Corporate expenses in first quarter 2026 were $7.2 million, an 8% decrease compared to first quarter 2025, or about $600 thousand. The decrease was primarily due to expense reductions in professional services and rent. We have taken significant steps to reduce corporate expenses over the past few years, and for additional context, looking back one additional year to 2024, corporate expense in 2026 was 41% lower than corporate expense in 2024. Entravision Communications Corporation’s balance sheet remains strong, with over $71 million in cash and marketable securities at the end of first quarter 2026. We are proud of our strong balance sheet, which we believe sets us apart from others in the industry. Our strategy regarding allocation of cash is, first, reduce debt and maintain low leverage, and second, return capital to our shareholders, primarily through dividends. In first quarter 2026, we made a debt payment of $5 million, reducing our credit facility indebtedness to about $163 million at the end of first quarter 2026. We remain committed to reducing our debt and maintaining a strong balance sheet. In addition, we paid $4.6 million in dividends to stockholders in the first quarter, or $0.05 per share. For 2026, our Board of Directors has approved a $0.05 dividend per share, payable on June 30, 2026, to stockholders of record as of June 16, 2026, for a total payment of approximately $4.6 million. I would like to thank you all for joining our call today. At this time, Mike and I would like to open the call for questions from the investment community. Roy, I will turn it back over to you. Roy Nir: Thank you, Mark. We will now open the call for questions. As a reminder, if you have a question, please use the Q&A function and submit your question. Please hold as we review questions. Mike, the first question is regarding the outlook for political revenue in 2026. Any updates since the last call that you can provide? Michael Christenson: Yes. Thanks, Roy. I guess next quarter, we will put political comments in the prepared remarks. We are 182 days away from Election Day 2026. As everyone knows, primaries are underway across the country, and we are positioning ourselves for a strong political spending environment in 2026. For Entravision Communications Corporation, we have big races in our markets—governor races in Nevada and Texas. Those are the three biggest governor races for us, but we have some others. Then we have the Texas U.S. Senate race, and we have at least seven critical contested House races. So we will be busy this year focusing on political revenue. As everyone knows, this will be one of the most consequential congressional elections in our lifetime. We believe that the Latino vote will be critical to the outcome of all these elections. Studies we have shared with our clients and that studies have shown that Latinos are the most persuadable segment of the electorate, and we have a powerful channel for reaching that audience. So political will be an increasing focus for us as we go through the rest of this year. Roy Nir: Thank you, Mike. The next question we received was related to the status of the negotiations with TU and the affiliation agreement. Can you provide any update on that? Michael Christenson: No new news on the affiliation agreement for this call. This affiliation agreement runs through December 31, 2026, so we have time. We have been partners for three decades, and our plan is to renew this agreement, but there is no news on that at this time. Roy Nir: Thank you, Mike. Again, please hold as we review any potential questions. At this time, we do not have any additional questions. We would like to thank you all for joining our call today. We welcome our investors to connect with us through the Investor Relations page on our corporate website, entravision.com, where you will have access to a transcript of this call, the press release containing our first quarter financial results, and a copy of our Quarterly Report filed with the SEC on Form 10-Q. We look forward to speaking with you again when we report our second quarter results. Thank you very much. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Shoals Technologies Group's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Matt Tractenberg, VP of Finance and Investor Relations. Matt, please go ahead. Matthew Tractenberg: Thank you, Christine, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Hosting the call with me is our CEO, Brandon Moss; and our CFO, Dominic Bardos. On this call, management will be making projections or other forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and should not be considered guarantees of performance. Actual results could differ materially. Those risks and uncertainties are listed for investors in our most recent SEC filings. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the information contained in the company's first quarter press release for definitional information and reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to the nearest comparable GAAP financial measures. Please note that the slides you see here are available for download from the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.shoals.com. With that, let me turn the call over to Brandon. Brandon Moss: Thank you, Matt, and thanks to everyone joining us on the call. First quarter revenue was above our guidance at $141 million, up 75% over the prior year period. Our commercial team continued their strong performance by adding approximately $151 million of new orders in the period. This resulted in another company record backlog and awarded orders, or BLAO, of $758 million, an increase of almost 18% year-over-year. As of quarter end, approximately $628 million of our BLAO has shipment dates in the upcoming 4 quarters for Q1 of 2027. For adjusted gross profit percentage came in slightly below our expected range at 29.6%. This was driven by product mix, tariffs, increased freight costs and some temporary labor inefficiencies as we train additional employees to meet the strong demand on new business lines in our factory. We believe that this is the low point of gross margin and that it will improve as we make our way through the year. SG&A, including all legal expense, was $31 million, representing 22% of revenue, a 500 basis point decline as compared to 27% last year and highlighting the operating leverage inherent in our business model. First quarter adjusted EBITDA of approximately $21 million came in at the high end of our guided range and grew 56% year-over-year. We've also seen some positive movement on our IP infringement case against Voltage. Last week, the International Trade Commission declined to review any contested issues in the ALJ's initial ruling. The commission is still expected to issue its final determination in early June, but it's encouraging news for our shareholders and U.S. manufacturers in general. We are pleased with how the market is evolving and our competitive position of strength and as a result, are increasing both our revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for the year. Dominic will step through the updated guidance later in the call. Briefly turning to our various business lines. The first quarter was another strong period of growth within our core utility-scale solar market. Our quote volume in the quarter exceeded $1 billion of unique projects, adding to our strong pipeline. I'm also encouraged by the progress we are making in key international markets like Australia, as evidenced by our increased quote activity and customer engagement. International BLAO now totals almost $100 million, driving continued growth and diversification in 2027 and beyond. Our community, commercial and industrial, or CC&I, business, which remains a small piece of our overall mix, continues to perform well. Our OEM business continues to provide a stable and visible revenue stream, growing at 33% on a year-over-year basis. And finally, we added approximately $9 million to BESS BLAO in the quarter, which ended the period at $75 million. You may recall that we announced a recent partnership with ON.energy in the last quarter. ON.energy is rapidly assuming market leadership in AI data center power infrastructure with its first-of-a-kind medium-voltage AI UPS. That architecture is being deployed in what will be the largest battery project of an AI data center in the U.S. Shoals is very proud to be a partner in this project. In Q1, we celebrated the first of these units produced in our new facility, recognizing more than $1 million in revenue and paving the way for a healthy ramp through Q2. We're excited about increasing production and gaining visibility as we continue to build this business. Overall, the quarter played out as expected, but the year appears to be stronger than we anticipated on our February call. New orders in Q1 for 2026 delivery were very strong, and we have not seen significant project delays thus far. We are executing well, finishing the move into our new facility and expanding capacity and capabilities. The underlying demand drivers remain intact, and our competitive position has strengthened. Our business is in a great place today. Dom, I'll hand it to you for a deeper dive into our financial performance and guidance. Dominic Bardos: Thanks, Brandon, and greetings to everyone on the call. Revenue increased by approximately 75% year-over-year to $140.6 million. The increase was largely driven by strong demand from both new and existing customers within our core U.S. utility-scale solar market. Gross profit was $41.0 million compared to $28.1 million in the prior year period, an increase of 46%. Our GAAP gross profit percentage was 29.2% and adjusted gross profit percentage was 29.6%, slightly below our expectations and impacted by product mix, higher freight costs, tariffs and temporary labor inefficiencies as we start new lines and train new employees to meet the very strong demand we see ahead. Product mix, freight and tariffs accounted for approximately 200 basis points of margin compression versus our anticipated outcome. As Brandon stated, we believe this quarter is the low point for gross profit percentage and that it will improve as we make our way through the year. As a reminder, our product mix plays an integral role in the gross profit percentage, and that may vary from quarter-to-quarter. The same mix that is driving higher revenue growth and contribution dollars negatively impacts the margin percentage but delivers higher profit dollars. Ultimately, we are focused on driving incremental profit dollars through the P&L as that strategy will create shareholder value. Selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, was $31.0 million or $9.3 million higher than the prior year period, driven by an additional $6.2 million of ongoing legal expenses. This breaks down to $4.1 million related to our ITC litigation, $1.2 million related to our case against Prysmian and a little under $1 million related to the shareholder class action suit. As you may have seen last week, we have announced a proposed settlement to the shareholder class action suit. The vast majority of the settlement is covered by insurance. Income from operations or operating profit was $7.7 million or 5.5% of revenue, growing at 79% year-over-year. This compared to $4.3 million during the prior year period. Net loss was $297,000 compared to a net loss of $282,000 during the prior year period. The net loss was driven by the class action settlement net impact of approximately $5 million. Adjusted net income was $12.1 million, an increase of 112% as compared to $5.7 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $21.1 million compared to $13.5 million in the prior year period, representing 56% growth year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 15% compared to 16.8% a year ago, driven primarily by the impact of product mix. Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.07 was $0.04 higher than the prior year period. Operationally, we consumed $41.4 million of cash in the first quarter, driven by the higher inventory balances needed to satisfy the strong demand signals we are seeing in our markets. We have taken inventory positions to protect our customer delivery time lines for the next 2 quarters, and we intend to reduce inventory levels throughout the back half of the year. As such, we do not currently anticipate interruptions to project delivery schedules due to the conflict in the Middle East or projected trade policies. We ended the quarter with cash and equivalents of $1.9 million and net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 1.6x. Our net debt was $179.9 million, an increase over the prior quarter, driven by an increase in inventory in both our new BESS business and our core utility scale solar market. As we enter this period of exceptional demand, our intention is to moderately expand the capacity on our revolving credit facility. Over time, as collections normalize with production, we will resume deployment of excess cash towards reducing the outstanding balance and maintain leverage below 2x adjusted EBITDA. Backlog and awarded orders ended the first quarter at a record $758.0 million, a sequential increase of $10.4 million. Backlog constitutes $390.3 million of the total BLAO, providing us with confidence that the growth projections we have for the upcoming periods can be achieved. The strength of our book of business supports our decision to increase both our full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA expectations. As of March 31, $627.6 million of our backlog and awarded orders have planned delivery dates in the coming 4 quarters through Q1 of 2027, with the remaining $130.4 million beyond that. Turning to guidance. For the quarter ending June 30, 2026, the company expects revenue to be in the range of $150 million to $170 million, representing 44% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. And adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $28 million to $33 million, representing 25% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. For the full year 2026, we now expect revenue to be between $600 million and $640 million, representing year-over-year growth of 30% at the midpoint. And adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $118 million to $132 million, representing year-over-year growth of 26% at the midpoint. In addition, for the full year, we still expect cash flow from operations in the range of $65 million to $85 million, capital expenditures in the range of $20 million to $30 million and interest expense in the range of $8 million to $12 million. With that, I'll turn it back over to Brandon for closing remarks. Brandon Moss: Thank you, Dominic. The U.S. market appears to be extremely resilient, and our capacity expansion could not have come at a better time in our history. We are preparing Shoals to be ready and agile in our production capabilities in a growing demand environment. We are in an exceptional position today from both a commercial and operational perspective. The strategic plan that we constructed and the process improvements we've implemented have begun to yield tangible results. We want to thank our shareholders and our customers for their continued trust in our employees for their hard work and dedication. Operator, we are now ready to take questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Philip Shen with ROTH Capital Partners. Philip Shen: Congrats on the strong result. I wanted to talk through the tax equity pause that we've read a fair amount about. I was wondering if you guys are seeing that flow through any of your business or any of your conversations and then maybe talk through with the healthy bookings from this quarter, do you expect that booking strength and greater than 1 book-to-bill to sustain in the quarters ahead? Brandon Moss: Phil, thanks for the question. Related to the tax equity piece, well aware of what's going on in the market with some of the larger banks financing projects. I would say that we have not seen that trickle down into our order book. I think there is available financing for projects that still exist in the marketplace, and we are not seeing an impact to that as evidenced by a really strong quote log again in Q1 of over $1 billion, and that's been really consistent with the quoting strength we've seen for the last few quarters, honestly. As it relates to future book-to-bill and booking strength, it is always our goal to have a positive book-to-bill. We see a lot of strength in the marketplace. The market is accelerating and not slowing. We have fortunately strung together a number of quarters now with positive book-to-bill, and that's always our intention to do so. Philip Shen: Great. And coming back to margins for a bit here. Q1 was a little bit lower. I know you guys talked about that being the low point in the year. I was wondering if you could share what like Q2 and Q3 might be heading towards with your guidance raise, the EBITDA margin for Q1 was 15%, but full year is 20%, suggesting you really have to drive that much higher later in the quarters or later this year. And while maintaining the EBITDA guide, you also kept cash flow from operations unchanged. So I was wondering if you might be able to address kind of some of the situation there. Brandon Moss: Yes. Thanks. So multipart question there. I'll tackle the front end and maybe turn it to Dominic. As it relates to gross margin, again, we commented we had about a 200 basis point impact in the quarter versus our expectations. The biggest driver of that for us is always product mix. And then obviously, we had -- as we're moving our facility from our former 3 sites into our new factory, we've got some disruption related to that move, a little bit more so that is anticipated. We moved about 250 pieces of equipment or slightly more over a 60-day period in the quarter. And obviously, that led to some level of disruption. Dom, maybe pass it to you to expand upon that. Dominic Bardos: Yes. So I think, Phil, one of the things you asked was also a little bit of the pacing of what we might see from margins. And we do expect that the first half as we're still moving into the facility. So Q2 will still have lower margins. We just don't believe it's the low point that we saw in Q1 as we've been communicating. And then there will be a ramp in the back half as we move into the -- we're going to be completely move into the facility, and we will also have the ability to start realizing some of the efficiencies of being in one vehicle new facility. So the pacing will still be a little bit lower on the margins in Q2 and then improving, but everything should be sequential improvement quarter-over-quarter. And with regards to the cash flows from operations, our working capital, we took very specific inventory positions to make sure that we can meet the demand that we see in the coming quarters. But we will have the ability to reduce that. So I would characterize that as a timing issue. We do see very strong business. We see very positive cash flows this year and our ability to drive that cash is heightened this year because we're not doing some of those large things like the warranty remediation, which is largely in our rearview mirror at this point. So I would characterize that as a timing issue. We're very confident in the year and very excited at the book of business that we have in front of us. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Julien Dumoulin-Smith with Jefferies. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Look, maybe just to kick things off, I would love to hear a little bit more about the battery BESS adoption trends as well as any other end market adoption here. Again, I know the Street is very fixated to hear on your quarterly BESS trend. Obviously, stronger start to the year here overall. But I'm curious on how you would suggest cadence and adoption is going given what we're seeing in that end market. Brandon Moss: Julien, I appreciate the question. We are very excited about our BESS business. As we indicated in the prepared remarks, we started our BESS line in Q1 and recognized about $1 million of revenue. Those specific units, again, are going to the data center market, which we're very bullish about, and we will be on the largest battery paired AI data center site in the country, which is very exciting for us here at Shoals. What is also exciting for us in the first quarter is we added $9 million to our book of business related to BESS. Maybe to peel that back a little bit, as you may recall, we've got 3 specific end market use cases for our recombiner products, one being data centers, 2 being grid firming and 3 being your common solar and storage paired applications on our traditional solar sites. About 2/3 or more of our bookings in the quarter came from grid firming and solar plus storage applications, which is exciting for us as we are seeing penetration across all 3 markets. As we've talked about in the past, we see the data center AI space as being probably the strongest and largest driver of the product line, but it's also great for us to show strength in the other markets as well. Julien Dumoulin-Smith: Got it. And then not to needle too much on this margin backdrop, but you lowered the margin guide here slightly here. What's driving that here? Can you comment on the logistics side of things, the tariff angle? I know you commented a little bit here, but I just want to make sure I'm hearing that right, especially given the ramp that my peer who was talking about a second ago. Can you just comment about what you're seeing on that margin guide? I think people are very fixated here on the cadence of the year and ensuring that you see that overall recovery materialize. Dominic Bardos: Yes. There's a few things that I want to point out, Julien. And first is that we're still moving into the facility, and we did have some disruptions and inefficiencies in Q1. They were a little bit worse than we anticipated with the disruption of all the movement. But we're completing that move in Q2. And also with the unrest in the Middle East or the conflict, we are seeing pressure on oil prices and the derivative products from oil. Freight charges are certainly higher, and some of our cost of goods are certainly going to have the potential to be impacted. And some of the pricing has already been set. Some of those things -- it's kind of like when things change in a rapid fashion, once we've already agreed to a price, we might have some times when we can't quite recover the full cost of goods increases. So we want to just be cautious and give a prudent guide with margins. We do see improvement every quarter, as we mentioned, sequentially, and we're very optimistic that the product mix will be favorable for us for the balance of the year. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Praneeth Satish with Wells Fargo. Praneeth Satish: Maybe not to belabor the margin question too much, but I guess, so you mentioned 200 basis points in Q1 from product mix, tariff and freight. And then you also had this impact from moving equipment to the new facility. Maybe if you could just kind of isolate how much of the margin was weighed down because of that transition to the new facility? And then also on product mix, is that -- of the 200 basis points, how much is product mix? And kind of what's the outlook there? Because I assume the tariff and freight, those will kind of persist potentially for a few more quarters, but just kind of trying to isolate the variable pieces. Dominic Bardos: Yes. So Praneeth, that's a pretty packed question there. So let me break it down a little bit. So of the 200 basis points that we saw, we kind of bucketed into about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 of some of the major drivers. We definitely had some tariff impact that was still a carryover, but the IEEPA reduction is certainly going to help us. The 232 tariff environment, we've now actually encompassed that into our pricing. So that shouldn't be as big of a drag going forward. We do still have some inventory that has capitalized tariffs in it. We do still have to burn through that in the second quarter. Once again, that informed our second quarter margin guide. With regards to the freight, we did have some air freight and the cost of fuel for freight has gone up. So we had some surcharges there. But fundamentally, these things are largely transitory or at the point where we can now factor all that into the pricing. As I mentioned with Julien's question, sometimes when things change rapidly, we may already have guaranteed pricing or contract pricing, and we can't quite go back and recover all of that. So the margin issue aside, we're very pleased to be raising our EBITDA guide for the year. We're going to continue to get the leverage on our OpEx, and we're very excited about our book of business. Praneeth Satish: Got you. That's very helpful. And then maybe just switching gears, your other kind of product in development here, the data center BLA product. Has anything changed there in terms of timing for UL certification? And I know we're not going to see sales this year, probably next year. But I guess, when should we anticipate potentially seeing some bookings? Do you think it's possible we could see something towards the end of this year? Just trying to get an update on that. Brandon Moss: Yes, Praneeth, great question. We did a market launch of that product at Data Center World a few weeks ago, which we are very excited about. We have filed our patent portfolio for that particular product, which is also very exciting for us. There's a lot of interest in the product right now. As you mentioned, we do not expect to recognize revenue in calendar year '26. Our goal this year is to have proof of concept operating live in a facility, and we are working towards that. So bookings in '26, potentially, we're talking to a variety of developers about including that product in their portfolio of projects, but nothing on the books as of yet. I would probably say in '26, bookings would be minimal for that product line as we begin to ramp it in 2027. But exciting product and really strong market feedback thus far. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer & Co. Colin Rusch: Could you give us an update on sales traction outside of the U.S. on both US solar and BESS? And then if there's anything in particular that you guys see you can optimize from an OpEx perspective, I'd love to get a little bit more detail on that side. Brandon Moss: Yes. Thanks, Colin. We are excited about our prospects internationally. Our backlog and awarded orders continues to rise. We reached $100 million now to date after actually deploying 3 projects last year. So we are continuing to generate bookings to offset not only shipments, but grow that order book, which is exciting for us. Our prospects in Australia seem like a fantastic opportunity for us. The pipeline is very strong, and that's where some of the additions to the order book have come from. So that has been a key priority for us to diversify end markets, not only product, and we're pleased with the progress thus far. Your other question was around operating expenses, I believe. Dom specifically, what are you looking for... Colin Rusch: Yes. So we're seeing a number of folks able to optimize using some AI for just cleaner, more efficient OpEx. And just wondering if there's some of that, that you're going to be able to start flowing to the organization over the next year or 2. Dominic Bardos: Yes. It's a great question. So we absolutely are engaged with some trials of artificial intelligence and what we're trying to do to improve some of our systems and operations. Our focus initially is actually with manufacturing and commercial as our process flow. We have some opportunities there that we're working with. We are in discussions with our Board all the time about how the next -- where we can improve our processes, which are largely manual as a small company is growing. So we are looking to that. I would suggest that our SG&A is relatively lean. We don't have a tremendous number of salaried headcount. As you see in our filings, it's less than 200 people that are salaried in this business. So I'm not looking to AI to truly rip out SG&A expense as much as I am to enable growth going forward. We see significant growth going forward for this company. We want to make sure that we're positioned to scale, and that's truly where we're going to focus our AI efforts, at least initially. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mark Strouse with JPMorgan. Mark W. Strouse: I think on the last call, you talked about there were some -- I believe they were BESS projects that you weren't sure if they were going to hit in late 4Q or maybe early 2027. Has that timing now firmed up? And is that part of the guidance raise here? Or should we think about that as a potential catalyst for further upside if that does firm up as we go along here? Brandon Moss: Mark, I appreciate the call. Yes, we do have project visibility in '26 and '27 that is incorporated in our current backlog and awarded orders. As mentioned earlier, the significant driver for our growth in that business is going to be around the data center AI landscape. And obviously, we've got visibility to a quote funnel and are confident in our ability to add to our order book in that particular use case. So we are very excited about the future of battery energy storage products here at Shoals. We have built a manufacturing line to handle and provide a significant amount of capacity for us. So more growth to come in that space for us in the future. Dominic Bardos: And Mark, I may just add that as we gave the guide last quarter, we did talk about there are some projects in Q4 that still have to be firmed up. But what I would characterize our raise on the revenue side is really due to book and turn business in the core solar markets. We've seen some incredible strength in demand, and that's truly what's driving that. And that's -- I just want to position that one because it's a fantastic market for us. We do still have some potential for projects to hit in Q4 from the BESS side, but that wasn't a preliminary driver of the raise. Mark W. Strouse: Okay. Very helpful. And then you've had several questions already about kind of the margin trajectory this year. Dom, I just want to give you the opportunity to kind of talk about beyond this year. Are you still viewing 2026 as the trough here? Dominic Bardos: Yes. Well, certainly, it is because of all the move disruptions and starting the BESS line from scratch and training all the new employees. I mean those are some transitory headwinds that will get done in this year. We think we're a very attractive business, driving gross margins in the 30s like we are. It's a fantastic business. We're going to continue to get OpEx leverage. We'll see EBITDA margin expansion and much higher cash flow contributions next year. So I'm very excited about next year. While we're not fully guiding to that, we do believe this is a trough year on the gross margin side, but really looking forward to expanding operating profit margins and EBITDA margins in 2027 and beyond. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Sean Milligan with Needham & Company. Sean Milligan: So to start off, I was curious, Brandon, if you could provide some more context around like your BESS quoting pipeline in terms of sizing of projects, specifically on the AI data center side. I guess you've been in the market now for a few quarters there. And I was curious if there's any change to what you're seeing in terms of the size of projects you're quoting. Brandon Moss: Yes. Thanks, Sean. I think we've communicated in the past that, I guess, first, bookings for this particular product line will be a bit lumpy because of the size of the projects, right? I don't think our assumptions have changed at all, where we look to use our 4000 amp recombiner product line and data center AI applications. That market is probably about $50 million to $60 million per gigawatt. We've got great visibility to pipeline and also future projects. And again, very bullish about our prospects to penetrate that market and very excited about our partnership with ON.energy, who we believe has taken market leadership in pairing battery storage with these large-scale AI centers. So couldn't be more excited about the prospects of that business. Sean Milligan: Okay. And just a follow-up on revenue contribution in the quarter. With C&I, international BESS, you kind of gave the BESS number, but I'm curious like how much revenue is now coming from kind of outside the core BLA business? Dominic Bardos: Yes. So we have -- the OEM business was second to our domestic utility-scale solar projects in the quarter. BESS, we were very pleased to have started the line early. As you recall from last year, we were guiding that we didn't expect to have revenue in Q1 at all because of our time line. So we're very pleased to have gotten that line stood up and operational as quickly as we did. But largely, the Q1 revenue stream was utility scale solar that's domestic, followed by our OEM business, which had 33% growth, I believe, year-over-year. So other than that, we did not have a lot of international revenue and the CC&I still remains a relatively small portion, but we do have CC&I sales every quarter. Brandon Moss: Dom, maybe to add to that, just the focus on our domestic solar markets. Just to reiterate, we believe we are operating in an unbelievably strong market environment. And I think our market leadership position as a preferred solution continues to be proven by our record backlog and awarded order growth. A lot of our growth, I know there's a tremendous amount of focus on battery energy storage. But as we've communicated in the past, our goal is to diversify both products and markets, and we're doing that. What is very exciting for us in 2026 is about 1/5 of our revenue will come from new products. BESS is obviously included in that number, but many of the new products are in our traditional solar space. So we've put a big focus on accelerating innovation here at Shoals. And that is playing out with increased bookings and obviously, revenue recognition for 2026. So again, a lot of focus on BESS, always a lot of questions about BESS. I want to reiterate the strength of our domestic utility scale solar business. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Vikram Bagri with Citi. Vikram Bagri: I have sort of like a 2-part question. I think last quarter, you mentioned spooling had a meaningful impact on margins. I was wondering if you can share what the run rate impact of spooling was on this quarter's margin? And what percentage of customers have requested spooling? And related to that, obviously, tariff, logistics and commodity prices have changed a lot since last quarter. Our understanding was that tariffs baked into the previous guidance were conservative. I was wondering if you can also identify where you see some puts and takes in this ever-changing environment in terms of tariff, logistics and commodity prices, if the current environment is fully baked in? Or do you see some level of sort of like downside or upside from these 3 factors? Brandon Moss: Vik, great question. We have talked about spooling in the past, probably more generally just packaging in general. There are different packaging requirements for some of our newer customers and also product mix related to those specific to our long-tail BLA product. That is adding significant revenue potential for us in the future and is being recognized still in 2026. It adds $0.005 to $0.008 a watt to our projects, which is exciting for us to be able to expand our wallet share. So we do have some packaging costs that are baked into the guidance for the year. I'll let maybe Dominic expand on that. But before I do, just I'll comment on your question about tariffs. Obviously, the tariff landscape has changed dramatically in the last, I don't know, 18 months now. And for us to try to predict what that's going to look like in the future, we would be fools to try to do so. Having said that, the change with IEEPA and Section 232, we view as a net neutral to positive change for us. And that is being baked into our thoughts about margin and guidance for the rest of the year. Dom, maybe I'll turn it to you for specifics around packaging and margin. Dominic Bardos: Yes. As Brandon mentioned, Vik, it's largely -- when I talk about product mix, that's where it's coming from. Not all of our products require spooling, but the longer-run products do. And things like the long-tail BLA is incorporated in the margin. And so when I talk about product mix and a large percentage of customers now preferring the long-tail solution to centralize their low-grad disconnects by the inverters, that is something that increases our share of wallet, but it carries a lower margin percentage. The spooling cost, the packaging, the handling of all that is incorporated into that, but that's why the product mix is so important to the margin percentage. It is driving increased flow-through dollars, which is fantastic. We're going to keep doing that business. We're responding to the changing environment of our customers, what they're looking for, and we now have a full suite of products to really meet those needs. Things like our SuperJumper, which may have been originally developed for international markets are really showing some popularity here in the United States as well. But once again, you have much longer run. So we've factored all that in. It's part of our product mix, and that's why I always caution folks when we talk about a percentage of margin, we need to kind of consider where the mix is going as well. Operator: Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs. This will be our last question. Brian Lee: Sorry, I dialed in a little bit late, so not sure if you covered some of these things. Maybe just on the guidance, kudos on the strong execution here to start the year and for the revenue and margin uplift. But adjusted EBITDA guide is up a bit less than revenue guide at the midpoint for 2026 in the new outlook. Is that conservatism? Or are you seeing more mix shift issues or incremental tariffs than originally expected? Just curious, maybe this is nitpicking, but the EBITDA uptick in the guidance is a little bit more tempered than the revenue outlook. So any color there would be appreciated. Dominic Bardos: Sure, Brian. Yes, we've covered a little bit of this. So -- but I'll repeat a few of the things that are driving that. First and foremost, product mix is certainly driving that. We are seeing popularity of some of the new products which do have a lower margin percentage and flow-through. So while revenue is going to be increased, the margin percentage is not going to be quite as high. We are seeing a little bit of disruption in our move into the new facility here. It was a little bit more than we anticipated and allowed for as folks are moving -- as we moved over -- I don't remember, Brandon, 200 machines. Brandon Moss: 250-plus machines in 60 days. Dominic Bardos: Yes. And we're still moving into the facility this quarter. So a little bit of disruption there, and we are expecting to see with our mix anticipation for the rest of the year, some uptick in gross margin as well. But there were some reasons why we did that. We also have 2 trials set for later this summer in August. With legal expenses, I've learned to be a little bit cautious on the estimations. We want to make sure we represent the shareholders properly in our cases. And if that means experts and additional legal expense, we're going to cover that. And one of those cases is not adjusted out. It's our IP case as part of our earnings. So we just want to make sure that we give a good cautious number that allows us to meet our expectations for. Brian Lee: Yes. Fair enough. Makes sense. And then I'm sure you covered a little bit in this and maybe you covered all of it. Just with respect to tariffs, can you level set us as to what tariffs you are specifically subject to starting the year off 232 copper, steel, aluminum, et cetera? And then does the April 3 ruling on kind of the changing thresholds impact you? And again, maybe level set us as to are you importing copper from foreign sources and what percent of the [ indiscernible ]? And is that impacting your margin outlook for this year? Or are you contemplating any mitigation efforts this year or into next year? Just trying to get a level set on the copper exposure here, if you could speak to that a bit. Dominic Bardos: Sure. Sure, Brian. I'll jump in on that one. There's a few questions in there, so let me unpack it. Yes, for the first couple of months of the year, we still had IEEPA. And those, of course, were stopped collected at the end of February, around the 24th or so of February. And so that right now is going to be a favorable tariff environment. With regards to 232, yes, there was a couple of things. We do have a very wide book of suppliers, approved vendors and some of which are international in nature and are subject to 232 import tariffs, both on the aluminum and copper side. We do work with customers on some things. If they have a preference, we can certainly go for certain domestic suppliers. If they have a preference for international, we can do that as well. So we are subject to 232. Now as the rules change and the tariff rate went down, it's also now on the full purchase price. But net-net, it should be slightly favorable for us in terms of how these tariffs are calculated. So it is a very dynamic situation. We certainly appreciate your question. It makes it very difficult to truly know how to operate that. And Brandon, is there anything else you want to add? Brandon Moss: Yes. Just maybe something to point out. As it relates to the tariff landscape, those tariffs impact even our domestic supply base, right? Like us, most suppliers have a very diversified and international supply base themselves. And so those tariffs may be getting -- may be impacting our raw material inputs even on domestic supply sources. So obviously, as you guys know, it's been a challenging, again, 18 months or so with the tariff landscape. I think we're navigating it quite well. And I think what is probably most important is with the repeal of the IEEPA tariffs and now the change to Section 232, we do see that as a net neutral to positive impact for Shoals in the back half of the year. Obviously, caveating that with unless something else changes. So I think we're navigating it well, Brian, and I appreciate the question. Matthew Tractenberg: Thanks, Brian. Christine, I think that that's going to be the last question that we take today. Operator: Absolutely. We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Matt for closing remarks. Matthew Tractenberg: Yes. Thank you, Christine. So I want to note to our audience that we have a very active IR calendar through June. Those events are listed on our Investors section of our website. So if you're attending conferences, you want to meet with us, please let us know. We're happy to. If we can help further, let just reach out to investors@shoals.com with any questions. Thanks for joining us today, everybody. Have a great day. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Schrödinger, Inc.'s conference call to review first quarter 2026 financial results. My name is Rob, and I will be your operator for today's call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. Please be advised that this call is being recorded at the company's request. Now I would like to introduce your host for today's conference, Ms. Jaren Madden, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Jaren Madden: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to today's call during which we will provide an update on the company and review our first quarter 2026 financial results. Earlier today, we issued a press release summarizing these results and progress across the company, which is available on our website at schrodinger.com. During today's call, management will make statements that are forward looking and may relate to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation, statements related to our outlook for the full year 2026, our plans to accelerate the growth of our software business and advance our therapeutics portfolio, the clinical potential and properties of our and our collaborators' compounds, use of our cash resources, as well as our future expenses. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of important factors, including the considerations described in the Risk Factors and elsewhere in the filings we make with the SEC, including our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 03/31/2026. These forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today. We caution you that, except as required by law, we may not update them in the future whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Also included in today's call are certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and should be considered only in addition to and not as a substitute for or superior to GAAP measures. Please refer to the tables at the end of our press release, which is available on our website, for reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. This afternoon, Ramy Farid, our CEO, will review our recent progress. Then Richie Jain, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss our financial results and 2026 guidance. Karen Akinsanya, President, Head of Therapeutics R&D and Chief Strategy Officer, Partnerships, will review our therapeutics portfolio. Pat Lorton, our Chief Technology and Chief Operating Officer, will join us for the Q&A. With that, I will turn the call over to Ramy. Ramy Farid: Thanks, Jaren, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We are off to a strong start this year, delivering $28.4 million in ACV, a 12% increase compared to Q1 last year. Our growth was broad based, reflecting usage scale-ups, new customers, and growth from new products. Drug discovery revenue of $23 million was also a significant contributor in the quarter. Lilly's announced $2.3 billion acquisition of Ajax Therapeutics, a company we co-founded and in which we have an approximately 6% equity stake, is the latest example of a multibillion-dollar deal for a Schrödinger, Inc. co-developed molecule and speaks to the power of our platform. We are pleased with our momentum transitioning customers to hosted licensing. We are seeing positive conversion dynamics upon contract renewals and with new products that are hosted. In limited cases, we are also seeing the early conversion of multiyear on-premise deals to hosted ahead of the scheduled renewal date. We are encouraged by the improving biopharmaceutical funding environment. While macroeconomic uncertainty remains, it is clear to us that there is a growing recognition of the critical importance of our computational platform as R&D organizations embrace the predict-first computational paradigm that offers a demonstrated path toward improving probability of success and reducing the time and cost of molecular discovery. We remain poised to benefit from the evolving regulatory environment, with our predictive toxicology initiatives set to address a key element of the FDA's focus on reducing animal testing and broadening the use of computational methods. Our market-leading position is built on the inherent accuracy and scalability of our physics-based approach and is further reinforced by our unmatched track record. While standard AI models are limited by the scarcity of training data, our platform generates the ground-truth simulations, accuracy, and scale required for AI to precisely navigate the vastness of chemical space. By combining the accuracy of physics with the speed and scalability of AI, we are able to evaluate key properties of billions, even approaching trillions, of molecules with a level of accuracy impossible to achieve through models trained solely on experimental data. This capability enables our customers to integrate computation more deeply into their workflows, driving the consistent demand that underpins our long-term growth trajectory. We are committed to technology leadership and evolving our platform to meet customer needs. We are very excited about the upcoming release this summer of an early access version of Bunsen, our new agentic AI co-scientist. Designed to autonomously execute complex molecular discovery workflows, Bunsen enhances productivity and accelerates the design–predict–make–test–analyze cycle that drives modern molecular discovery. Our material science and therapeutics teams have been successfully using Bunsen internally, and we are excited to offer this capability to our customers. Our throughput-based licensing model is well positioned to capture the value of this expanding utilization. The repeated success of our co-invented molecules and the continued progress of our therapeutics portfolio place us at the forefront of a digital transformation moving material science and life science industries toward a more efficient predict-first, computationally driven model of discovery. We continue to deliver the technology that transforms the way molecules are discovered, and we look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. I will now turn the call over to Richie. Richie Jain: Thank you, Ramy, and good afternoon. ACV in the first quarter was $28.4 million, which represents 12% growth compared to $25.4 million in Q1 2025. On a trailing [inaudible] basis, ACV reached [inaudible]. As a reminder, we believe ACV provides important visibility into the performance of our business during a period where we expect recognized revenue to be highly variable due to the accelerated transition to hosted. ACV growth was primarily driven by our top 20 pharma customers, as these customers broaden their platform access, onboard new products, and integrate our platform more deeply into their R&D organizations. Starting this quarter, we are breaking out contribution revenue as a separate line item to provide better visibility into our software and drug discovery performance. To facilitate year-over-year comparisons, we have reclassified our historical results to reflect this change as contribution was previously included in software and drug discovery revenue. Total revenue for the quarter was $58.6 million. Software revenue was $35.6 million, of which hosted revenue contributed $12.1 million, or 34% of the software total, compared to 24% in 2025. On a trailing four-quarter basis, hosted revenue increased to 27% of the software total. As we have discussed, the year-over-year software revenue comparison reflects our planned accelerated transition to hosted licenses, for which revenue is recognized ratably over the life of the contract rather than upfront. While this dynamic creates a near-term headwind on recognized revenue, over the long term it will better align revenue with operational growth, resulting in a more predictable financial profile. Software gross margin was 69% for the quarter, compared to 80% in Q1 2025, reflecting our planned accelerated transition to hosted software licensing. Contribution revenue was $0.1 million for the period, compared to $4.3 million in Q1 2025. The decline is driven by completion of the initial funding by the Gates Foundation in support of our predictive toxicology initiative. Drug discovery revenue was $22.9 million, compared to $10.2 million in the same period last year. The increase is due to the accelerated recognition of deferred revenue associated with the continued progress of the company's collaboration portfolio and the discontinuation of one collaboration program. Total operating expenses for Q1 were $78 million, a decrease of 4% compared to $82 million in Q1 2025. This reflects the impact of our efficiency measures and disciplined expense management across R&D and G&A; we continue to invest in sales and marketing to drive long-term growth. Total other expenses were $11 million, primarily due to changes in fair value of equity investments and interest income/expense. Net loss for the quarter and for 2025 was $60 million. We ended the quarter with a strong balance sheet of $[inaudible] in cash and marketable securities. We anticipate receiving our portion of the upfront cash payment from the Ajax–Lilly transaction when the deal closes. The fully diluted share count was 74 million. Today, we are maintaining our full-year 2026 guidance. For the full year, we continue to expect ACV to be in the range of $218 million to $228 million, representing 10% to 15% growth. We anticipate drug discovery revenue between $55 million and $65 million for the year. As a reminder, drug discovery revenue has quarterly variability due to the collaboration- and milestone-driven nature of the business. Our operating expenses are expected to be less than 2025, as we maintain overall expense discipline and make select investments in sales and marketing to support growth and the release of new products. We anticipate our clinical activities will be largely complete by 2026, and to incur approximately $10 million to $15 million of R&D for full year 2026 as we wind down these activities and seek partners for mid- and late-stage clinical programs. Our $19 million to $23 million guidance range for Q2 2026 ACV excludes contribution ACV, compared to $23.3 million from Q2 2025 that included $5 million of contribution ACV. Now I would like to hand the call over to Karen. Karen Akinsanya: Thank you, Richie. Our therapeutics business continues to create significant value, most recently highlighted by Lilly's planned acquisition of Ajax Therapeutics for $2.3 billion. By combining Ajax's deep expertise in blood cancer and JAK family structural biology with our industry-leading track record in computational drug design, we discovered AJ1-1095, a first-in-class type 2 JAK inhibitor which is the primary driver of the announced deal. Over a ten-year span, Schrödinger, Inc. has co-founded multiple companies including Ajax. There have been seven major transactions and liquidity events related to molecules we co-discovered across our biotech collaboration portfolio, including Lilly's acquisitions of Morphic, Petra, and Ajax, the sale of Nimbus' ACC and TYK2 inhibitors, and the successful IPOs of Relay and Structure. The success of these companies and multibillion-dollar exits establishes unquestionable validation of the impact of computation-based design and our biotech and pharma collaboration business model. The emerging results from our maturing therapeutic portfolio span internal discovery programs licensed to pharma through to co-invented molecules with late-stage clinical readouts like Takeda's Zasacitinib, which completed Phase III trials earlier this year. To date, our equity and business development activities have resulted in close to $700 million of cash as well as potential future preclinical, clinical, and commercial milestones of up to $5 billion and royalties on 15 programs. Our wholly owned programs also represent future value capture opportunities. As Ramy mentioned, the therapeutics team has integrated our new agentic solution Bunsen across the combined portfolio. Bunsen's ability to execute our powerful predictive models and orchestrate multi-step, multi-scale drug discovery workflows enables us to accelerate the design–predict–make–test–analyze cycle. This is an exciting development that we expect to have a major impact on the productivity of our team and teams across biopharma once they get access. Turning to our wholly owned portfolio, in April we presented initial clinical data for SGR3515, our WE1 inhibitor, at the AACR Annual Meeting. As a reminder, this is an ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation study with primary objectives of safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics. The data presented demonstrate that SGR3515 was generally well tolerated on an intermittent dosing schedule of three days on and eleven days off. Importantly, the initial clinical biomarker data validated our hypothesis that dual inhibition can overcome compensatory resistance mechanisms. We observed encouraging early anti-tumor activity with a 65% disease control rate among evaluable patients treated at doses of 100 mg or higher. We also remain encouraged by the progress of SGR1505, our MORT1 inhibitor. We continue to see a 100% response rate and durable responses in patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, where the drug has both FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug Designations. As we complete these Phase 1 studies, we are actively exploring partnership opportunities to continue the mid- and late-stage development of SGR1505 and SGR3515. Our track record of generating differentiated discovery-stage breakthroughs, clinic-ready molecules, and valuable data packages is well established. We believe our drug discovery expertise, coupled with the use of our computational platform at scale, will enable us to continue unlocking high-potential target product profiles and drive the next wave of successful collaborations and transactions. I will now turn the call back to Ramy. Ramy Farid: Thank you, Karen. As you have heard, we are off to a strong start in 2026. I want to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment to our mission. We are pleased with the momentum across the company and look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. At this time, we are happy to take your questions. Operator: We will now open the call for questions. Your first question comes from the line of Scott Schoenhaus from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is open. Analyst: Hey, guys. This is Steve on for Scott. Could you talk more about how agentic AI is driving higher utilization of high-compute calculations and how this is impacting your business? What is the upside potential as adoption increases? And then how would this show up in your customer contracts? Thanks. Ramy Farid: Absolutely. I assume you are referring to the announcement we just made about the release this summer of Bunsen, an agentic AI system for automating complex workflows. We have already been using Bunsen internally for a number of months. The impact that it has had on productivity of both our expert modelers and computational chemists, as well as non-experts, has been extraordinary. We are very excited about it. What it is doing is eliminating barriers to large-scale deployment of the technology. It is very much, as we describe it, a co-scientist, a companion that improves efficiency and productivity for both experts and non-experts. The impact of this improved efficiency and our ability to actually use the technology on a larger scale and in a more effective way is significant. As we said, we will be releasing it this summer. Feedback that we have been getting as we start to talk about the imminent release of Bunsen has been very positive. I think there is a lot of excitement about the potential. The last thing I will say is, and we mentioned this again today, that our throughput-based licensing, that is not seat-based licensing but throughput-based licensing, of course benefits from solutions like this where an agentic AI has the potential to increase the demand for the technology and the need for our customers to license that technology on a larger scale. Pat, is there anything you wanted to add? Did I cover it? Pat Lorton: I think you pretty much covered it. The one thing I would add is that we are seeing customers using more general agentic AI, and they are already having access to higher throughput of our technology using other LLM providers. That said, the reason we have built Bunsen is because our tools are such expert tools that we feel that the LLM has to be trained specifically on how to use our tools to optimize it and to run in the most efficient way. We think the solution we are putting together will be best for that. Ramy Farid: Yeah. Analyst: Great. And then just one follow-up. You mentioned you are working with them for a bit last quarter. Just any update on that partnership or collaboration, however you refer to it? Ramy Farid: Sure. Pat, do you want to give an update? Pat Lorton: Sure. Yeah. We regularly work with and talk with Anthropic as we are building out Bunsen. It is one of the top LLM providers. We are not tied to a single LLM. We are open to using whatever our customers prefer or whatever we think would work best. We are building an agentic layer on top of LLMs, but Anthropic is obviously a fantastic provider in the space, and we have learned a lot from them. We are really excited to continue to work with them. Operator: Great. Thank you. Your next question comes from the line of Mani Foroohar from Leerink Partners. Your line is open. Mani Foroohar: Hey, guys. A quick question. When you think about the percentage of customers or percentage of contract value that were previously on-prem that are renewing in 1Q, recognizing that we are off and we are recycled for many, can you give us a sense of what percentage you were able to convert over to hosted? So you can give us a little bit of real-time quantitative feedback on how that transition is going. Ramy Farid: Yeah. Richie? Richie Jain: Thanks, Mani, for the question. For the quarter, we were pleased with the progress. Hosted revenue was 34% of the software revenue in the quarter, and 27% on a trailing four-quarter basis. That compares to 23% just a quarter ago. So we are pleased with the early progress. Anecdotally, we are aiming to transition from on-prem to hosted upon the contract renewal date. That is what we achieved in the quarter, as well as all new customers were deploying hosted in the first instance. So overall, we are pleased with the first quarter, and we still have our same expectations for the year and the three-year outlook getting to 75% by the three-year period. Ramy Farid: I think it is also worth mentioning that in a few cases, which I think is quite encouraging, we were able to transition some customers to hosted before their renewal dates. Richie, do you want to add? Richie Jain: Yes. While the primary emphasis has been on transitioning at renewal, in a few instances for larger multiyear contracts that were on-premise, we were able to work with those customers and transition over to hosted well in advance of the renewal date. There was a modest impact of that in Q1, but you will start to see more impact from that in Q2 onwards. Mani Foroohar: Great. And a quick follow-up. We are seeing a substantial pickup in M&A activity in private biotech markets—Ajax is actually one example. How much velocity would you have to see in that space to start tinkering with how you think about guidance for drug discovery revenue, given the broad portfolio of co-founded, partnered companies, and your equity exposure there? Ramy Farid: First of all, on the software side, we are also quite encouraged. Things look a lot better this quarter so far compared to last year, where we saw lots of biotech companies shutting down or very significantly reducing their discovery budgets. We are not seeing that. We are even seeing a pickup in new customers. So that is very encouraging, and the dynamic that you mentioned is certainly impacting the software business. As far as the drug discovery business, Karen? Karen Akinsanya: Sure. Happy to share. As you know, we have always had a lot of interest in partnerships, both with the companies we have co-founded—you mentioned Ajax—and prior companies we have co-founded. Your comment about the private market and companies who are still in stealth, as well as public companies, are still reaching out very actively to Schrödinger, Inc. with respect to collaboration on programs that are in their pipelines, but also on new programs. We remain very enthusiastic about the potential for new collaborations. Obviously, we are not guiding to any specific BD event, but the momentum and the interactions remain very robust both with biotech and with pharma. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Brendan Smith from TD Cowen. Your line is open. Brendan Smith: Great. Thanks for taking the questions, and congrats on all the progress here. First, I wanted to quickly ask about the predictive tox launch. If you can maybe just give us a sense—if not relative revenue breakdown between the legacy business and predictive tox—at least how new customer adds there are tracking. And then quickly on the upcoming Bunsen launch: should we think about the go-to-market strategy for the agent as an add-in with existing customers, or is there a whole separate base you could potentially reach with this? Any color on go-to-market strategy would be helpful. Ramy Farid: We can cover both of those. Thanks for the questions. With regard to predictive tox, feedback continues to be very positive for the results of evaluations now being kicked off. It is very clear that there is significant interest in the technology, and prospective testing of it in our customers' hands is validating the kind of results that we were seeing when we were developing the technology and using it prospectively internally. That is gratifying to see, and it continues to go well. With regard to Bunsen and the go-to-market strategy, that is a really good question because this, in some sense, democratizes access to very sophisticated technology. You can appreciate what kind of impact that can have on the business. Previously, systems like this may have been inaccessible and would take years of training. You might use the technology but not quite right and not get very good results. That is not good for anybody. This directly addresses that. This is similar to image processing that used to be available only to expert users. Now you just circle the area and say remove the background, and it is done. It is the same basic idea. Very sophisticated capabilities are available to non-experts in research. Pat Lorton: I think that sums it up well. The other thing I would highlight, on top of adding additional customers, is one limiting factor we have discussed in the past: the amount of computational chemists we have per project at Schrödinger, Inc. is a lot higher than the industry average, which is part of the reason behind our very high success rate. One thing that is very limiting for our customers is they simply do not have enough people who can run this, even if they have experts. Getting this in the hands of those experts and allowing them to get a multiple of their work done—similar to how agentic coding tools have allowed developers to work much faster—means even those experts will be able to run much faster and consume a lot more of our throughput-based licensing before we even broaden to a wider user base. Ramy Farid: Exactly. Brendan Smith: Got it. Sounds good. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Ryskin from Bank of America. Your line is open. Michael Ryskin: Hey. Thanks for taking the question. First, I want to dig into the new way you are guiding ACV. On the contribution ACV, you called out for the second quarter your guide is $19 million to $23 million, and that is excluding any contribution. Is that just your way of saying you do not know what the contribution ACV will be, or are you actually expecting it to be zero because it was relatively modest in the first quarter? And the same question for the full year—anything you could tell us in terms of how much of the full-year ACV is made up of that, or how much there was in all of 2025? Ramy Farid: Richie? Richie Jain: The guidance for Q2 is $19 million to $23 million, as you noted. The reason we explicitly called out the comparison to last year—2025 was $23.3 million, of which $5 million was contribution ACV related to our grant with the Gates Foundation—was to highlight that, on a commercial business basis (excluding contribution), we are still projecting growth for this quarter. For the full-year range of $218 million to $228 million of ACV, we do expect potentially some contribution ACV in there. That is a component of the full-year number. Michael Ryskin: But you do not want to break that out or quantify that? Richie Jain: Correct. Michael Ryskin: Okay. Fair enough. And then in terms of Ajax, how should we think about that flowing through the P&L and in terms of use of proceeds? Is that in your guide for the year? I do not believe it is. Just timing and pacing of that. Ramy Farid: Just to remind everyone, our equity stake is around 6%. Richie Jain: The Ajax sale was not contemplated in our guidance framework. Obviously, it is a private company sale that we could not have included, but its impact for our financials will mostly be to cash. Our cash position at the end of the quarter was $406 million. As Ramy noted, we own about a 6% equity stake in Ajax. When the upfront portion is received by Ajax, we will receive our approximately 6% of that. So the impact to us will be cash. The upfront amount was not disclosed in the Ajax–Lilly announcement, but as we receive the cash flow, we will reflect it in our balance sheet. There are also milestones—near-term and downstream—in which we would continue to have that 6% participation. Michael Ryskin: Does that change how you think about investment priorities in the second half, given the balance sheet will be a little bit stronger? Any early thoughts on that, or just wait and see? Richie Jain: I would say more of the latter. Our path to profitability—between growth in software and drug discovery as well as expense management over the three-year window—was based on our cash position at the time. This is just upside to that. Once we receive the cash, we will revisit if anything changes, but I would expect our three-year outlook to be unchanged. Ramy Farid: Thanks. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Yee from UBS Securities. Your line is open. Michael Yee: Great, thanks. We had two questions. First, maybe for Ramy: thinking about your overall P&L, you have attractive 70% gross margins, but overall, as an entity, you are EBITDA-negative and running operating losses. Given the general shift to reduce focus on moving things to later preclinical or clinical and looking to partner things, how would we expect the overall operating expense structure to potentially change? In other words, what percent of your R&D do you estimate is going toward those types of programs, and if I back that out, could we think about a more appropriate run rate of where you think your R&D could be? I think you have guided to be EBITDA-profitable in 2028, so that is helpful—wanted to know what percent of R&D is related to drugs. And second, I estimate that Ajax could be a roughly $1 billion upfront. So is the 6%—I think you said it is not in your current cash—something we should apply as upside to the cash? And does that book in the income statement and flow through as well? Thank you. Ramy Farid: Richie, do you want to cover the second? Richie Jain: We cannot comment on the size of the upfront, but the 6% equity stake we have is not in our cash guidance. I would expect it to run through our P&L as a nonoperating gain. Ramy Farid: With regard to the question about R&D and drug discovery, the drug discovery part of our business, which has been in existence for a long time—since around the founding of Nimbus over fifteen years ago—has been an incredibly important part of our business and is highly synergistic with our software business. We have shown that the extraordinary success of these drug discovery partnerships—Nimbus, Morphic, Relay, Structure, Ajax—has had a huge impact on validating our platform. They have also had a huge impact on helping us understand what we should be working on and how we should be advancing to have the maximum impact on projects. That will continue. There is still a huge amount of work to be done in advancing the field. We are incredibly excited about our accomplishments, which have been transformative. Our mission was to transform the way molecules are discovered, and I think we have been accomplishing that. Through initiatives like predictive tox and many others, there is more work to be done and we can continue to improve the way molecules are discovered in both material science and life science. These businesses are highly synergistic and will continue to be an incredibly important part of our overall business model. Karen, anything to add? Karen Akinsanya: Yes. As we have shared in the past, the vast majority of our portfolio—the combined portfolio of collaborations with our co-founded companies, with biotechs, and with large pharma—are an important part of the business, as Ramy described, both from a scientific point of view and, as you saw this quarter, in generating revenue. The vast majority of our activities in the R&D space are those collaborations. It is a small portion of the overall effort that is allocated to wholly owned research. As you have heard previously, we will not be taking programs into the clinic, and we are partnering programs earlier—as you saw with the Novartis deal, partnering a program that had not even reached lead optimization yet. Our investment in R&D is partly on the science side, but it is also to create value. We have 15 programs with royalties on sales and revenue coming from these programs, and across the whole portfolio we have generated close to $700 million from our collaborative R&D and drug discovery efforts. Michael Yee: That is helpful on positive EBITDA guidance for 2028. Thank you. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Evan Seigerman from BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open. Conor MacKay: Hi there. This is Conor on for Evan. Thanks for taking our question. Just a follow-up on how we should think about the rollout of Bunsen—maybe the phasing over the next couple of years. You have the upcoming early access launch this summer. Which types of accounts will you be sharing access with in the early launch? And longer term, given the throughput-based licensing, will Bunsen be a premium add-on or come included as part of your standard software? Ramy Farid: We are still working out the details, as we typically do with early versions of our technology. We work with our close partners, and we will do the same here—working together on integrating it into their workflows and, importantly, checking on the science. Everyone has had mixed experiences with LLMs—sometimes extraordinary, sometimes pretty crazy. There is a lot of work to optimize and maximize the former and minimize the latter. That requires working with close partners, of which we have a large number. As far as the future, our expectation is that this will be ubiquitous, and this technology will be available to all of our customers. Exactly how we price it is still to be worked out and will depend on the feedback we get as we roll out this early access version. Pat Lorton: That covered it. Ramy Farid: Thanks. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Matthew Hewitt from Craig-Hallum. Your line is open. Matthew Hewitt: First, given that Q4 is such a big renewal period for you and you noted earlier that you are starting to see some earlier conversions, is it your hope that you can get through some of that before you get to Q4 just to ease the rush at year-end? How should we think about the conversion over the next couple of quarters before you get to Q4? Richie Jain: Thanks for the question. The examples we gave were more anecdotal and not the base case, but they were large contracts and we had a dedicated effort to convert those in advance. More broadly, the natural time for us to address a transition is on the contract renewal date. I still expect Q4 to be our largest quarter of the year for ACV. That said, where there are opportunities, we will pull them forward ahead of the renewal date—sometimes related to a new product, sometimes a new offering. On the margin, you may see us pull forward ahead of Q4, but I would still expect Q4 to be our largest quarter of the year. Ramy Farid: Yeah. Matthew Hewitt: Got it. And then separately, with the strategic shift where you are not going to be taking internally discovered molecules into the clinic besides the ones already there, will you provide an update on how that is progressing? How will we monitor progress on the internal molecule discovery side? Karen Akinsanya: We have, in the past, kept our pre-LO pipeline relatively quiet for a number of reasons. You want to be progressing the program before you start announcing the identity or the progress. What we have been announcing are the deals we have been doing. We do not plan to expand and expand the size of this portfolio without transacting some of these programs as they move through discovery. As you saw with Novartis, we felt those programs were well positioned to partner with that particular company because of their capabilities and synergy with those programs. You will see us do more of that. I do not think you should expect an ever-growing early-stage portfolio, but you should expect updates as we identify partners for them. Operator: I am showing no further questions at this time. That concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Embecta Corp.'s Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference call is being recorded, and a replay will be available on the company's website following the call. I would now like to turn the call over to your host today, Mr. Pravesh Khandelwal, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, you may begin. Pravesh Khandelwal: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to embecta's fiscal second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. The press release and slides to accompany today's call, along with webcast replay details are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.embecta.com. With me today are Dev Kurdikar, embecta's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Jake Elguicze, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that some of the matters discussed in the conference call will contain forward-looking statements regarding future events as outlined in our slides, including those referenced on Slide 2 of today's conference call presentation. Such statements are, in fact, forward-looking in nature and are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially. The factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially include, but are not limited to, factors referenced in our press release today as well as our filings with the SEC, which can be accessed on our website. We do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, including any charts, financial projections or other data referenced in this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. In addition, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call, which should be considered a supplement to and not a substitute for financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures is included in our press release and conference call presentation, which are also included in the Investors section of our website at embecta.com. Our agenda for today's call is as follows. Dev will begin with an assessment of the company's performance during the second quarter and associated financial guidance implications. We will also share the progress we have made on our strategic objectives and will discuss the expected imminent closing of the Owen Mumford acquisition. Jake will then take you through our second quarter financial results in more detail as well as our updated fiscal year 2026 guidance. Dev will then conclude with our updated approach to capital allocation, and we will open the call for questions. With that, I will now turn the call over to Dev. Devdatt Kurdikar: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I want to start the call by addressing our second quarter performance and full year guidance revision. This was a difficult quarter for embecta. Our results were below expectations with consolidated revenues down 14.4% year-over-year on an as-reported basis or 17.4% on an adjusted constant currency basis. As a result, we are updating our full year guidance to account for the underlying factors that impacted performance during the quarter and that we expect to persist for the remainder of the year. We have a number of initiatives underway already to counteract them as we transition from our roots as a spun-out insulin injection delivery company toward a more diversified broad-based medical supplies company. We are actively laying the foundation to one day serve patients beyond those solely with diabetes. Our strategic priorities, along with our recent acquisition of Owen Mumford, will help us get there. Turning to the second quarter. While our International business performed in line with our prior outlook, our U.S. business fell short of expectations due to a combination of factors that I'm going to take you through now. The largest contributor to the lower year-over-year U.S. revenue is share loss within our pen needle product category, most of which is concentrated at a single customer. We estimate that the remainder is spread across smaller regional and independent pharmacy customers. It is important to understand that the patients switching to competitive products are likely not on payer plans where we have preferred access. That means that the revenue impact of the switching is estimated to be greater than what is indicated by an average unit price. The second largest contributor is overall market volume softness for insulin pens and pen needles in the retail channel. We believe this contributes to most of the remaining pen needle revenue decline. And as it relates to the insulin pen market, we are seeing signs of decline in overall insulin pen prescriptions. This is driven by a decline in the retail channel, but is being partially mitigated by growth in the long-term care channel. We are also seeing volume softness in longstanding accounts where we have a stable share position. Additionally, more patients choosing to acquire pen needles from channels where we do not participate or where products are lower priced is driving additional pressure on retail pen needle volumes. The remaining pen needle decline is related to inventory reductions at certain accounts and additional net pricing pressure. Finally, a reduction in syringe and safety products revenue comprised the remainder of the overall U.S. revenue decline. As a result, we are revising our fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to a range of between $1.015 billion and $1.035 billion. This reflects both the U.S. revenue shortfall in the second quarter and our updated expectations in the U.S. for the remainder of the fiscal year. International is performing as expected, and our outlook there is unchanged. Additionally, the revised range includes approximately $30 million in revenue contribution from the acquisition of Owen Mumford, which is expected to close by the end of this month. This compares to our previous guidance range of between $1.071 billion and $1.093 billion. As a reminder, during our first quarter earnings conference call, we had commented that we expected to be closer to the lower end of that revenue guidance range. Excluding the anticipated 4-month contribution from Owen Mumford, our current organic revenue outlook at the midpoint is approximately $995 million or a reduction of approximately $75 million from the low end of our prior expectations. Pen needles account for approximately 70% of the $75 million revenue guidance reduction or approximately $53 million. Given that pen needle market volume estimates can be somewhat imprecise, it is not possible to exactly calculate the individual contributions of competitive share loss and market volume softness on our product volumes. Our estimate is that share loss accounts for nearly half of the pen needle revenue reduction or approximately $25 million, while overall market volume softness is estimated to account for approximately $20 million. The remaining pen needle headwinds we are seeing are related to inventory reductions at certain accounts and additional net pricing pressure, which together accounts for approximately $8 million of the revenue guidance reduction. Turning to syringes. They account for approximately $13 million of the remaining $22 million revenue guidance reduction, most of which stems from lower syringe use associated with compounded drugs. While our decision to discontinue our swab products accounts for approximately $5 million of the revenue guidance reduction. For context, in late 2025, our sole supplier of the active ingredient in our alcohol swabs exited the API manufacturing space. Despite extensive efforts, we were unable to qualify an alternate supplier under applicable FDA standards. And while we remain committed to supporting our customers and patients through this transition, we recently made the decision to cease production of alcohol swaps. This product line had lower gross margins than our insulin injection devices. Finally, a reduction in estimated growth of safety products accounts for the remaining amount of approximately $4 million. Our guidance assumes that share loss and softness in market volumes persist throughout the remainder of the year without any further deterioration or recovery. Taken together, these are the drivers behind our performance in the second quarter as well as the full year revenue guidance revision. Considering the magnitude of the guidance reduction, we have initiated a review of our cost structure and organizational footprint. We will communicate findings and resulting actions as part of our standard quarterly reporting once that work has been completed. Now let me briefly touch on our strategic priorities. First, we continue to advance our global brand transition program during the quarter. More than 75% of embecta revenue is now represented by products commercially launched and shipped under the embecta label, and we remain on track for substantial completion by the end of calendar year 2026. Second, in terms of the development of market-appropriate pen needles and syringes, we continue to make meaningful progress during the quarter. These products are designed to compete in price-sensitive markets and may help mitigate share loss. Market appropriate syringes have launched commercially in China, and we are monitoring customer feedback. We plan to expand availability of these products in additional geographies upon the receipt of regulatory approvals. Regarding new pen needles, we have active regulatory submissions under review by the U.S. FDA, Brazilian authorities, and BSI for CE Mark certification in Europe. Third, portfolio expansion. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress on our GLP-1 B2B strategy, building directly on what we shared with you last quarter. At that time, we reported that we were collaborating with over 30 pharmaceutical partners with more than 1/3 having selected embecta as their preferred device supplier or having executed agreements in place. Three months later, the pipeline has continued to develop and now approximately 40% of our identified partners are either in active contract negotiations or have executed agreements in place. We also note that our partners have received Canadian approval and the first U.S. FDA tentative approval for a generic semaglutide injection product. Additionally, this quarter, we moved from pipeline to execution as several of our partners launched generic GLP-1 therapies co-packaged with embecta pen needles in India. That is a meaningful proof-point of our B2B value proposition and our commercial execution. Furthermore, our small pack GLP-1 retail configuration launched in Canada and Australia. These products are designed specifically to meet the needs of the growing out-of-pocket GLP-1 user population, and we expect to extend availability of such configurations into the U.S. market in the coming months to serve those patients who need pen needles to administer Zepbound in a pen injector. Regarding our fourth priority, financial flexibility, during the first 6 months of the year, we repaid approximately $75 million of outstanding principal of our Term Loan B. Disciplined deleveraging has been a consistent priority and this repayment of debt is consistent with our track record of applying free cash flow to strengthen the balance sheet and preserve strategic optionality. That financial discipline is what creates the capacity to pursue transactions like Owen Mumford. When we announced this acquisition in March, we noted that Owen Mumford had earned a global reputation for innovation, quality and patient-centered design. The more time we spend with this team in this business, the more confident we are in that view. At its core, this acquisition accelerates our transformation into a broad-based medical supplies company, one that serves both pharmaceutical partners seeking drug delivery platforms and chronic care patients across diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and the anaphylaxis markets. More specifically, we are adding a differentiated drug delivery platform designed to support pharmaceutical companies seeking a device to deliver injectable drugs. In addition, we will expand our product portfolio beyond insulin injection devices and capitalize on our global presence, thereby diversifying our revenue base. Finally, given the nature of the products being added to the portfolio, we expect to be able to leverage our core manufacturing strengths and optimize our manufacturing and distribution network, all of which is consistent with the strategy we presented at our 2025 Investor Day. Next I'll provide a brief overview of the business we are acquiring. Owen Mumford is a privately held U.K.-based innovator with a 70-year track record of developing medical devices and drug delivery technologies. OM brings a diversified portfolio of devices that serve chronic care and point-of-care testing markets, including self-injection systems, lancing devices and venous blood collection solutions. These are durable, clinically established franchises with long-standing customer relationships. Their top 10 customers have maintained relationships averaging 20 years, which speaks to the stickiness of their platform and the quality of their execution. Like embecta, Owen Mumford also has a September 30 fiscal year-end. And during fiscal year 2025, they generated revenue of approximately GBP 69.4 million with approximately 80% of their revenue concentrated in the U.K. and the United States. Their business is split between medical devices, which represents approximately 60% of revenue, and pharmaceutical services, which represents the remaining 40%. We view the pharmaceutical services business as the higher growth area of the 2, anchored by the Aidaptus auto-injector platform, which I will discuss next. Aidaptus is an award-winning next-generation auto-injector designed with a single form factor that accommodates both 1 ml and 2.25 ml fill volumes. What that practically means is that Aidaptus has a single final assembly process and was designed from the start to address customers' needs for reduced manufacturing changeovers, simplified supply chain logistics and large-scale production. We estimate the total addressable auto-injector market to be approximately $2.4 billion, growing at a double-digit CAGR. This is driven by the adoption of biologics, the emergence of generic GLP-1 therapies and the broad shift towards self-injection as a preferred modality across multiple chronic care categories. Aidaptus is well positioned to capture a meaningful share of that growth as the platform is already supporting customer clinical development programs with a commercial contract pipeline that includes secured long-term agreements with several partners. The strategic alignment with our existing GLP-1 B2B strategy is also worth highlighting as Aidaptus deepens our relevance to pharmaceutical partners who need a drug delivery device to go alongside their injectable therapy. During fiscal year 2026, Aidaptus is expected to generate a small amount of revenue as market penetration and growth are expected in future years. To that point, the acquisition of Owen Mumford was structured as an upfront payment of GBP 100 million at closing and up to an additional GBP 50 million in performance-based payments based on the net sales of Aidaptus. Regarding synergies, we have assumed a modest level of operational synergies in our financial model, reflecting opportunities to leverage embecta's manufacturing scale and infrastructure alongside Owen Mumford's capabilities. And while we have not assumed any revenue synergies in our financial model, given that OM generates approximately 80% of their revenue in only 2 countries, we believe that the commercial opportunity of pairing Owen Mumford's portfolio with embecta's presence in over 100 countries could be significant. That completes my prepared remarks at this time. And with that, let me turn the call over to Jake to take you through the financials in more detail. Jake? Jake Elguicze: Thank you, Dev, and good morning, everyone. Since Dev outlined the items impacting Q2 revenue, I will keep my comments brief. During the second quarter, embecta generated approximately $222 million in revenue, which is a year-over-year decline of 14.4% on an as-reported basis or 17.4% on an adjusted constant currency basis. Within the U.S., revenue for the quarter totaled approximately $95 million, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 29.4% on an adjusted constant currency basis. The lower U.S. revenue is attributed to the factors that Dev described earlier. Turning to our International business. Revenue for the quarter totaled approximately $126 million, representing an increase of 2.1% on a reported basis, but a decline of 4.1% on an adjusted constant currency basis. Results within International were in line with our expectations as revenue within China was lower as compared to the prior year period, given ongoing market dynamics and the broader geopolitical and trade environment. These declines were partially offset by continued strength across Latin America, Asia, and Canada. Meanwhile, from a product family perspective, during the quarter, adjusted constant currency pen needle revenue declined 20.4%, syringe revenue declined 14.6%, safety product revenue declined 2.3%, and contract manufacturing revenue declined 43.2%. GAAP gross profit and margin for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 totaled $127.8 million and 57.6%, respectively. This compared to $164.1 million and 63.4% in the prior year period. While on an adjusted basis, our Q2 2026 adjusted gross profit and margin totaled $131.8 million and 59.4%. This compared to $165 million and 63.7% in the prior year period. The year-over-year decline in adjusted gross profit and margin was primarily driven by the lower year-over-year revenue in the U.S. as well as lower year-over-year revenue in China. These headwinds were partially offset by net changes in profit and inventory adjustments and FX. Turning to GAAP operating income and margin. During the second quarter of 2026, they were $35 million and 15.8%. This compared to $62.9 million and 24.3% in the prior year period. While on an adjusted basis, our Q2 2026 adjusted operating income and margin totaled $48.6 million and 21.9%. This compared to $81.4 million and 31.4% in the prior year period. The year-over-year decrease in adjusted operating income was driven by the decline in adjusted gross profit as operating expenses remained consistent with the prior year period. Turning to the bottom line. During the second quarter of 2026, we generated a GAAP net loss of $4.1 million and a loss per diluted share of $0.07. This compared to GAAP net income of $23.5 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.40 in the prior year period. While on an adjusted basis, during the second quarter of fiscal 2026, net income and earnings per share were $16.1 million and $0.27 as compared to $40.7 million and $0.70 in the prior year period. The decrease in year-over-year adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share is primarily due to the adjusted operating profit drivers I just discussed as well as a higher year-over-year adjusted tax rate driven by the lower U.S. revenue in the quarter. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. During the 6-month period ended March 31, 2026, we generated approximately $47 million in free cash flow, and we repaid $75 million of outstanding debt. While our last 12 months net leverage as defined under our credit facility agreement was approximately 3x. This compared to our covenant requirement, which requires us to stay below 4.75x. That completes my prepared remarks on our second quarter 2026 results. Next, I'd like to discuss our updated 2026 financial guidance and certain underlying assumptions. Beginning with revenue. On an as-reported basis, we are lowering our guidance from a range of between $1.071 billion and $1.093 billion to a range of between $1.015 billion and $1.035 billion. This new range assumes an organic as-reported revenue range of between $985 million and $1.05 billion. It also assumes that we will close the acquisition of Owen Mumford by the end of this month, which would then generate 4 months of contribution or approximately $30 million. In terms of adjusted operating margin, given the expected decline in U.S. revenue as compared to our prior projections, we are lowering our adjusted operating margin guidance from a range of between 29% and 30% to a new range of between 22.25% and 23.25%. We are also lowering our adjusted earnings per share guidance from a range of between $2.80 and $3 to a new range of between $1.55 and $1.75. The largest driver of this reduction is the impact of the lower U.S. revenue and associated gross profit, which accounts for most of this change. In addition to the U.S. revenue and gross profit impact, the addition of Owen Mumford, including the interest expense on the associated borrowings is expected to be dilutive by approximately $0.15. Over the longer term, we continue to expect that the acquisition of Owen Mumford will contribute to revenue growth in fiscal year 2027 and beyond, that OM will be immaterial to embecta's fiscal year 2027 adjusted operating income and to be accretive thereafter, that OM will be dilutive to adjusted net income in fiscal year 2027 to be immaterial to embecta's fiscal year 2028 adjusted net income and to be accretive thereafter, and that the acquisition will generate high single-digit return on invested capital by year 4 with increasing contribution thereafter. Lastly, because of the lower expected U.S. profitability, coupled with the addition of Owen Mumford, we now expect that our adjusted tax rate will increase from approximately 23% to approximately 28%, thereby reducing our adjusted EPS as compared to our prior expectations by approximately $0.10. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. Despite the reduction in our revenue and profitability guidance ranges, we continue to target repaying approximately $150 million in debt during 2026. Lastly, in terms of free cash flow and inclusive of the addition of Owen Mumford, we now expect to generate free cash flow of between $95 million and $105 million. This compares to our prior guidance range of between $180 million and $200 million. This updated guidance range includes approximately $40 million in one-time use of cash associated with brand transition and the Owen Mumford acquisition. That completes my prepared remarks. And at this time, I would like to turn the call back to Dev to discuss our updated capital allocation framework. Dev? Devdatt Kurdikar: Recently, our Board authorized a 3-year share repurchase program of up to $100 million and concurrently reduced our quarterly dividend from $0.15 per share to $0.01 a share. We believe that this change in our capital allocation will provide us with additional flexibility to deploy capital towards share repurchases or additional debt reduction, which are currently our primary focus areas. We expect to commence share repurchases beginning in the current quarter, subject to market conditions and our share price, amongst other factors. That completes my prepared remarks, and I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions. Operator? Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Marie Thibault with BTIG. Marie Thibault: I want to spend a little time better understanding the U.S. weakness this quarter and assumptions going forward. I think you said in your commentary that in the U.S. pen needle segment, the losses were concentrated at a single customer. I wanted to understand if that was the same customer as was referenced last quarter, where there were pricing concessions made and why, if so, the volumes weren't stabilized by that move? And then secondly, you called out weakness in insulin pen prescriptions. Can you tell us a little bit more about what's driving that? Could that be short-lived? Or is that a long-term trend? Devdatt Kurdikar: Let me start by taking the market question first on insulin pens and pen needles, and then go to the competitive loss question. So first on insulin pens, if we look at prescriptions for insulin pens, we have now begun to see a decline maybe more pronounced in the most recent quarter that we reported. That decline is actually greater in the retail channel than it is in other channels. And insulin pens are sold primarily in retail, but some in long-term care and very little in the specialty care channel. So insulin pen is mostly stored and sold in retail, and there has been a decline. That decline is greater in long-acting than fast-acting. And it seems to be driven by a decline in new prescriptions. That obviously translates into the pen needle market as well, but maybe a bit exacerbated in the pen needle market because what we are also seeing is a decline in retail that maybe is a little bit faster for pen needles than there is for insulin pens. Now some of this is likely being caused by shift in purchasing patterns from retail to perhaps lower cost channels or where pen needles are available at a lower price. We've also seen declines in accounts, as I referenced, where we believe we have a stable share position, so more indicative of market than anything else. And those are the market trends that we are seeing. Of all the variables that we try to account for in our guidance, this is perhaps the one where there is maybe more uncertainty because what we are observing is more of a recent shift than certainly what we've seen over the past several years. So that's about the market. Now with respect to the competitive loss, yes, it was the same customer that we had referred to earlier. Obviously, I don't want to talk about pricing at any specific customer or even broadly in the U.S. market. But I think what we've ended up is the share loss at that customer is a little bit deeper than we anticipated. But I want to point out a couple of factors that I referenced in my prepared remarks. So when there is a shift in share at a particular retailer, we believe that much of that share loss occurs with patients who are not on preferred plans with us. And so they can move to a different brand of pen needles and still use their insurance plan. And so when that happens, the revenue impact of that share loss is higher since if we are not on a preferred plan for that patient, obviously the rebate amount for that payer plan is less for us. Secondly, while, yes, most of that competitive loss was concentrated at the aforementioned account, we are seeing some declines in smaller regional players as well as independent pharmacies. Now with these smaller regional players and independent pharmacies, the rebates that these retailers get are obviously less than our large customers. And so that has an impact on the revenue as well. And so the competitive share loss affects us maybe at a higher rate than one might imagine just by using an average unit price. So those are the 2 factors that are impacting the U.S. results this quarter and drove the majority of the guidance revision for the year. Marie Thibault: Okay. That's helpful. And just to clarify, could GLP-1s be an impact on the insulin prescriptions? Is that anything you're seeing in the field? Devdatt Kurdikar: It's hard to definitively state what it is. But certainly, as we explored what the factors were that could be leading to market softness, right? The 2 factors that actually bubbled to sort of the top of the mind are, one, GLPs. And now you could ask sort of what's changed in GLP-1s and GLPs have been around. And we do wonder whether the increasing affordability of GLP-1 drugs certainly over the past several months could have played a factor in increasing penetration rate. Now if that were to be the case, what would result is obviously a larger number of patients sort of would try GLP-1s before they start insulin. And could that be having an effect? Certainly, that's possible, but it's hard to conclusively state that. The second thing, obviously, that occurred in December of 2025, so the beginning of our fiscal second quarter, is the expiration of the ACA subsidies. And could that be having an impact on the insured population, particularly as it affects sort of insulin uptake and doctors' visit and getting sort of progressively treated for type 2 diabetes? Maybe. Those are the 2 factors that potentially have shown an inflection point at the beginning of the quarter, Marie, but it's hard at this point to conclusively state the contribution of those factors or whether there are others. Marie Thibault: Yes. Lastly for me, and then I'll hop back in queue. I understand it's early right now. But as we think about embecta long term, beyond this fiscal year, do you envision that you can return to sales growth here from this level? Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes, absolutely. That's certainly what our intention is, that's what our target is, and that's what we believe the Owen Mumford acquisition will position us for, right? So let me zoom back a little bit. Almost 1.5 years ago, we announced the termination of the patch program. And then at the Analyst Day a year ago, we sort of conveyed our strategic intent to diversify into being a broad-based medical supplies company and really get further into chronic care drug delivery and build out our B2B segment. Prior to the acquisition of Owen Mumford, we started some initiatives. We wanted to expand our portfolio of syringes and pen needles, and you heard today about the advances that we've made over there. And we laid out a plan to really go deeper into the B2B segment and establish relationships with generic drug companies wanting to enter the generic GLP-1 market. And we, at that point, pointed out that that was a $100 million opportunity for us. Everything that we've seen since then, I think, further validates that $100 million opportunity, including the launch of generic GLP-1 therapies in India that actually have our pen needles co-packaged with them. Obviously, we noted with excitement, Canadian approvals. We still expect Brazil and China to launch generic GLP-1s as well. Obviously, timing is a little bit uncertain. China might actually end up being in 2027 rather than 2026. But certainly, the advances that we are making over there do position us to get back to revenue growth. And then on top of that, if you add the Owen Mumford acquisition, it really diversifies our product portfolio into chronic care, broad-based medical supplies. Their medical devices business is really concentrated in a few countries. And while we haven't assumed any revenue synergies in our model, certainly we are excited about the prospect of taking that bag of products and putting it into the hands of our commercial people all over the world. And then the auto-injector platform that I talked about Aidaptus, we believe that that is certainly a product that's differentiated. It allows for reducing supply chain complexity and manufacturing changeovers, which we believe pharmaceutical partners will accept. And over time, by the way, it has a list of secured customers, a pipeline that's developing, and it fits in very nicely with what has been our focus, which is establishing smaller -- deeper relationships with pharmaceutical companies that are looking for drug delivery options. I think you take that and you combine it with our efforts on developing a pen injector, certainly will leverage Owen Mumford's expertise since they have right now a reusable pen injector in their portfolio. And over time, we see ourselves as being a company that can provide an auto-injector, a pen injector and pen needles as a suite of products that will be available to pharmaceutical companies. And I think all of these initiatives absolutely are designed and with the intent of really returning us to revenue growth. One final point I want to mention, sorry Marie, is talking about Aidaptus. I mean, we certainly believe that that could be a $100 million product line for us. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Petrone with Mizuho Financial Group. Anthony Petrone: So maybe on the pen needle contract, obviously a competitive loss there. But just wondering the length of the contract in terms of the loss there and when maybe it comes up for renewal, do you think looking ahead, whenever there is another request for proposal there, an RFP that you can look at that contract and be more competitive on the next go around. And then I'll have a couple of follow-ups. Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes. Anthony, on that, maybe it's worth clarifying. It's not like we've lost all the share. It's just our share position is reduced versus what it was. So it's not like we are out of that customer entirely. Now with respect to when we can get back, look, I mean, we have action plans right now underway to not only stem competitive losses, but also figure out ways to get back and win that share. So I don't want to sort of forecast exactly when that will happen, but I do want to convey that we are not going to be standing still waiting for contract renewals or what have you since it's not like we are completely out of those accounts. I think our share position has been reduced in those accounts, and we are certainly going to work as hard as possible to bring our share position back up. Anthony Petrone: That's helpful. I don't know, is there any timing you can put around those efforts? Is that a multiyear effort? Or is it something that you can see in a range of a 12- to 15-month time frame? Or is it, again, longer term? Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes. Look, I don't expect it to be a multiyear effort, honestly. So again, I don't want to put a specific time frame on it, obviously, for competitive and other reasons, but maybe I'll leave it at that. I don't expect it to be a multiyear effort, no. Anthony Petrone: No, all good. And then just when you think about the pressure, you kind of highlighted almost 3 areas here. There's lower-cost providers coming in. There's the GLP-1 question that Marie asked. And then just legacy, there was this pressure moving away from multiple daily injections to patch pumps as well as automated insulin delivery devices. When you think of those 3 buckets, it seems like the lower cost strategy kind of won the day here. But if you had to bucket those 3 headwinds, how would you kind of weight, if you had to put a weighted average on those 3 competitive headwinds in the pen needle business, how would you weight those? And then just a real quick one here would be, you had a trade receivables factoring agreement where there were receivables sold, I think, to Becton. It was roughly like $64 million. Just given the impacts in the business here, I want to make sure that that trade receivable agreement is intact. Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes. I'll let Jake take the trade receivable agreement. But with respect to sort of putting a weight on each of the factors, maybe there are 3 different things, I think, factors that affect the market in 3 different ways, right? The increasing affordability of GLP-1 drugs potentially affects insulin pen prescriptions. And we have seen insulin pen prescriptions trend downwards most recently. Could that be because of the increasing affordability of GLP-1 drugs? Maybe so. And what we've seen over there is the long-acting insulin, which is what you would expect the GLP-1 effect to be concentrated on, is decreasing faster than long-acting insulin. With respect to movement towards maybe lower-priced products, what it is is really maybe more a shifting of where patients are buying pen needles. So instead of the traditional retail channel and maybe they are going to retail, but maybe more patients buying sort of cash pay products or over-the-counter products or in channels where lower-priced products are available, that affects the pen needle market. And then thirdly, you asked about pump adoption. The way sort of we think about that is we look at fast-acting, right, so mealtime insulin prescription trends. And yes, while there has been a decline in fast-acting insulin, really what's driving, I believe, the total prescription decline has been the decline in long-acting. So really, pump adoption is something that, as you know, this business has been dealing with for a number of years. It's hard at this point to look at the data and say that that is the primary factor, Anthony. So I would say it's more towards a shift towards lower-priced products and potentially the 2 other factors I outlined earlier in my question -- in my answer to Marie, is that the increasing affordability of GLP-1 drugs. Could the impact of the ACA subsidies have had some impact on the overall market volume as well? Potentially. But it's going to take months, maybe a couple of quarters to really get the data. Jake Elguicze: And then, Anthony, on the receivables factoring program, this is a standard AR factoring program that we have actually with a third-party bank. So very common in the industry to have something like this. It doesn't have anything to do with Becton, Dickinson in any way. It was something, I think, that we put into effect around a year or so ago. We continue to factor receivables under normal due course, and we would continue to expect to do so in the future. So none of that has necessarily really changed by this. And in terms of liquidity and whatnot, we continue to expect good free cash flow, continue to expect to repay $150 million in debt during the course of this year, which was our original guidance assumption coming into the year. And obviously that's despite the revenue call down in the U.S. today. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Schiller with Wolfe Research. Ryan Schiller: I was hoping we could look out further to next fiscal year. Understanding there is no formal guidance in place, but maybe how are you thinking about the FY '27 revenue growth given all the pressure in the U.S.? Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes, Ryan, I think it's too early to comment on that. As you heard me say, right, some of the trends that we are observing now in the most recent quarter are all sort of early. So really, our plan right now is to focus on executing on 2026, closing the impending Owen Mumford acquisition, getting those products in our bag, advancing the pipeline, both on our B2B products for pen needles as well as the auto-injector platform. And really, then we'll talk about 2027. It's far too early at this point for me to comment on 2027. Ryan Schiller: Okay. And then OUS finished in line with your expectations in the quarter. I'm hoping you can give us the latest on what you're seeing in China and any updated growth outlook there? Devdatt Kurdikar: Yes, very pleased with our International performance, certainly performing per expectations. With regard to China, just as a reminder, obviously we don't disclose China separately, but we think about Greater China, which includes Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. And over there, we sell the product to 3 or 4 national distributors that then go on to sell to sub distributors. Certainly, last year, fiscal 2025, there were significant declines and we took a bunch of steps to stabilize the situation. We are seeing early signs of sequential stability. We really reordered our sales team, that had a more price competitive pen needle that we launched over there. We will see likely some headwinds this year, but certainly it's going to be significantly less than what we saw last year. And look, over the long term, our view on China hasn't changed, right? The market is growing there in mid-single digits. We have a strong commercial and manufacturing infrastructure over there. The new pen needle that I referenced where we've already submitted for regulatory approvals, that is being developed and manufactured over there. And finally, I also mentioned in the GLP-1 generic space that there are Chinese companies that want to get into the generic GLP-1 market as well. And obviously, we want to partner with them. So for all those reasons, we continue to remain optimistic on how China will end up. Now obviously cognizant of the fact that China -- the geopolitical considerations when it comes to China can impact in the short term, but we still remain optimistic in our long-term view on China. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm showing no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Dev for closing remarks. Devdatt Kurdikar: As we close the call, I just want to thank my colleagues across embecta for their continued focus and commitment. This was a difficult quarter. But I do want to be clear, we are not standing still and actions are already underway to address the issues we face. The steps that we are taking, closing the Owen Mumford transaction, reshaping our capital allocation and executing on our strategic priorities, are purposeful steps to build a stronger, more flexible company for the long term and are aligned with our strategic road map. Thank you for joining us today and for your continued interest in embecta. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.
Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Sean Ricker. Please go ahead, sir. Sean Ricker: Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us today for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. I am Sean Ricker, CFO of BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. I am joined today by our CEO, Kevin McAleenan. Statements made in today's call that are not historical facts are considered forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Please see today's press release and our SEC filings for a description of some of the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We have posted charts on our website today that we plan to address during the call to supplement our comments. These charts also include information regarding non-GAAP measures that may be used in today's call. Please access our website at bigbear.ai and click on the investor relations link to view and follow the charts. With that, I will hand it over to Kevin. Kevin McAleenan: Thanks, Sean. I would like to start by expressing appreciation again for our servicemen and women who have been executing missions both overseas and here at home since our last call. We are proud to provide technology that supports their efforts, and we continue to develop solutions that will strengthen our national security posture and capabilities. We also send our well wishes to our allies and partners who have been in harm’s way in the Middle East. In critical moments like these, BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. teams excel. It is a privilege to work alongside colleagues who have the operational experience and mission insight customers value and expect. Our teams have stepped forward for government and commercial customers involved in the Iran conflict, augmenting the capabilities of warfighters, helping businesses adjust to supply chain disruptions, and supporting the homeland security community as it prepares for a rapidly changing threat landscape here in the United States. On our last earnings call, I underscored that the BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. growth strategy builds upon our strengths as a specialized defense and security technology company delivering mission-ready AI. We are focused on two core markets that are growing: national security and trade and travel. And we are bringing together three capabilities that make us different: deep mission understanding, expert command of applied AI, and a unique combination of scale and agility that is vital for adapting and delivering as mission needs evolve rapidly. The strategy is working. We are on a path to grow and transform as a business. On our last call, I shared that we finished 2025 in the strongest financial position in the company’s history. We closed 2026 with $131 million of cash and investments. We entered the second quarter showing clear progress on key metrics in Q1, and we are armed with a strong balance sheet and clear strategic focus, growth priorities, and target customers. We are currently implementing an enhanced go-to-market approach that aligns talent, technology development, and customer delivery teams directly against emerging customer needs where we see the greatest growth potential. Let me turn now to provide updates against each of the four company priorities before Sean covers the details of our Q1 2026 earnings, summarized in the press release issued today. As a reminder, the four priorities we outlined for the fiscal year on our last call are: number one, top-line growth; two, focusing on the operator; three, enhancing executional rigor; and four, capitalizing on catalytic M&A. Our first priority is top-line growth with high-quality revenue in our target markets. We entered 2026 in a much-improved position to take advantage of tailwinds. In Q1, we signed a large classified, sole-source contract with an intelligence community customer that we are executing now and will continue over the next two years. The ceiling value is approximately $53 million. This contract is with an existing customer that values our unique skills and underscores our national security credentials. In this instance, we are the prime contractor, which is testament to the trust our teams have established over years and our reputation for execution. I am very proud of the team that has worked hard to serve those customers’ needs at a time when operational insight and understanding matters more than ever. In our trade and travel market, we are well underway deploying capabilities under two recent contract wins at Chicago O’Hare and Dallas Fort Worth. The combined value of these contracts is $7 million and leverages our Veriskan and TruPaste products. These wins further demonstrate the demand for faster, more efficient, and more secure travel. Our technology outperforms the competition, reducing friction without compromising on security. This need becomes even more pronounced when airport staffing is under pressure, as it was when millions of travelers in the United States felt the pain of disruptions in recent months due to a confluence of factors. The global market for increased shipbuilding remains robust and is underscored by the historic $65.8 billion in new funding requested for naval shipbuilding in the administration’s 2027 budget. BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. is leveraging our manufacturing modeling and simulation platform, Shipyard AI, to support U.S. and allied shipyards. In Q1, we won two new notable contracts in this space. The first is with Chantier Davie, Canada’s premier shipbuilder and a global leader in delivery of mission-critical vessels to government and commercial customers. The other is with Bollinger Shipyards, a leading designer and builder of high-performance vessels and a critical part of the U.S. defense industrial base. We are seeing continued demand for ProModel and our predictive analytics platforms, including Shipyard AI. ProModel simulation platforms are the foundation of a powerful digital twin, empowering industries for manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, health care, and defense to predict and enhance operational outcomes. We have also won new generative AI platform contracts with NASA, the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command in Virginia, and the Naval Research Lab, who are now using SH. The significance of the work these customers are doing to advance our collective national security is a real point of pride. Providing them with secure access to the latest generative AI models and agentic tools will support their critical missions. From a business perspective, new assays customers also contribute to a continued shift in revenue mix from services to technology contracts. These examples of new contracts illustrate following through against our strategy. Overall, we have increased our backlog from Q4 by 14% to $281.9 million while substantially improving our gross margin. Looking forward, I should also take a moment to mention developments in our ongoing work with DHS. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the ninth Secretary of Homeland Security on March 23. Secretary Mullen has strongly signaled his intent to enhance the pace of applying funds to projects where BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. is well positioned to win, and we are actively bidding live RFPs right now. Secretary Mullen’s confirmation and initial actions were further bolstered with welcome news that the majority of DHS’s fiscal year 2026 budget was signed last Thursday, along with a plan to fully fund remaining agencies through a congressional budget reconciliation process by June 1. These are very positive developments. While the partial shutdown had not affected the majority of our work at DHS, due to the critical nature of the security missions our programs support, receiving full fiscal year funding will unlock the potential for new starts and allow DHS agencies to move forward with additional technology procurements. I am also excited to share that Troy Miller, former Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner and longtime Director of the National Targeting Center, joined BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. in a full-time capacity in April after three decades of federal service. Troy is an expert in counterterrorism, internationally recognized for being the driving force behind the world’s most advanced program to screen and vet travel applications and cargo in and out of the United States. He will lead our efforts to serve DHS and the federal civilian security and law enforcement agencies, and no one has more credibility or a more substantive track record of applying emerging technologies to homeland and national security analytical missions. His operational expertise, mission focus, demonstrated leadership skills, and deep and established trust with the communities we serve will further provide momentum and lift to our growth efforts. Our second priority for 2026 is to focus on the operator. We are centering our business on serving specific groups of operators who will need BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. technology and solutions in the months and years ahead. In April, we announced internally that we are launching a significant growth initiative that realigns teams to execute against specific mission needs with rigor and pace. We are well into the implementation phase of this change, which is generating focus and energy within BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. Historically, growth, technology, delivery, and customer success teams have been centralized. As of the second quarter, we are taking a new approach, realigning our go-to-market. Dedicated sales, technology, delivery, and customer success teams are now integrated and aligned to our growth priorities in national security and travel and trade. This moves decision-making and action across the key organizational growth drivers closer to our customers and will allow us to innovate more rapidly with capabilities tailored to operators’ needs. In April, we launched an integrated marketing campaign in Washington, D.C., and nationally to drive the importance of mission understanding in the development of advanced technology. The center of our message is that technology built and deployed by BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. is by operators, for operators. The campaign is focused on connecting with our customers and underscores that when you choose BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc., you are getting solutions designed for real operating conditions. By operators, we mean warfighters, intelligence analysts behind the scenes, officers protecting ports of entry, and those in the private sector protecting our supply chain and critical infrastructure. Each day, they make consequential decisions with imperfect information under immense pressure. The campaign was supported with an opinion piece placed in The Wall Street Journal. In it, I highlighted that the threat landscape is evolving rapidly and that operator insight is critical for our national security. I believe strongly that the nature of threats from homeland to the edge is morphing at a pace that outstrips traditional planning, procurement, and problem-solving structures. This threat-system asymmetry—the mismatch between the pace and complexity of modern threats and the rigidity of the systems designed to counter them—is critically important. Nations that solve this asymmetry will maintain and extend their strategic advantage. Those that do not will lose it. This is a message that I have taken to Congress. Last month, I offered BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.’s insights to the House Homeland Security Committee roundtable on the need to invest in critical technology to protect our citizens from emerging threats. Advanced AI capabilities are already being used by our adversaries in combat zones and by criminal networks at home and abroad. I believe that the United States must be peerless in developing, deploying, and countering advanced AI threats. Pace is everything, and close collaboration between lawmakers and the executive branch will be essential. Moving to our third priority, execution rigor, in addition to the internal realignment initiatives that will strengthen our operational rigor and execution, we have strengthened our leadership team with the announcement of two experienced executives. Joanne Bjornson joined BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. as Chief Human Resources Officer on March 16, bringing more than 25 years of experience in human resources leadership within federal contracting and commercial markets. Recognized as one of WashingtonExec HR executives to watch, Joanne has held senior HR roles at B2X, SAIC, and Leidos, and has served as the chair of the Washington HR Exec Council. Joanne has a deep understanding of the talent landscape in our sector and will play a big role centered on our culture at BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc., our efforts to scale, and our efforts to acquire and integrate companies in the future. Alex Thompson joined BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. as the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer on March 1, bringing more than two decades of experience. He leads brand strategy, strategic communication, government affairs, and marketing. Alex has extensive international experience, having previously served as President of Global Practices and Sectors at the leading strategic communications firm globally, Edelman, and as the Chief Communications Officer for the global content-driven software company, Thomson Reuters. In that role, he also led government and regulatory affairs and spent significant time supporting engagements with U.S. government customers that BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. also serves. Our fourth priority is to capitalize on the strategic acquisitions we made in 2025 and early in 2026—Ask Sage and CargoSear. This includes fully integrating the businesses, identifying opportunities to build on and expand their product sets, and cross-selling to our established customer base. I am pleased to update that both integrations are on track and progressing well. Platform-agnostic generative AI that gives customers flexibility to use hundreds of models in secure environments without data leakage or vendor lock-in, as well as non-intrusive inspections supported by AI analysis, continue to be technology platforms at the forefront of government and commercial procurement agendas. Both Assage and CargoSphere have launched new capabilities since our last call. For CargoSphere, supply chain disruptions and revenue collection pressures highlighted by global conflicts have reinforced the business case. Ensuring facilitated movement of trade while identifying smuggling threats and ensuring accurate revenue collection are universal priorities for customs and border management agencies. CargoSphere continues to enhance its model and is establishing new beachheads in air cargo environments to support these missions, deploying new technology to correlate documents with the contents of air cargo. For example, this week, we launched a new capability to detect fraud in invoices used by shippers in all ports of entry. The first customer will be live in the coming week. Last week, AtSage launched a new, simpler user interface. It increases ease of use for customers, and we have received great feedback so far. With version two, customers experience faster iteration, a streamlined user experience, and powerful tools like chat, workbook, code canvas, and agent builder. Each is designed to close gaps identified in user feedback. We have reimagined chat, model selection, and classification handling to eliminate friction and allow customers to focus on deriving maximum mission capability from the models and agentic tools. In response to strong customer demand, assays also launched a new commercial offering last week, extending access to our GenAI platform beyond government users and defense industrial base customers to broader industry and international partners. The platform supports most current AI models—the vast majority of foundational models available for global consumption—enabling partners to align AI capabilities directly to their mission. This deepens BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.’s commercial relationships with a broader range of customers in the defense industrial base and security and critical infrastructure industries. I am really pleased to see this progress, and I am looking forward to sharing additional news about product and platform extensions from our GenAI team in the coming quarters. I will turn it over now to Sean to talk through the details of our financial performance in Q1. Thanks, Kevin. Sean Ricker: Now let us turn to our operating results for the first quarter. Revenue for 2026 was $34.4 million, which was comparable to 2025 and driven by increased revenue from GenAI platforms and products resulting from the Asage acquisition, which we closed on December 31. This was offset by lower volume on Army programs in 2025 that was not repeated in 2026. Gross margin was 34% in 2026, an increase of almost 1 thousand 300 basis points as compared to 2025. The expansion in gross margins was driven by a higher mix of revenue from GenAI platforms and products from the AppSage acquisition versus the comparable period. SG&A expenses in 2026 were $29.2 million versus $22.7 million in the comparable period. The increase in SG&A expenses was primarily driven by increased intangible asset amortization from the Assage acquisition, increased legal and proxy expenses related to our special stockholder meeting and our new retail voting program, and increased sales and marketing expenses resulting from partnerships and expanding our growth team. R&D expenses increased from $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2025 to $5.5 million in 2026 as we continue to invest in new capabilities and technologies across the domains of national security and trade and travel. Our net loss for 2026 was $56.8 million versus a net loss of about $62 million in the comparable period. The decrease in net loss was primarily driven by a decrease in interest expense of $4.8 million, higher gross margin of $4.3 million, and increased interest income of $3.2 million. Additionally, we had about $36 million of noncash charges in 2026, comprised of fair value changes in derivatives and losses on debt extinguishment. These items are non-operational and were mostly the result of the conversion of our 2029 notes to equity that we executed in January. Adjusted EBITDA for 2026 was negative $9.9 million versus negative $7 million in the comparable period. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by increased investment in sales and go-to-market capabilities and investment in research and development, both of which were partially offset by expanded gross margins, as previously mentioned. Next, turning to backlog. We closed 2026 with ending backlog of about $282 million, roughly a 14% increase from 2025, primarily driven by the new orders that Kevin previously mentioned. We have had a solid start to the year, and we are affirming our outlook for 2026 of revenue between $135 million and $165 million. Now, I would like to take a moment to provide two updates regarding how we made it easier for retail shareholders to vote for proposals and to mention our upcoming Annual General Meeting in June. First, recognizing that we have a great number of retail shareholders, we recently launched a retail voting program, which, upon opting into the program, provides retail shareholders with the ability to automatically have their shares voted in accordance with the recommendations of the Board on future proxy solicitations. BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. is one of the first public companies to launch such a program, and we have seen positive reception and traction. Retail shareholders who would like more information about how to enroll in the program can visit our website at bigbear.ai/sci. Second, as we look ahead to our Annual General Meeting on June 9, we would like to encourage all shareholders to vote, and we encourage all eligible retail shareholders to opt into the retail voting program. By opting into the retail voting program, your votes will be cast in favor of all the proposals at the June 9 meeting and in accordance with Board recommendations at future meetings. I will now turn it back to Kevin to discuss our priorities and to give a few closing remarks. Thanks, Sean. Kevin McAleenan: Our first quarter results show that we are making progress on our priorities to grow the business while rapidly adapting to our national security, trade, and travel customers’ needs as the threat landscape evolves. We are moving with clear intent and pace. Our strategy, realigned structure, and tech development and acquisitions are all targeted to stay ahead of the operator’s requirements, anticipating what they will need next so that BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. continues to deploy mission-ready AI and delivers enduring strategic advantage. We look forward to continued developments over the rest of the year and appreciate our shareholders’ trust and support. I would like to close by thanking our BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. team for their energy and focus in this dynamic climate and by expressing our appreciation and support for our military professionals serving in harm’s way. We were honored last week by the opportunity to support the USO in providing 2 thousand care packages for our servicemen and women being deployed abroad, a small token of our thanks. I would also like to acknowledge the steadfast service of our security professionals at the Department of Homeland Security, who have continued to protect us even with the disruptions of the longest shutdown in history and through multiple weeks without pay. Your professionalism is inspiring. Thank you. To conclude the call, I look forward to updating our shareholders on our next quarterly earnings call in August and welcome you to attend our Annual General Meeting in June. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines. Have a wonderful day.
Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Henry Schein's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Graham Stanley, Henry Schein's Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategic Financial Project Officer. Please go ahead, Graham. Graham Stanley: Thank you, operator, and my thanks to each of you for joining us to discuss Henry Schein's financial results for the first quarter of 2026. With me on today's call are Fred Lowery, Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein; and Ron South, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to state that certain comments made during this call will include information that is forward-looking. Risks and uncertainties involved in the company's business may affect the matters referred to in forward-looking statements, and the company's performance may materially differ from those expressed in or indicated by such statements. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in Henry Schein's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and included in the Risk Factors section of those filings. In addition, all comments about the markets we serve, including end market growth rates and market share, are based upon the company's internal analysis and estimates. Today's remarks will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial performance of our business, enable the comparison of financial results between periods where certain items may vary independently of business performance and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in operating our business. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented solely for informational and comparative purposes and should not be regarded as a replacement for corresponding GAAP measures. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures are included in Exhibit B of today's press release and can be found in the Financials and Filings section of our Investor Relations website under the Supplemental Information heading and they're also in our quarterly earnings presentation posted on the Investor Relations website. The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live broadcast, May 5, 2026. And Henry Schein undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. Lastly, during today's Q&A session, please limit yourself to a single question so that we can accommodate questions from as many of you as possible. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Fred Lowery. Frederick Lowery: Thank you, Graham, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm honored to lead Henry Schein as a CEO, and I look forward to building on the strong foundation and proud heritage that define this company. While at the same time, taking a fresh look at people, process and technology to advance the culture of continuous improvement. I'm also pleased to report our strong financial results for the first quarter. But before we turn to these I want to highlight some key observations that I've had as I progressed through my 100-day plan. First, I am impressed by the strong competitive advantages Henry Schein has built over the years. Globally, we successfully serve hundreds of thousands of independent private practices with responsive, consistent overnight delivery. In the U.S., we are the primary distributor for most national DSOs a position that reflects years of being a trusted and reliable partner. Our reach provides us with supply chain flexibility and sourcing advantages as well as access to a broad global customer base for our suppliers. Secondly, pursuant to our BOLD+1 strategy, we deliver an extensive integrated offering, which includes a broad portfolio of quality corporate brands and specialty products, software, equipment products, technical services and business solutions, this differentiated offering makes us the platform of choice for office-based practitioners. And third, our ability to deliver an excellent customer experience really sets us apart. Our field sales consultants, they really know their customers deeply and are genuinely and invested in their success, and they're supported by our equipment service technicians. And when you put that together, we provide a service that is difficult to replicate. When you put all these things together, our technology, our products, our value-added services, and our people, we create a significant competitive advantage, which we will continue to enhance over time. So over the last 2 months, I've immersed myself in the business, and I've spoken with lots of customers and suppliers and employees and a few things that I've heard. One thing is clear from customers, the dental market remains healthy. with demand continuing to outpace supply. Therefore, efficiency and workflow optimization are important for our customers to be able to see more patients. What's encouraging is how well our strategy aligns with our customers' needs through the development of open architecture integrated solutions that create a platform allowing our customers to deliver better care while running more productive and more profitable practices. Turning to the medical market. procedures continue to shift to nonacute care settings, which also aligns well with our unique capabilities to supply the right quantities to all nonacute settings, including ambulatory surgical centers, community health centers, private practices and home solutions. I also received feedback that our dental and medical supplier partnerships remain another source of competitive differentiation. And I'm committed to providing a broad product offering to our customers supported by strong national brands as well as through our own value-added owned brand products. Suppliers recognize that our deep customer access and trusted relationships make us the partner of choice for driving growth in their businesses. Through exclusive and targeted promotional programs, we create value for suppliers and customers alike. Now while it's still pretty early days for me, I intend to sharpen our operational execution, build a stronger performance culture and create a leaner, more agile Henry Schein, allowing us to respond faster to customer needs and translate our market strength into accelerated growth and improve financial results. As I continue to dive deeper into the business, I expect to identify opportunities to drive growth, to streamline processes and to enhance execution. I'd like to highlight a couple of examples for you today. The first is to enhance the cadence of new products and service offerings. This includes AI solutions, which are transforming the industry rapidly. And Henry Schein has a tremendous opportunity to develop further value-enhancing solutions. I think you're starting to see this with some of the recent product launches from Henry Schein One. The second is to align our commercial efforts to accelerate overall growth across each of our businesses. This is contemplated in accelerating the leverage priority of our BOLD+1 strategy, and we've already started. It's clear that Henry Schein has great assets with a differentiated platform to serve as a trusted partner to health care practitioners worldwide. As we look ahead, I'm excited by the significant opportunities to accelerate growth through the use of technology, improved operational excellence and becoming a more agile company. Now let's turn to the first quarter results. I'm pleased with our strong first quarter results that reflect continuing momentum from the second half of last year as we grow market share and expand gross margins. Sales strengthened in the U.S. dental and global technology businesses overcame softness in the medical business. The dental markets remain stable and healthy, and we are gaining market share. While merchandise prices have increased, particularly in the U.S., procedure volumes are holding steady. We anticipate further merchandise price increases in the second quarter as a consequence of higher oil prices. Dental practices and, in particular, DSOs are continuing to invest in equipment, and we are seeing DSOs gaining market share in the overall dental market. The nonacute care U.S. medical market remains strong, and our Home Solutions business continues to grow well. Our medical business had good underlying growth. However, the quarter was impacted by a decline in demand for point-of-care diagnostic test products related to respiratory illness, resulting from a light flu season. Our specialty products underlying markets remain healthy, with European volumes ahead of the U.S. Demand for premium implants is being driven by strong clinical engagement, most recently demonstrated at our BioHorizons Global Symposium last month where over 40 internationally recognized speakers presented the latest innovations in tissue regeneration, digital workflows and implant-based tooth replacement therapies to more than 1,100 clinicians from around the world. Growth in value implants driven by our S.I.N. and biotech dental businesses continues to outpace premium implants. Our Global Technology business again posted really good growth, reflecting continued demand for our cloud-based software technology solutions. The development pipeline of AI solutions has increased, and these are mostly integrated into our global suite of practice management software solutions. Last week, I had the opportunity to attend our Thrive Live event in Las Vegas which brings together dental professionals to get really hands-on training and education and to showcase our range of equipment and software solutions. This year, we had over 1,000 attendees and we launched our next-generation AI clinical workflow at the event, which generated significant excitement. The broad level of interest in our AI solutions was a clear signal that our customers are ready to embrace these tools and that Henry Schein is well positioned to lead that transition. Now let me give you a few highlights into the initiatives that advanced our strategic plan during the quarter. As I mentioned, our overall operating margin expanded, and we stabilized margins compared to a year ago. Our high-growth, high-margin businesses are now approaching 50% of our total operating income, and we remain on track to exceed our goal of 50% by the end of our strategic planning cycle in 2027. We are just beginning to unlock value from our value creation initiatives. These not only provide a clear path to both cost efficiencies and margin expansion, but I expect them to fuel our growth and further support an enhanced customer experience. Execution is really well underway. Let me give you a couple of examples. We've appointed an outsourced partner to centralize, select back-office functions and we expect to see benefits beginning later this year. We continue to strategically buy out minority partners to unlock integration opportunities across the specialty products business. We are starting to generate additional savings from our indirect procurement processes by leveraging our scale advantage. And finally, we are implementing gross profit initiatives, including value pricing and enhanced growth of our corporate brands. Therefore, I am committing to the company's goal of achieving greater than $200 million of annual operating income improvement within the next few years with $125 million run rate by the end of 2026. These initiatives, along with continued execution of our strategic plan will contribute to us achieving high single-digit to low double-digit earnings growth in the coming years. We have also successfully rolled out our global e-commerce platform, henryschein.com to our Canadian and U.S. laboratory customers. We are well advanced in implementation across the U.S. with over 80% of our U.S. dental e-commerce sales now transacted over henryschein.com. We expect to complete the U.S. rollout by the end of August and to extend the platform to new customers after we plan to shift our focus to the broader international deployment. Over the past several weeks, I have worked through the details of our financial plan. Our growth outlook, combined with the progress made on value creation initiatives and a strong start to the year reinforces my confidence and my commitment that we will deliver on our 2026 financial guidance. Looking ahead, I plan to continue learning more about the business and identify opportunities to accelerate our momentum. I look forward to sharing updates in our next calls. Now with that, I'll turn the call over to Ron to review in more detail our first quarter results. Ron? Ronald South: Thank you, Fred, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will review the financial highlights for the quarter. Starting with our first quarter sales results. Global sales were $3.4 billion, with sales growth of 6.3% compared to the first quarter of 2025. This reflects local currency internal sales growth of 2.5%, a 3.1% increase resulting from foreign currency exchange and 0.7% sales growth from acquisitions. Our GAAP operating margin for the first quarter of 2026 was 5.41%, a decrease of 12 basis points compared to the prior year GAAP operating margin. On a non-GAAP basis, the operating margin for the first quarter was 7.53%, up 28 basis points compared to the prior year, driven by gross margin expansion within the global distribution and global technology products groups as well as business mix. First quarter 2026 GAAP net income was $107 million or $0.92 per diluted share. This compares with prior year GAAP net income of $110 million or $0.88 per diluted share. Our first quarter 2026 non-GAAP net income was $153 million or $1.32 per diluted share. This compares to prior year non-GAAP net income of $143 million or $1.15 per diluted share. Foreign currency exchange favorably impacted our first quarter diluted EPS by approximately $0.03 versus the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2026 was $289 million compared to first quarter 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $259 million or 11.6% growth. During the first quarter, we successfully completed a transaction that provides us a controlling interest in S.I.N. 360, the U.S. distributor of S.I.N. Brazil's value implant systems. We are excited about this transaction as it provides us with greater control over our U.S. implant product portfolio, especially in the faster-growing value implant market. and allows us to unlock growth and back-office integration efficiencies across these businesses. As we had previously held a noncontrolling interest at S.I.N. 360, the transaction did result in a remeasurement gain of $11 million this quarter or approximately $0.07 of diluted earnings per share. We will continue to evaluate strategic opportunities to further integrate some of our joint ventures to unlock growth and efficiencies. Some of these opportunities may result in additional reregimen gains. However, further gains from such transactions, if any, are not expected to be recognized until the second half of 2026. Turning to our sales results. The components of sales growth for the first quarter are included in Exhibit A in this morning's earnings release. We will now walk through key sales drivers for each reporting segment. Starting with our global distribution and value-added services group, whose sales grew by 6.1%, reflecting continuing strong momentum in the U.S. Looking at the components of that growth, U.S. dental merchandise sales grew 5.6% or 4.1% internal sales growth, reflecting ongoing acceleration of sales growth. Data from our Henry Schein One eClaims activity indicated signs of modest procedure growth in the U.S., and we believe that in general, patient traffic remained stable to leaning positively in the quarter. Our sales volume growth resulted in market share gains and prices increased further with the introduction of some additional price increases in January. U.S. dental equipment sales growth of 3.4% was driven by sales of traditional equipment as practitioners, particularly DSOs, remain confident in investing in their dental practices, and we expect this solid growth to continue. U.S. equipment growth was supported by some exclusive supplier initiated opportunities as our suppliers continue to view Henry Schein as their best opportunity to expand market share. This helped drive sales in the traditional and digital imaging categories. Overall, digital equipment sales were essentially flat due to continued softness in sales of Interroll scanners and treat printers. This was driven by lower average selling prices from new market entrants despite higher sales volume. U.S. medical distribution sales grew 1.3% or 1.2% internal sales growth. with strong growth in Home Solutions and dialysis, partially offset by lower sales of point-of-care diagnostic test products related to respiratory illness as a result of the light flu season. This category represents roughly 15% to 20% of our medical business. Excluding the impact of the diagnostic test products category, sales growth would have been in the mid-single-digit range. International dental merchandise sales grew 12.5% or 1.8% LCI sales growth driven by sales growth in the U.K., Italy and Brazil. International dental equipment sales grew 13.4% or 3.6% LCI sales growth, with solid growth in traditional equipment. Equipment sales growth was especially good in Germany, U.K. Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Finally, global value-added services sales grew 10.6% or 7.8% LCI sales growth. Turning to the Global Specialty Products Group, sales grew 8.1% or 1.7% LCI sales growth. Our implant sales were driven by high single-digit growth in value implant systems. The sales mix of value to premium implants also resulted in a lower gross margin compared to the prior year. We expect to achieve improved growth in the Specialty Products Group going forward this year. Our Global Technology Group continued to post solid results, with total sales growth of 7.0% or 6.9% LCI sales growth. In the U.S., we had strong revenue growth in our Dentrix Ascend practice management software business. Internationally, sales growth was driven by our Dentally cloud-based practice management software product. The number of cloud-based customers increased by roughly 25% year-over-year, primarily from new accounts, and we now have more than 13,000 Dentrix Ascend and Dentale subscribers. Regarding our restructuring program, the company recorded restructuring expenses of $12 million or $0.07 per diluted share during the first quarter of 2026 as we advance our value creation initiatives. With reference to capital deployment, during the first quarter of 2026, the company repurchased approximately 1.6 million shares of common stock at an average price of $77.64 per share for a total of $125 million. At the end of the quarter, we had approximately $655 million authorized and available for future stock repurchases. Turning to cash flow. Operating cash flow was negative $97 million in the first quarter of 2026 due to a normal seasonal decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses from the year-end. Cash flow is typically lower in the first quarter than the rest of the year, and we still expect operating cash flow to exceed net income for the full year. Turning to our 2026 financial guidance. At this time, we are not able to provide about unreasonable effort and estimate of restructuring costs related to ongoing value creation initiatives. Therefore, we are not providing GAAP guidance. Our 2026 guidance is for current continuing operations and does not include the impact of restructuring expenses and related costs and other items described in our press release. Guidance assumes stable dental and medical end markets during the year that foreign currency exchange rates will remain generally consistent with current levels and that the effects of changes in tariffs and higher oil prices can be mitigated. We have implemented a number of measures designed to offset the potential financial impact of rising oil prices at this time, which affect both freight costs and cost pricing. Our 2026 full year guidance remains unchanged. Total sales growth is expected to be approximately 3% to 5% over 2025. We expect non-GAAP diluted EPS attributable to Henry Schein, Inc. to be in the range of $5.23 to $5.37. We are assuming an estimated non-GAAP effective tax rate of approximately 24%. We expect benefits from value creation programs to be weighted towards the second half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow in the mid-single digits versus 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion. and we continue to expect remeasurement gains recognized in 2026 to be less than recognized in 2025. So with that overview of our business and recent financial results, we're ready to take questions. Operator? Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from the line of Jason Bednar with Piper Sandler. Jason Bednar: I've got a couple, and I'll just ask them both upfront or somewhat connected. When I look across first quarter performance, I guess, what really stood out to me was that gross margin result, a really nice start to the year. Can you unpack maybe a bit some of the drivers there? Is that a function of value creation benefits that we can expect to persist through the year? You're already seeing some of that? And then how do we think about this result in the context of these rising shipping costs that are just better obviously happening just with where oil has moved. And Ron, just if you could maybe unpack some of those comments you made near the end of your prepared remarks on mitigation actions, any rules of thumb we should have in mind on what oil above $100 a barrel or a one kind of barrel means for your margin profile, just so we can have a little bit of an idea on sensitivity to this metric just in, I guess, last thing here, too. Just what's -- if you can help us what's included in guidance around what you're assuming for oil. Ronald South: Sure, Jason. I think on the -- with reference to the gross margin, yes, we are pleased with the improvements that we were able to get in gross margin the year-over-year is about 25 basis points and then the gross -- the total gross margin improvement versus the fourth quarter is about 86 basis points. So you are seeing a little bit -- some of the early benefits perhaps of the gross profit initiative from value creation to more -- we have, I would say, a slightly more dynamic pricing environment that's allowing us to react in a more timely basis. But it also reflects, I believe, the fact that our own brand products continue to -- the growth of those products continues to outpace the rest of the portfolio. where we do get better margins with those products as well. So we're seeing some mix benefit. We're seeing some strategic benefit and just, I think, a greater consciousness of how well we can work with our suppliers to assure that we get competitive costs and improve our margins accordingly. With reference to the price of crude oil and what's happening in terms of some of the disruption in the energy industry, I mean, it's an area where we're watching closely. It does impact a little bit some of the freight costs coming in. We are working closely with our customers. We're not just defaulting to increasing prices or looking at fuel surcharges but there are some things that -- some measures we're trying to take to try to protect the margins a little bit as our -- as we see those costs go up. Nothing that we're seeing out there yet that we believe is creating a significant issue. We have some plans in place that we could initiate if we think we need to. But right now, like we're seeing in our guidance, we feel like based on the current situation, we are able to mitigate any related cost increases. Jason Bednar: Okay. And sorry, just to clarify, your guidance assumes oil stays where it is or you have some error bars around where oil currently is? Ronald South: It assumes that we can mitigate rising. Obviously, there's a tipping point out there, right? But it assumes that we can mitigate the changes in the cost of oil. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Elizabeth Anderson with Evercore ISI. Elizabeth Anderson: I was wondering about how to think about the cadence of specialty growth over the course of the year? Just in terms of anything to call out seasonality-wise, or some of those pricing changes, Ron, that you mentioned? And then, Fred, one for you. Maybe can you talk about some of the biggest sort of positives that confirmed your sort of expectations coming into Henry Schein and then maybe some of your biggest surprises? Ronald South: Certainly. Elizabeth, I'll start, and then I'll have Fred answer your second question. I think that -- on the specialty side, the results in the quarter were in line with our expectations. There was some timing of some buys from customers that we knew would impact Q1 somewhat. But we do expect improved growth in specialty going forward in terms of what the -- what we saw in the first quarter. I think that the products there, like we still remain very positive on what we're seeing on the value implant side and the high single-digit growth we're seeing in the sales of value implants. I think gives us the confidence that we can continue to improve that growth going forward. Fred, I'll let you to answer the second one. Frederick Lowery: Yes. Elizabeth, great to hear you. Thanks for the question. When I just take a step back and think about the positives, the biggest positive to me, and I sort of said it in the script, has been the confirmation that the set of assets that Henry Schein owns that we own are incredibly important to customers. And the ecosystem that we've built here through these assets really do help customers improve their practices. And that has been confirmed from the many custom business that I've been on. And I think that's incredibly exciting. I would say it's also an opportunity because I don't think it has been exploited to the extent that we can. I think we can do a better job of improving our customer value proposition so that our customers really understand what we can do for them. and that it's not just about us helping them save costs but about helping them have more profitable practices by driving productivity and helping them with their own pricing and seeing more patients. So that's quite exciting. I would say surprises, I don't know that I would characterize anything as a major surprise, but maybe things that I was quite encouraged by would be as it relates to our team Schein members, it's been a very consistent feedback, as I've talked to many, many different employees. The feedback has been 3 things. One, we love the company. We love the culture, the strong culture in the company; two, we love Stan, and we hate to see Stan go. But three, we know that we need to change in order to be better. And that has been like a really great starting point to see people leaning in and excited about the future of the company. I would say from a customer standpoint, without a doubt, every customer visit I've been on, customers enjoy doing business with Henry Schein, and they want to do more business with Henry Schein. And they think that we can help them more and they're depending on us to help them more, which really plays into our opportunity set as we develop new products and services that support them managing and running more profitable and higher growth practices. And then the third will be with our suppliers. Without a doubt, I talk to all of our top suppliers and they all see Henry Schein as a great place for them to grow their business. So those will be the things that I would say I was -- I've been most encouraged by and excited. It gives me some confidence in the future. I'm excited about a bright future for the company. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Johnson with Baird. Jeffrey Johnson: Welcome, Fred. So I know it's only been a couple of months in the job now, and I'm sure you're going to get a lot of focus today on the 3-year profitability improvement plan, good to see that you're reiterating that $125 million run rate by the end of this year. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on how Schein gets back maybe to delivering stronger earnings growth in the absence of these one-off kind of restructurings we've been seeing every couple of few years out of the company. How do you think about building and investing in the muscle memory of this company so we can get back to kind of that upper single, low double-digit EPS growth longer term without having to go through kind of these bigger programs every couple few years. Frederick Lowery: Jeff, thank you for the question. And I'd first start with just characterizing the value creation not as just a one-off. We're building real capability that will stay with us over a long period of time. For example, our gross profit programs are -- will be ongoing. So we will be better at value pricing in the future than we are today. We have new techniques and new capabilities there that will stay with us. So I think you'll see that continue over time. We'll continue to benefit from that. The same with the programs that we're focused on driving our own brand products or our corporate brand products. So those things will continue over time. So I would start with that. Secondly, my focus is on developing a continuous improvement process here where we don't have an episodic approach to taking cost out, but where we continue to streamline our processes really for the benefit of our customers, streamlining our process so we become easier to do business with, so we support our customers better, so we grow our business faster. And as we do that, we will actually take some cost out and become more productive. So those are the 2 ways that I think about the question. And then as we do take costs out of the business, over time, we'll be able to reinvest into areas that are going to drive greater growth and thinking about the Henry Schein One portfolio where we're investing in AI capabilities that will help us grow over time. And then finally, our high-growth, high-margin products are growing faster. As I said during the prepared remarks, we're approaching the 50% mark for operating income from those products, and we expect to reach that as expected by 2027 at the end of our strategic plan period. So I think those things will support us getting back to continuing to deliver margin expansion over a period of time. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Cherny with Leerink Partners. Michael Cherny: Maybe if I can just go into the mitigation efforts a little bit more. You've obviously had situations in the past on a macro basis, I'm thinking back to COVID, where price increases were a component to offset your business. I know you said -- I think it was Ron that you don't want to just do price increases, but how much do you preview some of those dynamics? I can't imagine your customers would be surprised if there are price increases, short-term price increases, surcharges put in place. But how do you think about going through those conversations, the engagement to make sure that if and when you do have to push price increases as an offset, that it's taken in a way that's not necessarily deleterious to the customer relationship? Frederick Lowery: Listen, I'll take that one, and thank you for the question. So just to clarify, listen, we're taking the appropriate pricing actions based on what's happening in the macro, whether that's fuel surcharges, whether it's increasing the price of a particular product that may be oil-based like gloves, for example. And so we'll have those conversations with customers where it makes sense and give customers visibility as to what's driving the change. We also will offer customers alternatives. That's part of what makes us a really great partner and to say, hey, listen, there's some other alternatives that can help you without receiving such a high price increase by looking at the entire portfolio that we have. So we'll take the appropriate actions with our customers and have those direct conversations as we see things materialize in the market. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jonathan Block with Stifel. Joseph Federico: Joe Federico on for John. Maybe just to look at implants a little bit closer. I think that the specialties internal growth was low single digits and implants is the majority of that. I think you mentioned high single-digit value implant growth to an earlier question. So does that mean that premium was more flat to down? And is that possibly a function of the consumer? I think premiums heavier weighted to the international business. So any color on some of those dynamics would be great. Ronald South: Yes, Joe. So I think that -- yes, like we said, the value implants did experience higher growth, keeping in mind that of the mix within implants is about a 2:1 mix premium to value for us, right? We did see some flatness in the premium implants. And I would say more so in the U.S. versus Europe, but both were in the, say, lower single digits to flat. And so I do think that there is a -- there is some -- whether it be a little consumer pressure there or whatever it might be. But like I said, there was also some timing on some transactions that where the quarter itself came in, in line with our expectations within that segment. And we do believe that we'll see improved growth within that segment as the year progresses. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Daniel Grosslight with Citi. Frederick Lowery: Daniel, you may be muted. We can't hear you. Matthew Miksic: Sorry about that. Global Dental growth was relatively strong across both merchandise and equipment. You mentioned a couple of times that you're taking share here, but also the underlying market seems to have recovered somewhat. So I'm curious how much of the dental strength is due to share gains versus just the overall market improving? And what your visibility is into the sustainability of that momentum through the remainder of the year? Ronald South: Certainly. I think that most of our market commentary is really fairly U.S.-centric because it's difficult to kind of talk to the international markets as a whole. Within the U.S., we think there was -- we said a slightly more positive tone to the market, still relatively low market growth. But what we're seeing is that we -- our data indicates that we are taking market share there. So we got a little bit of volume growth. We got a little bit of pricing favorability within the quarter within merchandise. And in the end, in the U.S., with a local internal growth of greater than 4% is a number we're pretty happy with. Outside the U.S., you do get a little bit of some pressure that has occurred in some countries, but we had I would say, especially outside of Europe, when you look at the growth we had in Brazil and in Canada, we had very good merchandise growth there. So there's a lot of pockets of positive whether it be from the market or from us taking market share, and I think it's probably more from us taking market share in those countries where we're getting this, seeing the growth in dental. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Allen Lutz with Bank of America. Allen Lutz: I want to follow up on that last question around the sources of share gains in dental. The U.S. merchandise sales were a little bit better than we expected and specialty was a little bit softer. Can you talk about where you're gaining share. Ron, I think you mentioned that you're gaining share in the merchandise sales. But have the pockets where you've been gaining market share in general? Have they -- in the U.S. market, have they changed or evolved over the past year or the past couple of quarters between merchandise and specialty? And then how do we think about what you expect for share gains or the sources of share gains for the remainder of 2026? Ronald South: Well, I mean, I don't know if there's any one -- when you say pockets, I don't know if you mean product categories, but I don't think there's anything like any specific product category I would point to. I think it's broader than that. I would say if you're looking for something specific, we are seeing better growth of our own brands than we are with the -- versus the balance of the portfolio. So that is an area that has I think, given us some opportunity to provide some growth that exceeds that of the market. We're also kind of continuing with I think some of the success of the promotional activity we did last year, and that has provided us with some momentum, and we've been able to retain a lot of those customers that we picked up and that increased share of wallet that we picked up with some existing customers that -- so some of that growth you saw in Q3 and Q4 has continued into Q1. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of John Stansel with JPMorgan. John Stansel: Just following up on that point around maybe DSOs in particular. I think you've said over the last couple of months that they're gaining share or growing faster than the market. Is there anything particularly driving their growth above market growth rates? And then maybe just for Fred, as you've had discussions with them, particularly, what are they looking for that you see as opportunities for Schein to provide to the DSOs. Frederick Lowery: Yes. I'll take maybe -- I'll start, and Ron, you can add to this. But one thing to consider about even the last question on market share is that we're growing with DSOs. We have a strong position with all the national DSOs, the most of the national DSOs, almost all of them and they're growing faster. And so we're seeing the benefit of that growth. But when I've spoken with the DSO leaders and I've spent quite a bit of time with them. They appreciate the fact that we're able to support them nationally. They appreciate the fact that we're able to help them improve their efficiency. They appreciate the fact in many cases, that they're leveraging our technology to improve their profitability. And we've got access to some of the best exclusives in the market that are helping to drive their growth. So I think that total platform that we've built to support, particularly in this case, dental, that DSOs are benefiting from that. And so those are the kind of the feedback points that I've received from DSOs. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Glen Santangelo with Barclays. Glen Santangelo: Fred, I want to talk a little bit about the organic sales growth at a high level. I mean, as you sort of highlighted in your prepared remarks, the second half of the year was particularly strong. And looking at the fourth quarter, we exited at a pretty robust rate. Now you obviously moderated a little bit from that trend and you spoke about medical. And I'm just kind of curious, can you give us some color about how the quarter maybe played out sequentially kind of thinking about the fact that other companies have sort of commented that weather may have impacted January we have the war now in March. And I'm kind of curious if you could give us any early view on sort of April and how things have played out. Frederick Lowery: Yes. Thanks for the question, Glenn. Looking at the quarter sequentially, we saw better performance sequentially through the quarter. So March was stronger than February. Part of what you're seeing in Q1 is the softness related to our respiratory business or because of the light and flu season. And maybe there's a little bit of weather, I would say it's more of the flu season than weather for us. But sequentially, we saw that get better and even that continued in April. So April continues to be strong. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Kevin Caliendo with UBS. Kevin Caliendo: The remeasurement -- excuse me, not the remeasurement, the cost savings program, what -- can you just give us a little bit of a cadence? I understand the exiting of the year at $125 million is great. Can you size what the costs were in 1Q? When do you think it's going to be breakeven within the P&L? Just trying to understand the cadence. I know you don't like to give quarterly guidance, but just this part of the of the business would be really helpful to understand. Ronald South: Yes, Kevin, I think that the financial impact, at least with reference to the G&A portion of this was, I would say, was relatively nominal in the first quarter because we incurred some costs associated with the programs. We saved some costs associated with the program. we're going to start seeing that savings begin to accelerate as we get into the second quarter and then even more so in the third and the fourth quarter. So that's the root of our of our comment when we say we expect to see better earnings in the back half of the year than the first half of the year because it will be largely driven by some of those G&A cost reductions. I think equally, but it's -- I don't want to forget about the gross profit optimization as well because we do think that there were some benefits in Q1 from it. We think that those benefits can continue to grow as we get into the year. and we'll continue to accumulate into the -- especially into the back half of the year. So in terms of the quarterly cadence, it's really more to what's the back half versus first half, and we still expect the back half of the year to have better earnings in the first half. Kevin Caliendo: Got it. If I can ask a quick follow-up just on the remeasurement stuff. So there's $11 million this quarter and your guidance assumes that from an operational perspective, it will be less than last year, right? So that would imply single digits the rest of the year. Is that -- am I thinking about that the right way? Ronald South: Single digits in terms of EPS? Kevin Caliendo: No, in terms of dollars, in terms of EBIT impact or EPS, however you want to describe it. I'm just trying to understand what's sort of embedded for the rest of the year. Ronald South: Yes. I mean we're -- like I said, we're contemplating a range. And I believe in the prepared remarks, we said any remeasurement gains, if any, I mean there's no guarantee we will have any more remeasurement gains this year, but that's the -- we look at the opportunities there. We look at the strategic initiatives we're taking and which of these joint ventures would it make sense for us to consolidate, and that is contemplated in the overall guidance that we've provided. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Brandon Vazquez with William Blair. Unknown Analyst: It's Max on for Brandon. Just one quick one for me. On the medical supply side of the business, are you guys seeing any impacts from noise around ACA or Medicaid work requirements or do you have any concerns about this impacting procedural volumes going forward? Ronald South: I would say that clearly, there's going to be -- I'm sure there's some impact, but we -- we're not seeing it as having a material impact at all really on the business. I mean, I think that at the end of the day, the more people who have access to care, the better off we are on the medical side. But this is really a, I think, a relatively small part of a lot of our customers' business, and we don't expect it to be that -- have a significant impact. Operator: And now we have time for one last question coming from the line of Michael Sarcone from Jefferies. Michael Sarcone: I was hoping you can just elaborate a bit more on what you're seeing on the equipment demand side, particularly for the digital equipment? Ronald South: Yes. On the digital side, we're still seeing very good demand for intraoral scanners. That's really the -- to me, that's the key product in digital. But we continue to see lower-priced entrants to the market, which is actually helping drive demand of intraoral scanners. And the beauty of intra-oral scanners, and I've said this before, is once a practice is investing in intraoral scanners, they become a digital practice, and then they are now they become a customer to buy other digital equipment. So while those prices have depressed a little bit and do hurt a little bit of that top line growth, it does give you an opportunity to sell additional digital equipment to those customers going forward. Traditional equipment still had very good growth in the quarter, and that's a very good indicator of the confidence and practices who are investing in their practices, either adding a chair or renovating a chair. And we continue to feel like the backlog on our traditional side is healthy and will help gives us the confidence that we can continue to see growth in equipment as the equipment sales as the year goes on. Frederick Lowery: Well, thank you, again, for joining us today. And I'd like to maybe just give a few concluding remarks. First, we delivered a strong first quarter. Sales momentum continues and the U.S. Dental and Global Technology businesses delivered strong sales growth, more than offsetting the softness in medical. Margins are also expanding, driven by favorable business mix and some early impact from value creation. Secondly, I'm encouraged by the progress we've made on our value creation initiatives. I do remain very realistic about the work that's ahead but we are committed to achieving the $200 million target and the $125 million run rate by the end of the year. The early progress gives me confidence that these initiatives will be a meaningful driver of operating margin expansion over the next several years and will contribute to achieving future high single-digit to low double-digit earnings growth. And third, I believe the full year 2026 financial guidance is appropriate. It assumes stable end markets and takes into account potential macro uncertainty. While our fundamentals are strong, I see meaningful opportunities to enhance our operational execution and performance culture. This will take time, but the work is actively underway, and I'm confident it will drive sustained value creation. I'm optimistic about what lies ahead, and I look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year. Thank you for your interest in Henry Schein, and enjoy the rest of your day. Operator: Thank you. And this concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Innovex's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Eric Wells, Chief of Staff. Eric Wells: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. An updated investor presentation has been posted under the Investors tab on the company's website, along with the earnings press release. This call is being recorded, and a replay will be made available on the company's website following the call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that Innovex's comments may include forward-looking statements and discuss non-GAAP financial measures. It should be noted that a variety of factors could cause Innovex's actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. Please refer to the first quarter financial and operational results announcement that we released yesterday for a discussion of forward-looking statements and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures. Speaking on the call today from Innovex, we have Adam Anderson, Chief Executive Officer; and Kendal Reed, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Adam Anderson. Adam Anderson: Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I want to start by thanking our teams across the organization for another quarter of strong execution. We continue to operate in a dynamic environment where our people have remained focused on serving customers, leveraging our unique platform and growing our business through relentless innovation and a commitment to delighting our customers. That commitment is reflected in our first quarter performance. Since the merger with Dril-Quip, we've stayed disciplined in how we run the company, improving the cost structure, expanding the technology portfolio and focusing on cash flow and returns. Core to our success is our No Barriers culture, which means we tear down barriers between ourselves, our teams and our customers. We operate as one team across regions and product lines, not as a collection of separate businesses. That remains a real source of competitive advantage for us. On today's call, I'll walk through our first quarter performance, highlight several important commercial and operational developments from the quarter and then turn the call over to Kendal for a more detailed review of our financial results, capital allocation priorities and outlook for the second quarter. Starting with performance. We delivered a strong start to 2026. First quarter revenue totaled $239 million, which exceeded the high end of our guidance range, and adjusted EBITDA totaled $49 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21%, well above the high end of our guidance range. These results reflect continued strong operational execution, organic growth from new product introductions, and cross-selling across our global platform. We benefited from a favorable mix in the quarter, and we also saw earlier-than-expected benefits from the exit of the legacy Eldridge facility. More broadly, the quarter reinforces our view that our Subsea business can generate margins above 20% when operated with the same disciplined cost focus and a commercial approach that we apply across the rest of Innovex. Our No Barriers culture has unlocked the potential of our combined team. I've been particularly impressed by the contributions from our colleagues who've joined Innovex as a part of the Dril-Quip merger. They bought into the culture and are unlocking the embedded value and technology in the Subsea portfolio. Commercial performance remained healthy across our core markets. In U.S. Land, we continue to outperform underlying activity levels. Organic growth was driven by cross-selling as well as new product introductions. As a reminder, we have curated a portfolio of big impact, small ticket products and services. In aggregate, our offering represents just 2% to 3% of total well cost. Despite representing a small proportion of the cost of a well, our technologies are critical to well performance. Therefore, the purchase decision is driven primarily by performance, not price. Offshore and internationally, we continue to build momentum in Subsea. During the quarter, we secured 2 significant project awards in Asia, each exceeding $20 million in value, reflecting the strength of our specialized technology portfolio and our ability to win complex high-specification work. These awards span multiple parts of the well system, reinforcing the breadth of our Subsea technology portfolio. We also delivered the first Subsea wellhead order in Southeast Asia under the OneSubsea alliance, representing an important milestone in expanding our presence in integrated offshore projects. Beyond Asia, we continue to make encouraging commercial progress across key offshore basins where we see attractive long-term opportunities for our portfolio. More broadly, we are seeing a growing pipeline of Subsea opportunities, which supports our confidence in the trajectory of the business. In the Middle East, first quarter activity was softer than we had anticipated, driven primarily by project timing and conflict-related disruptions. We remain encouraged by our recent commercial progress, including multiple offshore awards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as a contract extension for our off-bottom liner systems and lower completion technologies. We continue to view the Middle East as an important long-term growth market. We recently completed the acquisition of Drilling Innovative Solutions for $16 million or approximately 4 times trailing 12-month EBITDA. This is exactly the type of transaction that we believe drives value, one that is priced reasonably and offers substantial opportunity for organic growth by leveraging our platform. DIS brings differentiated production technologies that complement our existing completions offering, strengthening our U.S. offshore market position and create additional opportunities to grow with both existing and new customers. We believe the DIS portfolio has applicability across global deepwater markets as well as select onshore markets. DIS fits squarely with our model of curating a portfolio of big impact, small ticket products with strong margins, low capital intensity and meaningful room for growth. Stepping back, our priorities remain unchanged, gaining share, expanding our technology portfolio, driving innovation, improving efficiency, and disciplined capital allocation. We believe the combination of innovation, execution and capital discipline continues to differentiate Innovex, and we see a strong pipeline of opportunities across both organic initiatives and inorganic opportunities. As we move through 2026, we remain confident in the trajectory of the business and our ability to create durable value for shareholders over time. I will now turn the call over to Kendal to walk through our financial results and outlook in more detail. Kendal Reed: Thanks, Adam, and good morning, everyone. I'd now like to review our first quarter 2026 financial results. For the first quarter 2026, revenue totaled $239 million, down 13% sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2025 and down 1% year-over-year versus Q1 2025. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $49 million, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 21% compared to 19% in Q4 2025 as well as Q1 2025. We were pleased to exceed the high end of our guidance range on both revenue and adjusted EBITDA despite a dynamic operating environment during the quarter. Profitability in the quarter benefited from favorable product mix and improved manufacturing efficiency associated with the transition out of the Eldridge facility. As we consolidated our footprint and improved throughput, we saw better absorption and stronger operating leverage within the Subsea business. Reported SG&A was higher sequentially due to several discrete items, including legal, transaction-related and other temporary costs. Excluding these items, underlying SG&A remains well controlled, reflecting our continued focus on cost discipline. During the quarter, we recorded a $49 million legal accrual related to patent infringement litigation between Impulse Downhole Tools USA and Innovex's wholly owned subsidiary, DWS, following the previously disclosed jury verdict. No judgment has been entered at this time. We strongly disagree with the jury verdict and intend to pursue post-trial motions and, if necessary, appeal any resulting judgment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. From a geographic standpoint, NAM Land remained a source of strength with revenue holding essentially flat at $137 million compared to $139 million in the fourth quarter despite weather-related disruption during the quarter. International and offshore revenue declined 24% sequentially to $102 million from $135 million in Q4. As we discussed previously, the fourth quarter benefited from an unusually high level of Subsea deliveries, including approximately $15 million of shipments that we had originally expected to occur in the first quarter, creating a tough year-over-year comparison. Lower Subsea delivery volumes, softer activity in certain international markets, and modest disruptions related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East contributed to the sequential decline. A meaningful increase in activity in Mexico partially offset this softness. We view quarterly volatility as timing related and consistent with the normal variability that can occur in offshore and project-oriented markets. Importantly, underlying commercial momentum remains solid, and we remain constructive on the long-term outlook, expecting significant Subsea momentum in the back half of 2026. Capital expenditures in the first quarter 2026 totaled $6 million, down 35% sequentially, representing approximately 2.4% of revenue. CapEx remained in line with Innovex's historical range of 2% to 3% of revenue despite ongoing facility integration efforts associated with the exit of the legacy Eldridge facility. Free cash flow was $14 million in the quarter, representing approximately 28% conversion of adjusted EBITDA. As a reminder, the first quarter is typically our weakest free cash flow quarter due to the timing of certain annualized cash payments. We also saw a temporary working capital build in the quarter, primarily related to the timing of collections and normal inventory movements, which we expect to moderate as the year progresses. Our capital-light model continues to support strong through-cycle free cash flow generation. We ended the quarter with approximately $201 million of cash and cash equivalents and no bank debt, providing significant financial flexibility. Our balance sheet strength supports a disciplined capital allocation framework centered on balancing organic investment with selective high-return M&A opportunities and opportunistic share repurchases. Our M&A pipeline remains robust, including a mix of smaller bolt-on opportunities like DIS as well as larger opportunities. That said, we will only execute where opportunities align with our big impact, small ticket strategy, can generate high gross margins with low capital expenditures, and can be acquired at reasonable multiples. This disciplined approach remains central to how we intend to create long-term shareholder value. Consistent with that discipline, we also repurchased over $14 million of our shares at a price of $24.59 per share, underscoring our confidence in the intrinsic value of Innovex and our commitment to thoughtful capital allocation. We were also pleased to see Amberjack complete a secondary sale of shares during the quarter. We believe the transaction broadened our public float and enhanced trading liquidity. Amberjack remains a valued long-term shareholder and partner. Return on capital employed for the 12 months ended March 31, 2026, was 12%. ROCE is impacted by our net cash balance sheet. We remain focused on achieving a long-term target of high teens ROCE via margin expansion, high-return M&A, and shareholder returns. Looking ahead to the second quarter of 2026, we expect revenue in the range of $235 million to $245 million and adjusted EBITDA of $43 million to $48 million. Our guidance reflects a less favorable product mix in the second quarter as well as the potential for sales disruptions and higher costs associated with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Even with those near-term pressures, we remain confident in our margin improvement trajectory as 2026 progresses, supported by continued share gains in U.S. Land, improving international activity, and the growing Subsea opportunity set that Adam discussed earlier. I'll now turn the call back to Adam. Adam Anderson: Thanks, Kendal. We are pleased with our start to 2026. We exceeded the high end of our guidance range, continued to improve margins, generated positive free cash flow, and strengthened our portfolio through the DIS acquisition. Just as importantly, we continue to build momentum commercially, particularly in Subsea, where recent wins reinforce the progress we are making with customers around the world. While near-term market conditions may create some quarterly variability, our priorities remain unchanged. We will continue to focus on gaining share, expanding our technology offering through innovation, improving operational efficiency, and deploying capital in a disciplined manner. We believe our integrated platform, strong balance sheet, and No Barriers culture, positions Innovex well to create durable long-term value. Thank you again to our employees, customers, and shareholders for your continued trust and support. Operator, we can now open the line for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Derek Podhaizer from Piper Sandler. Derek Podhaizer: Maybe first start on U.S. Land growth from here. Obviously, a great quarter. What are you seeing when you look out in the second quarter, maybe the back half of the year? One of the biggest E&Ps in the Permian just gave the industry the green light to add rigs and activity and completion. So maybe just help us understand your exposure into that, which specific product lines you are seeing gain the most traction or have the most potential to grow here and really take advantage of the E&Ps restarting a bit of work? Adam Anderson: Yes. Derek, thanks for the question. So I think up until now, the tone we have largely heard from our customers is, say, on the margin they are going to do a little bit of extra work, really around like workovers, maybe a couple of incremental DUCs that they were going to frac, which would -- all that would largely benefit our fishing tool and production accessory business. It does feel like in the last couple of weeks, there's been acceptance that maybe the price signals a little bit stronger for longer than people were expecting a couple of weeks ago. So I would expect that the rig count ticks up a little bit in North America Land the rest of the year. That particular customer, Diamondback, is an important partner of ours. We'd expect to benefit on all of our technologies leveraged to the drilling of new well count. So hard to tell from here. I don't think it's going to be a big, big ramp-up, but I think we do see a little bit of incremental addition to rig count between now and the end of the year. The other thing the benefit of our business model is we do not have to be great at predicting forward activity. We just have to be highly responsive to that activity as it ticks up or down. So it feels good right now, but we all know that, that can change a little bit in the near term. Derek Podhaizer: Yes. That is for sure. Maybe on your latest acquisition, Drilling Innovation (sic) [ Innovative ] Solutions, interesting here. Maybe just help us understand exactly what they do, maybe describe to us their product line, their service? Really curious around the commercial rationale with the platform that you created at Innovex driving those revenue synergies, putting it on the global platform, similar to what you have been able to really successfully accomplish with DWS and Citadel? So maybe just some help understand this a little bit better on what you plan to do with DIS here? Adam Anderson: Yes, so really excited about the DIS deal. Like you said, it's very similar to the Citadel and DWS acquisitions, really great products that fit nicely with our strategy of big impact, small ticket, capital-light products and an area where they can help us and we can help them. And what I mean by that is, in this case, a really strong team and products that our customers really are asking our salespeople about have been doing for a while. So it really helps. We think their team and kind of the halo effect of their products will help us on the margins, pull through more downhole tools in their core market, which today is largely the U.S. offshore. And then similarly, there's a home for their products in some of the international offshore markets as well as potentially on U.S. Land that was probably going to be hard for DIS to realize in the short term on a stand-alone basis. So we can help them there. With respect to their product, they really have 2 big products, one being the Gatekeeper product, which is a valve running the shoe track of liners in the U.S. offshore. That fits great with our float equipment business. We're running other products at that shoe track as well as our liner hanger business. So this is just an integrated part of that portfolio. And then they've got a valve called the Sentinel valve, which is a drill pipe valve used in underbalanced drilling applications, used a lot again in U.S. offshore. There's a variant for the U.S. market that they are just starting to roll out, that again fits really nicely with the legacy Innovex and our drilling enhancement business that we got through the DWS business. So yes, this is, I think, a great deal both for DIS as well as Innovex. So we are really excited about it. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Don Crist from Johnson Rice. Donald Crist: I wanted to ask about the Middle East. Obviously, there's a lot of talk about it. It doesn't feel like there's that many impacts in the first quarter. Can you just kind of explain whether or not you were running through inventory in the first quarter and that could have a bigger impact in the second quarter? Or just any comments around the Middle East given that the conflict continues to rage on? Adam Anderson: So. Yes, so we did have some impact in Q1, expect to have some impact in Q2 as well from the conflict. For us, the biggest area is some of the offshore markets, particularly in Saudi, has been impacted the most. Most of the land activity is still going, perhaps at a slightly lower pace than it was before. So we saw some impact. It's a little hard to quantify precisely. Certainly, our thoughts and prayers are with everybody in the region, and are pulling for a pretty quick resolution to the conflict for everybody's best interest. I think going forward, the other impact we're going to see in Q2 that we didn't have as much of in Q1 is just the logistical cost. To your point, we were pulling down -- we were serving our ongoing operations with inventory in the region to withstand a little bit of disruption in the supply chain. Q2, we have to airfreight some things in that we previously would have sea freighted in. And those -- as you can imagine, those airfreight rates are pretty high right now. So we will see a little bit of incremental cost burden tied to that as well as some other kind of onetime expenses. All that is baked into our Q2 guidance. Donald Crist: Okay. But going forward, it shouldn't be that big of an impact. Obviously, there will be some impact, but you are getting things into the region. Adam Anderson: Yes, for now, that's correct. So kind of what's baked into our forecast is that we are able to continue to get products and equipment in region, everyone is kept safe over there, and that activity levels are kind of what we see today is what we see for the rest of the quarter and that there's no meaningful change one way or the other in the region. Donald Crist: Okay. And just turning over to the optimization of the businesses and the manufacturing around the world. Obviously, we saw some good margins in the first quarter. Your goal is to come up a couple of more percentage points as we move through the year. But are there any milestones that we're really looking for? Is it Singapore ramping up? Or is it Vietnam ramping up or something like that, that's going to drive a lot of it? Or is Eldridge enough for it to see a boost as we kind of move through the rest of the year? Kendal Reed: Yes, so I think what we are really pleased with in the first quarter was how much progress we have made on that. What we had kind of told everyone previously is we're looking to be out of Eldridge by the middle of this year, which is still the target, but we were able to make a lot more progress on the manufacturing efficiency side in Q1 than even we had hoped. It has been a core initiative internally and kind of testament to all the good work that our team has been doing. So if you look at the gross margin improvement from Q4 to Q1, rough numbers, about half of that's going to be driven by product mix and about half of that's driven by improved manufacturing efficiency. So that was a big driver for the Q1 margin performance. Now, like we have always said, that's not going to be a smooth linear thing. We will make the final push here in Q2 to fully exit that Eldridge facility. We'll incur some moving costs to do that. So not to say it's going to continue to tick up at the same pace. But I think we've seen a big improvement on our manufacturing cost structure that we're really excited about through the rest of the year. But like you said, the big domino that has to fall is to fully exit Eldridge, get all that demand flowing through the other plants, and really realize the full benefits of that absorption. So I think that's what we are really focused on here in Q2 so that back half of the year, we're kind of in that consistently north of 20% EBITDA margin range like we talked about. Donald Crist: Okay. And if I could sneak in one more. Obviously, a good couple of orders in Asia. But just more broadly, can you talk about the offshore? Is energy security becoming more top of mind and you're seeing more operators accelerate plans or get more aggressive on plans going forward? Just kind of any comments around that? Adam Anderson: I think there is some talk of that. As you know, that is a really long-cycle business in the offshore market. So I -- We're not forecasting a really robust recovery in offshore right now as a direct result of the geopolitical situation we have seen over the last couple of months. We still feel like it probably does tick up a little bit here later this year into next year, but there has not been a massive response that we have seen from the customers yet. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Keith Beckmann from Pickering Energy Partners. Keith Beckmann: I was wondering, we talked a little bit about the Middle East and kind of the 1Q, 2Q impacts. I was wondering maybe, kind of following a little bit on Don's question, what are the additional potential work scopes you guys think you may see following the conflict if activity really starts to ramp? Is there any sort of products or anything in particular you think could be helpful to maybe a recovery in the Middle East whenever we get to that point potentially? Adam Anderson: Yes. So in the Middle East, most of our -- as it is true across the world, most of our business is tied to the number of new wells drilled and the complexity of those wells. One thing we do a lot of in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia in particular is we do a lot of workover work where they're taking existing wells and modifying them, drilling longer laterals, and we sell a lot of equipment and solutions into that application. So if that were to ramp up meaningfully on the back end of that, that's probably where we would see the biggest near-term tick up. As we talked about regularly, we have a nice fishing business, a nice artificial lift accessory business, if we do -- is a nice chunk of our business in the Middle East, although smaller. I think those things would also see a nice boost if there's really a lot of workover work, fishing activity, things like this to get existing wells back on production. Keith Beckmann: Awesome. That's really helpful. And then on my second question, I just wanted to ask around free cash flow conversion, how you guys are thinking about that now. Obviously, we're in a little bit of a different world. How should we be thinking about maybe working capital through the balance of the year? Is there potentially a little bit of a delay on customer payments early on that could potentially reversed into the back half of the year? Just any thoughts on free cash flow? Kendal Reed: Yes, thanks, Keith. It's a good question. So like we talked about on the Q4 call, Q1 is always seasonally our lowest free cash flow quarter. We have a number of annualized cash payments that hit in the first quarter. So not unexpected that cash was down. But as you pointed out, we did see a healthy working capital build in the quarter as well. Some of that's driven just by timing of customer payments that, yes, we would naturally expect to even out and be a nice tailwind to cash over the next few quarters. And then we did have some inventory build as well, hopefully gearing up for some increased customer activity. So those 2 things I would expect to normalize. And as we talked about, we're not going to specifically guide free cash flow. But given the kind of market dynamic we're in, we would expect to be kind of on or above the high end of that 50% to 60% through-cycle conversion that we talked about. So Q1, I expect to kind of be the low point for 2026 free cash flow. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Blake McLean from Daniel Energy Partners. Blake McLean: A lot of good stuff on here. I was hoping maybe we could just go back to the M&A stuff real quick. You guys have talked a lot about your pipeline and the potential deals, both small and large, that are in the marketplace. I was just hoping if you maybe talk a little bit about how a choppy macro environment kind of impacts what that pipeline looks like, your ability to move deals forward? Is there anything that changes in a market that feels a little more uncertain? Kendal Reed: No, it's a really good question. I mean, I guess I would say a couple of things about that. One is that when we are looking at acquisitions, we tend to underwrite deals over the long-term, right? So one, kind of building in a lot of room for error on the valuation side. We try and be pretty disciplined on valuation. And given the dynamic we've been in where there are just a lot more potential sellers and potential buyers, I think we've been able to benefit from that over the last several years. And then as Adam mentioned, we don't have to be that great in our business at predicting the future, what activity is going to do over the next couple of quarters. We're very responsive to that. And the types of businesses we look to acquire are generally more in line with that approach, right? These big impact, small ticket products, very little CapEx. So we can kind of benefit and create value through the ups and downs of the cycle. So I wouldn't say that changes our thinking too much other than, yes, it's going to have some impact on how you think about valuation and bid-ask spreads. And then, yes, the other thing I would say is just generally the private markets where we're mostly looking at acquisitions, react to news a lot slower than the public markets, which tend to be very forward-looking. A lot of times when we're looking at M&A deals, it's much more of a conversation about current run rate or trailing 12-month results, that type of thing. So it takes time for these things to get incorporated. So it doesn't have quite the same volatility in terms of valuation expectations. Operator: There are no further questions. I'd like to hand back for closing comments. Adam Anderson: Thanks, this is Adam again. Thanks, everyone, for taking the time today. Thanks for the questions. And really, another great quarter, really exceeded our expectations. And I just have to say thank you to our employees, our customers for all of the good work. I think this is really an exciting time, and we are thrilled with how things are progressing and look forward to the next couple of quarters rolling out. So I appreciate everyone joining us. Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect
Operator: Hello, and welcome to the Expro Q1 2026 Earnings Call. My name is Alex, and I'll be coordinating today's call. [Operator Instructions] I'll now hand it over to Dave Wilson, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Dave Wilson: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Expro's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm joined today by Mike Jardon, CEO; and Sergio Maiworm, CFO. Both Mike and Sergio will have some prepared remarks, after which we'll open the call for questions. In association with today's call, we have an accompanying presentation and supplemental financial information on our first quarter results. Both of these are posted on the Expro website, expro.com, under the Investors section. Before we begin today's call, I'll remind everyone that some of today's comments may refer to or contain forward-looking statements. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These statements speak only as of today's date, and the company assumes no responsibility to update such forward-looking statements. The company has included in its SEC filings, cautionary language identifying important risk factors that could cause actual results to be materially different from those set forth in any forward-looking statements. A more complete discussion of these risks is included in the company's SEC filings, which can be obtained on the SEC's website, sec.gov, or on our website, again, expro.com. Please note that any non-GAAP financial measures discussed during this call are defined and reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in our first quarter 2026 earnings release, which was issued this morning and can also be found on our website. With that said, I'll turn the call over to Mike. Michael Jardon: Thanks, Dave. Good morning, good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Expro's first quarter 2026 earnings call. I'll begin by reviewing the first quarter of 2026 financial results from today's press release. I'll then comment on the overall macro environment, provide some insight into our Middle East and North Africa region, talk a bit about our exciting news today with our Enhanced Drilling acquisition announcement, then revisit our outlook for the year ahead. And finally, I will then conclude with some operational highlights for the quarter. Sergio will then provide some further details on our financial performance by geographic region and address the company's ongoing capital allocation framework. Let's begin on Slide 3. During the quarter, the company experienced the usual first quarter seasonality we have in our business. And as a reminder, this seasonality is a result of winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere, which slows offshore activity due to ongoing winter storms and rougher than normal season. Additionally, the seasonal dip is also a result of our customers' CapEx and operational spend cycle that tend to be lower at the start of their annual budget cycles. This is generally more typical with our NOC customers. Additionally, our first quarter results were only marginally impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. I'm pleased to report that local emergency response plans were implemented quickly and the efficiency in which these actions were taken, and that all of our employees still in the region remain safe. I will go into more detail regarding our MENA region in a moment. But from an overall perspective, the disruptions to our Middle East business late in the quarter only had a minor impact on our operational and financial results during the quarter. For the quarter, the company generated $368 million of revenue and $63 million of adjusted EBITDA, representing a 17% margin. Adjusted free cash flow for the quarter was $3 million and was affected by changes in working capital, which Sergio will comment more on later in the call. Now taking an assessment of the current environment, we, like others, see a global energy market that is increasingly influenced by the heightened geopolitical tensions, commodity price volatility and an expanding focus on long-term energy security. At some point, the uncertainties will subside with the expectations that oil prices will reset and begin to stabilize once these disruptions ease. However, there is still a significant amount of disruption that will continue to have global implications in terms of not only near-term supply and demand dynamics, but also over the medium- and longer-term as countries and companies around the world look to prioritize energy security and what will be needed to achieve that. There has been intensified interest in strengthening supply resilience and geographic diversification, trends that could develop and will likely shape industry behavior longer-term. It is our fundamental view that the new normal will look different than it did before the Middle East conflict. Many believe it will still take some time before the industry returns to a more normalized state of operations, and we believe that it will be the end of the second quarter before we have a sense of complete clarity. We remain optimistic that resolution of the situation could begin sooner than that, but we'll adapt our operations appropriately. One industry behavior that we are confident with that we do not believe will change is that of capital discipline. In this light, we see offshore and deepwater developments remaining attractive, not only by providing stable, lower-risk growth pathways, but also from an energy security standpoint as well. We expect such projects will continue to drive demand for Expro's well construction and well management businesses. Additionally, brownfield optimization continues to see a growing focus as operators look to enhance production from existing assets to reduce capital risk. We believe this industry trend also presents an opportunity for Expro's technologies and services as well. We still expect activity to strengthen in the second half of the year, and with Expro's strong offshore and international positioning, along with its production optimization capabilities, believe the company is well positioned to manage near-term uncertainty and benefit from increased activity in the coming quarters and years. To summarize, Expro maintains a constructive outlook for 2026 and beyond, allowing us to continue supporting customers throughout the full life cycle of their assets. Moving to Slide 4, which reflects our MENA region. Oftentimes, when the MENA region is discussed, the focus is heavily on the Middle East portion, which is certainly understandable, and we have received our fair share of questions related to our exposure to countries in that region. Having lived and worked in that part of the world earlier in my career, I think it's helpful to give our stakeholders some more clarity on how Expro is exposed in the region. I'll look to address that really in 3 fundamental ways. First, for Expro, there's more of a balance between our Middle East and North Africa operations in terms of financial contribution, and there has been no disruption to our operations in North Africa. Second, to the countries in the Middle East, while we do have some exposure to countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, they do not carry as large of a contribution to our revenue or EBITDA generation. The biggest contributor in those regards is Saudi Arabia and to a lesser extent, the Emirates. And while there were some interruptions in those countries' operations, we have continued to have more normal operational cadence. Third, given the timing of the commencement of the conflict in the Middle East, there was only 1 month affected during the first quarter, so that too lessen the overall impact. Now moving to Slide 5. We're very excited to announce Expro's acquisition of Enhanced Drilling. Enhanced Drilling is an industry and technological leader in managed pressure drilling, or MPD, really focused in the deepwater offshore operations. For Expro, this acquisition adds a critical technology solution that is proven and is increasingly gaining traction within the industry. As structured, this acquisition will be immediately accretive to cash flows and EBITDA margins, and it adds over $275 million of order backlog. We see a lot of growth opportunities in the service line going forward, especially as part of the Expro platform. Due to our size and breadth, we are able to bring services and technologies acquired into new markets around the world. We have a proven track record of doing this with our most recent example of Coretrax acquisition that we completed back in 2024. Currently, Enhanced Drilling is operating primarily in offshore Norway and in the Gulf of America. And we see opportunities in the Caribbean, West Africa, Brazil and Australia, where this technology could benefit customers tremendously. Turning to Slide 6. Here's a quick summary of the transaction from a financial perspective. The purchase price is NOK 2 billion, which is currently equating to roughly USD 215 million. We expect some final adjustments to the purchase price based upon customary and working capital adjustments as the transaction is finalized and closed. Expro will utilize a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under the revolving credit facility to fund the acquisition. Current projections are for Enhanced Drilling to add more than $50 million to our annual run rate adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, with adjusted EBITDA margins over 30%, this acquisition will contribute to further EBITDA margin expansion. Finally, we anticipate that the transaction will close in the third quarter and based upon our understanding at this point, will likely be some time in the early part of the quarter. The next few slides provide a little bit more detail on Enhanced Drilling and some of its services and offerings along its riser-based and riserless solutions. We have provided these slides for informational purposes. Now let's jump ahead to Slide #10. On Slide 10, we're providing our 2026 financial guidance based upon what we currently see in the global market. In essence, this means no change to our previously established annual guidance for 2026. With the continued global conflicts, uncertainty still exists, which adds to the complexity of providing forward guidance. That said, however, we believe that current industry optimism is tangible, particularly towards the back end of 2026 and especially as we go into 2027 and beyond. We remain constructive and confident in our second half of 2026, and the associated ramp in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, seeing sequential improvements in each subsequent quarter. With regards to the impact of the Middle East conflict on our future results, assuming a resolution to the Middle East conflict by the end of the second quarter, we would expect the impact on our second quarter results to be in the $10 million to $15 million revenue range. Including the first quarter and projected second quarter, impact of the Middle East conflict would equate to approximately 1% of total company revenues for the year. It is also worth noting for the second quarter, those revenue impacts carry elevated decrementals for EBITDA calculations. In other words, the impacts are disproportionate on the revenue versus the costs. Regarding our confidence and the ramp-up for the back half of the year, there are a few aspects I'd like to highlight. We see opportunities in our North and Latin America region with subsea well access and well flow management projects in the Gulf of America, tubular sales and well intervention and integrity work in Colombia, all of which should contribute a healthy amount to the projected increases. In our Middle East and North Africa region, besides assuming a resolution in the Middle East by the end of the second quarter and a return to more normalized activity, we still expect increasing contributions from our North Africa operations, particularly around a sizable production solutions project. For the back half of the year, in our Asia Pacific region, we see our well construction and well management businesses in Southeast Asia contributing incrementally more, along with some subsea equipment sales in China. Additionally, we expect incremental contributions from our Coretrax product line across our geographic regions. In Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, while we do not expect much incremental growth in the back half of the year, we still expect operations there to be steady and be a sizable contributor to overall revenue and EBITDA. Finally, as we have mentioned before, we intend to expand our margins this year with the full year benefiting from our Drive 25 initiative and to improve our capital efficiency and wallet share with existing customers. Before moving on to our customer and technology highlights, I want to revisit a few attributes that we believe set Expro apart. These are included on Slide #11. Due to our breadth of services and technologies across the well lifecycle, we see opportunities to expand our wallet share with existing customers. Expro can leverage our installed base to provide additional services and technologies to customers, which adds value to their operations, while at the same time, helping to expand our underlying margins. Another thing that we see as distinct is our innovation and technology offerings. They are emblematic of how we see the industry evolving. Our technologies and our ability to address unique customer challenges place Expro as the vendor of choice for many of our customers and adds to the company's relevancy and longevity with those same customers. In addition to our service and technology breadth, we also have geographic breadth. Our global footprint enables us to leverage services and technologies, whether those are developed internally or acquired through M&A to be deployed in multi geographies where we operate. For example, as we've mentioned before, our acquisition of Coretrax in 2024. That business was operating in circa 15 countries at the time of the acquisition, but now we are deploying those technologies across over 31 countries. We plan to use a similar blueprint with the Enhanced Drilling acquisition, both in terms of integration, but also in terms of market expansion. Now moving on to our customer technology highlights for the quarter on Slide #12. During the first quarter, Expro continued to demonstrate its innovative technological capabilities with additional deployments and introduction of new technologies into the market. Similar to last quarter, we had several examples to choose from, but only a few to quickly highlight. In Norway, Expro successfully delivered a world-first fully remote completion joint makeup with a downhole control line and clamp without a single person in the red zone. The combination of these disruptive technologies enhances safety, increases execution and operational efficiency, and delivers consistent and repeatable outcomes. Another achievement during the quarter was Expro's iTONG offering, reaching a significant industry milestone. We have now successfully run and pulled over 1.2 million feet of casing and tubing in field operations since the technology was first deployed. This achievement underscores the iTONG growing momentum in the market with an increasing number of clients adopting the technology and experiencing its operational safety and performance advantages. Also during the first quarter, we launched Solus, a single shear-and-seal valve that replaces conventional 2-valve subsea well access systems. This technology reduces the complexity, operational risk, time and cost during subsea intervention and decommissioning operations. The last example I want to highlight is the successful deployment of our MultiTrace gas tracing technology for a customer that enabled accurate flow measurement on a large diameter flare system. This technology overcomes significant process challenges caused by the highly transient conditions surrounding the flow of gas and fluctuating gas consumption. MultiTrace allows accurate measurement of the flare gas in complex conditions, helping operators understand emissions and improve compliance without disrupting operations. At the heart of all these innovation examples and a common thread with all of them was the value creation for our customers. Before turning the call over to Sergio, I'd like to briefly revisit Expro's long-term strategic pillars, those we focus on to drive value for our shareholders. These are included on Slide #13. Expro's long-term strategy is to build a large diversified company that has increasing relevancy to our stakeholders, particularly our customers and our shareholders. Our relevancy to customers is built upon our service offering, including our innovative technologies, execution capabilities and market leadership positions. For shareholders, we continue to move forward, building a company that is able to generate healthy levels of free cash flow, which will be used to achieve our various capital allocation goals, all of which Sergio will expand on in his following comments. One of the pillars of the strategy that we have talked a lot about is our commitment to improve the company's financial profile. We have seen evidence of this over the last several years with EBITDA margin expansion and increasing free cash flow generation. These will remain in focus moving forward, and we expect to achieve further improvement through cost efficiencies and reducing our capital intensity. Another pillar and an important component of our strategy is our technology and innovation and how those are deployed into the market. We continue to develop and deploy new technologies into the market across our global footprint. Our expansive footprint also enables us to internationalize or globalize technologies, particularly those that we acquire through acquisitions that have limited geographic exposure, which leads to another component of our strategy, and that is to grow the company through scalable acquisitions like today's Enhanced Drilling announcement. The company has a strong track record of execution with acquisitions that we have made over the last several years. For these acquisitions and potential ones in the future, Expro looks to add to its services and technology offerings. In general, we seek opportunities with international and offshore exposure that have adjacent product offerings and are accretive to the company's financial position, again, very characteristic of today's announcement of Enhanced Drilling. Due to the slate of service offerings across the full well lifecycle, we have multiple avenues to pursue when looking at potential acquisitions. Our focus will continue to be on pursuing those that we believe will increase relevancy with our customers and shareholders. With that, I'll turn the call over to Sergio, to review our first quarter results in detail. Sergio Maiworm: Thank you, Mike, and good morning to everyone on the call. As we reiterated on our last call, Expro's quarterly results reflect the normal seasonality we experienced during the first quarter of the calendar year, caused primarily by -- as Mike mentioned -- the winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere and a slow start to customer spending. Again, this is normal seasonality and expected every year during the first quarter. With this backdrop, the company executed well on its operational and financial results. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA reflected the relative midpoints of the ranges we previously provided. Specifically to Q1, our adjusted EBITDA was $63 million with a margin of 17.1%, which is a decline from the previous quarter, but again, reflects the seasonality of the first quarter, and we expect sequential improvement for the remaining quarters of the year. Slide 14 illustrates our annual margin growth for the past few years. Even with these results and noting the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the modest headwinds those have created for us, we remain focused on expanding our margins in 2026, and the drivers of margin expansion for us remain the same. In the near term, those are reflected on Slide 15, and they are the full year impact of our Drive 25 cost efficiency initiative, increasing customer wallet share at higher margins and to continue to internationalize services and technologies acquired in previous acquisitions, spreading those into new geographic areas. The Enhanced Drilling acquisition we announced today will further help expand our margins. Not only is the margin in that business already greater than 30%, but the internationalization of that technology will expand our margins even further. In the medium term, we expect to increase our top line revenue, continue to gain customer wallet share and more fully utilize services and technologies acquired across our geographic areas in order to achieve the next milestone goal of adjusted EBITDA margins greater than 25%. Also acknowledging that possible future M&A may play a factor as well, which we have executed on with today's announcement regarding the Enhanced Drilling acquisition. We're also keenly focused on cash flow generation. And in Q1, Expro reported quarterly free cash flow generation of $3 million on an adjusted basis. This was admittedly light based on our own expectations, but was really driven by working capital changes that worked against us this quarter. Those changes were roughly $20 million more than what we had expected and was primarily driven by the increase in our accounts receivable balance and prepaid amounts included in our other asset balances. This phenomenon is just timing-related. And in fact, subsequent to the quarter end, we have already seen most of Q1 related collections being received, and we already experienced a significant improvement in our working capital balances. I personally expect the second quarter to be a very good collections quarter. Considering the already seen improvements in our working capital, our operational outlook and anticipated CapEx for the year, we still believe we'll generate a good level of adjusted free cash flow this year, in line with our annual guidance. Now quickly turning to the liquidity position. We have included this on Slide 16. The company closed the quarter with $517 million in total liquidity. That includes $171 million in cash on the balance sheet. At quarter end, we had $79 million outstanding on our revolving credit facility, which was consistent from the previous quarter and put the company's net cash position at approximately $92 million. Now obviously, with the Enhanced Drilling acquisition, those numbers will change as we are funding the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under the credit facility. At the end of the day, we're still in a very strong financial position with substantially less than 1x net debt to adjusted EBITDA. Having and maintaining a strong balance sheet positions the company well to execute on its other capital allocation priorities. These are highlighted again on Slide 17. Our capital allocation framework is designed to maximize long-term value creation. As we have mentioned before, there are 4 equally important capital deployment priorities: invest in the business with CapEx, providing organic growth that enhances our core capabilities, improves efficiencies and/or supports technological innovation across our service offerings. As a reminder, the vast majority of our capital expenditures are geared towards specific projects with known return profiles that meet or exceed our standards. I would reiterate, these are not speculative investments. Another capital allocation priority is to deploy capital to inorganic growth. Just like today's announcement, through M&A, Expro can and has completed acquisitions that add to the company's complement of services across the well lifecycle. Our M&A strategy is focused on opportunities that offer clear industrial logic, scalable technologies and synergies and the potential to expand our presence in attractive markets. We maintain a highly selective approach when looking at M&A to ensure only the value-accretive opportunities are pursued and pursued at the right price. Another key aspect of our capital allocation framework is a commitment to return cash to shareholders. As we have already stated, during the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 1.2 million shares for roughly $20 million. This puts us on a really good path to meet or exceed our current year target of returning at least 1/3 of free cash flow to shareholders. On the final leg of the stool in terms of capital allocation is something that I have already covered, and that is maintaining a strong balance sheet. In doing so, we have the financial flexibility and resilience to act on our other capital allocation priorities. For example, even with an unexpected subpar free cash flow generation during the quarter, we were still able to make significant process on our share repurchase target for the year and still maintain the company in a healthy net cash position. This last example also reflects our ability to manage our capital allocation priorities dynamically with one not dominating the ranking. Along those lines, it's important to note that even in a seasonally weak quarter, we were able to execute across all of these capital allocation priorities recently. We invested organically in our business through CapEx. We returned cash to shareholders. We executed on accretive M&A, and we maintained a strong balance sheet. Before turning to our segment performance, I do want to reiterate and summarize our financial outlook for 2026, as Mike previously addressed in Slide 10. Overall, we remain very optimistic with the industry outlook for the second half of 2026 and beyond. Our current projections assume the adverse impacts of the Middle East conflict we seen in the second quarter with no lasting impacts for the third and fourth quarters. And Mike alluded to several real and live opportunities across the regions that we see providing tangible sequential increases in the back half of the year, which when combined with the more favorable working capital changes will result in more significant free cash flow generation. Now I'd like to quickly address our segment performance this quarter. These are covered in Slides 18 through 21 in the accompanying presentation. Turning to regional results. For North and Latin America or NLA, first quarter revenue was $128 million, down just $2 million quarter-over-quarter, reflecting various puts and takes comprised of lower well flow management revenue in Guyana and reduced well construction revenue in the U.S. and Brazil, partially offset by higher subsea well access revenues in the U.S. and increased well flow management revenue in Mexico. Segment EBITDA margin at 20% was down compared to prior quarter at 24%. This decrease was primarily attributable to a less favorable activity mix in the region due to normal seasonality during the quarter. For Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa or ESSA, first quarter revenue was $114 million, also down just $2 million on a sequential basis due to lower well flow management revenues in Angola and Bulgaria and lower subsea well access and well construction revenue in Ghana, partially offset by higher well construction revenue in Ivory Coast. Segment EBITDA margin at 28%, was down sequentially, also reflecting an unfavorable product mix relating to a reduction of higher-margin projects given the normal 1Q seasonality. The Middle East and North Africa region, or MENA, though impacted to some extent by the Middle East conflict that began late in the quarter, still delivered a fairly solid quarter. Revenues of $82 million were down sequentially from the previous quarter of $93 million. The decrease in revenue was primarily driven by lower well flow management revenue in Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, together with reduced well intervention activity in Qatar due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. MENA segment EBITDA margin was 29% of revenues, decreasing from 39% in the prior quarter. The decrease in the segment EBITDA margin is consistent with the decrease in revenues and change in activity mix experienced during the quarter. Finally, in Asia Pacific or APAC, first quarter revenue was $44 million, a modest increase of $1 million sequentially. Here, the increase was a result of the puts and takes relating to higher subsea well access activity in Malaysia and increased Coretrax-related activity, partially offset by lower well flow management and subsea well access activity in Australia. Asia Pacific segment EBITDA margin at 16% of revenues was consistent with the prior quarter. With that reviewed, I'll turn the call back to Mike for a few closing comments. Michael Jardon: Thanks, Sergio. As we conclude our prepared remarks and before opening the call for questions, I'd like to conclude with the following comments. We share the industry's increased optimism over the medium and long-term, though recognizing it has come at a cost, both from a financial perspective, but also at a human level. I remain confident in the company and that our employees will continue to provide value-added services to our customers, which we intend to translate into value for our shareholders. As part of that, we continue to demonstrate our ability to execute across multiple capital allocation priorities and we'll continue to do so in the future. We thank our employees, customers and shareholders for their continued support and look forward to building on our momentum in the quarters and years ahead. Finally, I look forward to welcoming all the folks at Enhanced Drilling into the Expro family. We are very excited about the opportunities that we can jointly pursue. With that, we can open up the call for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question for today comes from Caitlin Donohue of Goldman Sachs. Caitlin Donohue: Can you walk us through your anticipated growth prospects with the acquisition of Enhanced Drilling, just the strategy of how you anticipate to further expand Expro's wallet share in certain geographies of existing services with the portfolio expansion with MPD? Michael Jardon: No, Caitlin, thank you for the question. And we're -- first off, we are so excited about the Enhanced Drilling acquisition. I mean, this is one we've been looking at and we've been working on for a while, and we've been able to get this closed out here over the last few weeks. And this is -- this really is beyond wallet share expansion for us. This really is a market share expansion opportunity. The technology has tremendous application. It's only in offshore, particularly deepwater, allows operators to drill more complex casing strings and those type of things because it's a dual gradient technology. So the predominant deepwater basins are really where this is going to have application. And as we talked about in the earlier and we've highlighted in the press release, today, it's really -- on the market penetration really has been in Norway and in some here in the U.S. Gulf. So places like Guyana has tremendous application. Brazil, especially with the sub-salt new applications, you start to move into West Africa, the Ghana, the Angola, Australia, I mean, this is a tremendously positive advancement for us that really allows us to expand our service offering into much more of the managed pressure drilling services. So the good thing for us is it's a very similar playbook to how we rolled out the technology from Coretrax. And so our ability, both from an integration standpoint as well as from a market penetration standpoint, we think we'll be able to do that. But I think over the course of the coming few months, we'll be able to get some good penetration into some of those key geographies and in particular, Guyana, to be frank. Caitlin Donohue: Just one more on my end. For the Drive 25 initiatives, bringing down costs over the long-term is a continued goal. Can you give some color on the progress there, particularly as now you have this Enhanced Drilling acquisition, some growth that you might now see from the expanded portfolio? Sergio Maiworm: Caitlin, this is Sergio. I'm happy to address that. So I mean, we are continuing with our cost outs, and we're continuing to make sure that we're getting as efficient as we can as a company. So this is a bit of an ongoing process, the efficiency gains, et cetera. I would say from a Drive 25, we've achieved way more than what we had set out to achieve initially. If you remember, at the beginning, we said that we wanted to take out about $25 million of costs per year. Then we actually increased that to $30 million per year. I think we're close to $40 million now, and a lot of those projects have already been completed. So you should see the full impact of that Drive 25 in our 2026 numbers and beyond. So all of those increased efficiencies, which means that we're taking some of these structural costs out of the system. This is not just we removed a number of people, given the level of activity that we have, but then we will have to bring those costs back into the system if the activity increases. These are sticky cost removals or meaning these are structural cost reductions that will give us a lot of operational leverage as we continue to see the market picking up in the second half of '26 and into '27. That will allow us to grow the top line without actually any meaningful increases in our -- or any increases to be frank, to our support cost structure. So that gives us a lot of incremental torque in the business and cash flow generation with that. Operator: Our next question comes from Eddie Kim with Barclays. Edward Kim: So obviously, the world has changed since your last earnings call. Are you seeing any noticeable change in your customer conversations? And if so, any specific products or business lines where you are seeing or where you expect activity to pick up meaningfully as a result of what's taken place over the past 2 months that's different from your expectations at the very beginning of the year? Michael Jardon: No, Eddie, and thanks for the question. Thanks for joining. I guess so. I was just in Asia here recently. And the Asia market is really -- there was an awful lot of customer conversation and dialogue around more production type projects, more OpEx-related type things, kind of incremental oil. So I think that's -- I think we're going to see that start to strengthen up. But also, quite frankly, both in Asia as well as other customer conversations I've had, there is much more of a situational awareness today around energy security. I think it's going to go well beyond the kind of phenomenon we saw in Europe to begin with, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. I think there's just a lot more situational awareness around that. So I think that's going to translate into especially some of the deepwater basins, those have got very efficient breakeven costs at this point in time, I think can help add to energy security. And frankly, that means what we're going to see is more drilling and completions type activity. And that's really kind of a sweet spot for us today with our well construction product line, with our subsea product line. And that's one of the reasons that I'm so excited about Enhanced Drilling, because I think you've even heard commentary from the drilling guys here over the course of the last couple of weeks. The second half of 2026, I think if 60 days ago, we thought it was going to be at x level. I think what we see now globally, it's going to be x plus some margin in the second half of the year. I think it's going to kind of step up and ramp up. More drilling activity means more well construction activity means more completion activity. And I think we're really well positioned for that. I think it just sets up 2027 and beyond to be even more robust. Edward Kim: Great. My follow-up is just on the Enhanced Drilling acquisition. Adoption of MPD has picked up a lot over the past several years. Do you have a sense of what the overall market penetration is of MPD globally? Just of the -- I don't know -- 130 deepwater rigs today, how many rigs are utilizing MPD today? And for this Enhanced Drilling acquisition specifically, is it more about market penetration into rigs that don't have MPD currently? Or is it more about replacing incumbents? Michael Jardon: Yes. No, Eddie, it's a really good question. I can say it's part of what we spend an awful lot of time trying to make sure we had a good understanding of as we went into the acquisition. So of those kind of 130-ish floating assets today, there's probably roughly 100 of those have MPD on them today. And with Enhanced Drilling, we've probably got less than a 10% market share today. All 130 of those rigs have an application, have an opportunity for Enhanced Drilling. The difference with this technology is because it's a dual gradient, it allows the operators to drill more complex geology, more complex reservoir pore pressures, also allows them to have different casing designs. They can run larger casing designs to much deeper in the well. So it's going to help them enhance them from a safety, from an operational type standpoint. So we really see of those 130 rigs, you could run this dual gradient technology on all 130 of them, probably not required on all 130 of them, but it's required on an awful lot more than a 10% market share we have today. So long answer, but it's more around displacement of current MPD techniques with this particular technology. Operator: Our next question comes from Keith Beckmann of Pickering Energy Partners. Keith Beckmann: I want to say congrats on the acquisition. Obviously, MPD is not bad to get into if the floater market plays out like we all hope it does. But I wanted to kind of think about the technology side of things, given it's tech day. So I was wondering if maybe given maybe improved 2027 thoughts, maybe how are you thinking about the timing of potentially rolling out technologies? And if you could just kind of talk through how you plan to capture the value and the deployment of those technologies. Michael Jardon: No. Keith, thank you. It's really so much of our innovation focus and our engineering efforts really today is on creating additional operational efficiency. I mean, the things we've done around Drive 25 and really trying to make sure we have sticky cost efficiency, cost-out efforts, we're trying to do the same thing from an operational standpoint. We're trying to reduce the number of personnel that are required. We're trying to make things more autonomous, to make things more repeatable and more -- just more efficient. And so some of the technologies I highlighted earlier around our remote clamp installation system, it really does that, reduces personnel, makes things more efficient. Our iTONG technology allows us to reduce the number of personnel, reduce personnel in the red zone. And we're trying to do the same thing with our well flow management, our well testing operations as well. We're moving to more automation. You're talking about a technology that's been in the industry for 70 years. We've been doing it for 50 plus, and we're actually bringing some efficiency to it. We're reducing the number of personnel that are required, and that brings more efficient operations, but frankly, also helps us with being able to redeploy those personnel to other operations. So it's really kind of that same mantra of efficiency, both from a cost standpoint, but also from an innovation, engineering, technology deployment standpoint as well. Keith Beckmann: Awesome. The second question that I wanted to ask was just around slight Middle East headwinds in 1Q, 2Q. But really, the thing that I wanted to hit on was, how do you expect that you guys could potentially participate in a recovery once the conflict is essentially over? Are there ways that you've identified or you think in particular, you could try to capitalize on potentially in the event that the Middle East needs to start producing a lot more? Michael Jardon: Yes. I mean, it's -- we've had a lot of conversations around the Middle East. Several of us internally have lived and worked in the Middle East earlier in our careers. And I think what we're going to see is we're probably going to observe a different customer and operating dynamic in the Middle East than what we have historically. I think we saw that starting with the Emirates now announcing that they're going to exit from OPEC. They've already been kind of not staying consistent with their production quotas and those kind of things. I think we're going to see much more of a drive for enhanced production and enhanced operations out of the Middle East. So I think that's going to allow us to participate because an awful lot of that is going to be around drilling and completions. And especially on the drilling side for our well construction portfolio, we think that's something we can continue to expand in that marketplace. I just -- philosophically, I mean, right now, our assumptions are that we've come back to kind of more of a normalcy in terms of security and those kind of things in the Middle East here in the second quarter. I think we're going to have to see how that plays out. It seems to be we get one message in the morning and then we get a different message in the afternoon with how things are progressing from a geopolitical standpoint from the Middle East. So we'll continue to be flexible and adaptable with our business and our operations. Short-term, we'll see how that plays out. I do think medium and long-term, the reservoirs are so prolific in the Middle East. They're going to have to play a really strong role in future global production. So I think it will be tremendous in the medium and long-term. We'll just have to kind of see with this choppiness, how that plays out here in the coming weeks and months. And hopefully, we're not talking quarters. Operator: Our next question comes from Josh Jayne of Daniel Energy Partners. Joshua Jayne: You highlighted no logistical issues today as a result of the conflict, but maybe you could just go into a bit more detail on how you're positioning yourself to not be impacted in the event that this goes longer than we all think it may. Michael Jardon: Yes, Josh, thanks for joining us. I think it's -- today, especially for our activity in the Middle East, the vast majority of our revenue and our service intensity comes from services. It doesn't come from product sales. So we're less dependent upon the ability to transport equipment and gear into the region. So in the short-term, it hasn't had a significant effect on us. But frankly, we go beyond weeks and months and we start talking about quarters of conflict, it will become a little bit more of a constraint for us just because we actually have to be able to ship in M&S supplies for maintenance and those type of things. Those tend to be smaller volumes, smaller items that can come in via land, they can come in via air. So right now, we just don't see a significant impact in it. But if this goes on for an extended period of time, and frankly, I personally don't see anything that makes me think that this is going to go on for an extended period of time, we could get to the point where we would have an impact. But today, it's just not because of the makeup of our business and our activity in the Middle East, much more service related, just not having a tremendous influence today. Joshua Jayne: Okay. And then I just wanted to touch on the acquisition one more time. You talked about expanding it geographically as it's obviously relatively well concentrated today. You mentioned Guyana as an opportunity, for example. Maybe just could you go into a bit more detail on how long -- how long it may take once you're fully on board? Do you think it takes to really start to see diversification in the business and just how you're thinking through that a bit more would be great. Michael Jardon: No. I mean, Josh, it's another -- it's a good question. I appreciate you following up. I mean, this is one where the playbook that we've gone through for Coretrax is we've been very intentional on we're going to go to country A first. We're going to go to country B, second. We're going to go to country C, third. We did it in a very specific order because we wanted to maximize the market penetration. We want to maximize the pricing, and we'll go through that same type of process with Enhanced Drilling. The good thing here is, from a technology standpoint, this is so critical and really brings so much value to the operators that it almost sells itself. I think part of the challenge and part of why that management team is so excited to be part of a bigger platform is we've got more channels. We've got more customer engagements. We've got more opportunities to do that. So I think one of our -- and I don't want to call it limitation, but I think one of our throttling mechanisms here is going to be really our ability to -- from a CapEx standpoint to deliver additional incremental systems. We've got a certain number in flight right now, and we'll have to go through and reevaluate which markets we think we can get penetration in. So it's going to be the deepwater basins. We're going to focus on those. It brings efficiency. It brings additional safety. And frankly, I think brings -- could potentially bring an overall cost reduction element to the operators as they can start to change some of their casing designs, I think that brings some tremendous flexibility. So long answer, lots of things to say there, but I think it's part of what you'll really be able to hear from us over the course of the next few months as we start to move that thing forward, get it closed and then being able to really start to action and implement it. You'll hear a lot more about our plans on some of those things. Operator: Our next question comes from Derek Podhaizer of Piper Sandler. Derek Podhaizer: Sorry if I missed this before, I jumped on a little late here, but hoping to get some more color around the 2Q guidance. Just trying to think through it. We obviously, get the seasonal rebound, some margin expansion, but then trying to interplay of the $10 million to $15 million impact from the current Middle East conflict. You said that's going to come with fairly high decrementals, but just also just trying to think of the shape of the recovery as you maintain the full year guide and the big -- the sharp step-up in the second half of the year. So maybe just some help on second quarter would be great. Sergio Maiworm: Derek, this is Sergio. Happy to answer those. So I mean, as we've mentioned before, even before the conflict began and now it's even more so, this is going to be a stair step type of results, right? So second quarter results are going to be higher than first, and third is going to be higher than second and et cetera. So that is the shape of kind of how we should think about kind of revenues and EBITDA and cash flow generation throughout the year. So just kind of just using that as a starting point, as we talked about second quarter will have about $10 million or $15 million impact on our revenue generation in the Middle East because of the conflict. That comes with pretty high decrementals. So you shouldn't assume that there is a pretty significant EBITDA deficiency on that as well. So if you think more about a little bit of the third quarter is a bit of the fulcrum here. So if you think there's so much kind of EBITDA and cash flow that we need to generate throughout the rest of the year and assuming that second quarter is going to be better than first, but not quite as high as the third. So that kind of gives you a little bit of that shape of the recovery there, if that helps you. Derek Podhaizer: It does. Maybe just a bit of a holistic question, just given the Enhanced Drilling acquisition, which was pretty accretive. But just thinking about consolidation in the offshore space, we've seen it on the floater side. We've seen it with support vessels, decommissioning, P&A, obviously, Enhanced Drilling with you guys more through a technology lens. But just given we're entering this what appears like a multiyear up cycle in offshore, what else could we expect from the markets from a consolidation lens to keep up with the demand of these upstream customers that are about to deploy multiyear development projects? Just maybe some thoughts around what you could see when we look out over the next few years from a consolidation standpoint. Michael Jardon: Yes. Derek, it's Mike, and thanks for the question. I think it's -- you're asking the really key important element there. And it's -- for us, we're more relevant today post the Enhanced Drilling acquisition than we were yesterday. We need to continue to become more relevant to our customers. And if we're more relevant to our customers, I know we can be more relevant to investors. I think we need to continue to have consolidation in the market. I think especially offshore, international type areas, I think we need to continue to start to try to see that. We're active in it every day of the week. This is another acquisition. I think some of you heard me refer before that I really like the -- my 7-year-old grandson math. This is another one of those. My 7-year-old grandson can do the math to figure out this one is accretive. So we continue to look for those kind of opportunities. We continue to try to do things that help us be more relevant for our customers. I'm going to be particularly excited to talk to customers about Enhanced Drilling, because I think it's going to be like some of the other acquisitions we've made, it's going to make perfect sense to them why that brand under the Expro umbrella is really going to make a lot of sense. So we continue to be active in it. We continue to -- we're not just trying to become big for bigger sake, but we're trying to become more relevant to our customers. And I think that's where we'll continue to have our efforts. Some of it's going to be technology focused. Some of it's going to be market expansion focused. Some of it's going to be geographic expansion. It's all those kind of things that we continue to really put a lot of emphasis on internally. Operator: At this time, we currently have no further questions. Therefore, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.
Operator: Hello, everyone, and welcome to SSR Mining Inc.'s first quarter 2026 conference call. This call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Alex Hunchak from SSR Mining Inc. Please go ahead. Alex Hunchak: Thank you, Operator, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining today's conference call to discuss SSR Mining Inc.'s first quarter 2026 financial results. Our consolidated financial statements have been presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These financial statements have been filed on EDGAR and SEDAR, and they are also available on our website. There is an online webcast accompanying this call; you will find the information to access the webcast in this afternoon's news release and on our corporate website. Please note that all figures discussed during the call are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Today's discussion will include forward-looking statements, so please read the disclosures in the relevant documents. Additionally, we refer to non-GAAP financial measures during our remarks and in the accompanying slides. See our press release for information about the comparable GAAP measures. Rodney Antal, Executive Chairman, will be joined by Michael J. Sparks, Chief Financial Officer, and William MacNevin, EVP, Operations and Sustainability, on today's call. I will now turn the line over to Rodney Antal. Rodney Antal: Great. Thank you, Alex, and good afternoon to you all. It has been a strong and productive start to the year, and I am proud of the outstanding work delivered across the company in recent months. Most notably, in March, we announced and advanced a definitive agreement to sell our interest in the Çöpler mine for $1.5 billion in cash. This transaction is progressing well, and we expect it to close before the end of 2026. The divestment of Çöpler provides a strategic repositioning for SSR Mining Inc. as a focused Americas-based gold and silver producer with a clear emphasis on free cash flow generation. Our portfolio is now anchored by the Marigold and Cripple Creek & Victor operations, two high-quality, long-lived assets that together form the third-largest gold production platform in the United States. Both operations offer meaningful runway to future growth and mine life extensions. Operationally, it was a solid quarter with our results tracking well against our internal plans and full-year guidance. Financially, the business generated an impressive free cash flow of more than $210 million in the first quarter of the year. As a result, and following the settlement of our convertible notes in March, we finished the quarter with more than $630 million in cash and zero debt. Our substantial cash position provides us with a robust balance sheet and flexibility to continue to invest in the organic growth opportunities across the portfolio and consideration for further capital returns to shareholders in the future. On that note, we completed $300 million in share repurchases, acquiring more than 9 million shares subsequent to the quarter in April. Since 2021, we have repurchased over 29 million shares at an average price of $21 per share, underscoring our disciplined capital allocation strategy and delivering meaningful per-share value accretion to our shareholders. I am sure you will agree that after a busy and successful first quarter, we have created a very strong position for SSR Mining Inc. moving forward. We expect our low-risk, Americas-focused platform and track record of disciplined capital allocation will position SSR Mining Inc. as an attractive vehicle for investors seeking exposure to both gold and silver in the Americas. Before I move on to the next slide, I want to highlight some of the catalysts ahead for our business. First, we expect to provide an updated life-of-mine plan for Marigold in the coming 12 months, incorporating growth opportunities like Buffalo Valley as we push to optimize and extend mine life at Marigold. Next, we are continuing to advance various brownfield growth opportunities across the business, including both Puna and Seabee. William is going to speak more on these in the coming slides. Further, we anticipate providing an update on our strategic review of Hod Maden in the coming months. Lastly, as noted, we expect the Çöpler transaction to close before the end of the third quarter, which will add a further $1.5 billion in cash to our balance sheet. These catalysts in and of themselves present an opportunity to create additional value for our shareholders and will be further bolstered by the ongoing free cash flow from our Americas operations. Let us move on to Slide 4 and talk more about our track record of value creation. The figures on this slide illustrate a powerful picture of discipline and value creation. Over the past few years, we have clearly demonstrated a track record of value creation in per-share metrics, capital returns, and M&A. I have spoken to our commitment to capital returns and particularly share buybacks, but separately, we also have a clear track record of value-accretive M&A. This was most recently illustrated by the remarkable returns being generated from the acquisition of Cripple Creek & Victor in 2025. This is further supported across the portfolio where we have consistently demonstrated our ability to add value through mine life extensions and optimizations. These successes combined with a supportive gold price environment have driven a more than 300% increase in our consolidated consensus net asset value per share since 2024 and a better than 400% increase in consensus cash flow per share over the same period, a fantastic outcome that differentiates SSR Mining Inc. amongst its peers. I am going to turn it over to Michael on Slide 5 to discuss the quarterly results. Michael J. Sparks: Thank you, Rod, and good afternoon, everyone. In the first quarter, we produced 110 thousand gold-equivalent ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $2,433 per ounce, well aligned with our expectations. As highlighted in our guidance release, we continue to expect 55% to 60% of full-year production in the second half with higher sustaining capital spend in the second and third quarters. William will speak in more depth about each operation in the coming slides, but I wanted to call out two notable milestones from the Q1 results. First, Puna delivered more than $120 million in site-level free cash flow in the quarter, an excellent result that reinforces Puna's position as one of the highest-margin primary silver mines globally. We are excited about the opportunities for meaningful mine life extensions and are advancing these programs through 2026. Second, following another strong quarter from CC&V, the operation has now generated approximately $325 million in mine site free cash flow since its acquisition in 2025. This is a phenomenal result given the $275 million acquisition cost and the long mine life ahead for the operation. Overall, it was a strong and solid start to the year operationally, and we look forward to building on this momentum through the rest of the year. Now let us move to Slide 6 for a brief review of our financial results. Our solid operational results translated into strong first quarter financials, including nearly $600 million in revenue and 113 thousand ounces of gold-equivalent sales. With the sale of our ownership in Çöpler announced in March, the asset is now classified as a discontinued operation in our financial reporting. The results from discontinued operations largely reflect a one-time non-cash adjustment to fair book value on the announcement of the sale of Çöpler. Looking at the rest of the business, net income from continuing operations in 2026 was $1.16 per diluted share, while adjusted net income per diluted share was $1.15. Free cash flow from continuing operations in the quarter was $211 million. This strong free cash flow increased our cash position to $634 million at the end of Q1, inclusive of the $87.5 million contingent payment made to Newmont during the quarter as part of the CC&V transaction. Also during the quarter, we fully redeemed our outstanding convertible notes, leaving the balance sheet debt free as of March, and with total liquidity of $1.1 billion. As Rod mentioned, subsequent to quarter end, we completed $300 million of share repurchases under our buyback program, reflecting our continued commitment to shareholder returns. Looking ahead, we expect our ongoing free cash flow combined with proceeds from the sale of Çöpler before the end of 2026 will further strengthen the balance sheet and enhance our ability to continue to allocate capital with discipline while prioritizing high-return growth opportunities and long-term value creation. Before turning the call over to William, I will briefly touch on global cost pressures with a focus on fuel. At Marigold and CC&V, nearly 70% of our diesel exposure is currently mitigated through zero-cost collars executed in late 2025, which extend through 2026. At Seabee, diesel is secured through annual winter road deliveries, and at Puna we are not currently seeing meaningful impacts given domestic supply conditions. As a guide for the remainder of 2026, for every $10 per barrel increase in oil prices, it translates to approximately a $7 to $10 per ounce increase in our consolidated AISC. We will continue to monitor fuel markets closely as we maintain a disciplined focus on cost control and operational efficiency across the portfolio. Now over to William on Slide 7. William MacNevin: Thanks, Michael. I will first start with EHSS. Getting our people home safe and healthy each and every day is foundational for our business. This is highlighted in one of SSR Mining Inc.'s three core values, being safety first, always. This year, as part of our ongoing improvement focus, we are commencing implementation of I Care We Care across SSR Mining Inc. This is a safety leadership and culture program prioritizing people and how we each own and take responsibility for ourselves, our workplace, and our teams. I am very encouraged by the energy and input coming through from this early work and look forward to this making a difference in both people's safety and overall business performance. Now on to Slide 8 to start with Marigold. Marigold had a solid start to the year with production results well aligned with expectations. We continue to expect full-year production at Marigold will be 55% to 60% weighted to the second half of the year, driven largely by higher grade stacked midyear. AISC at Marigold are expected to peak in 2026, driven by timing of spend on fleet replacements and upgrades. Full year remains on track against the original guidance range. We are seeing cost pressures stemming largely from higher royalty costs driven by gold prices. Nearly three-quarters of our diesel fuel usage at Marigold and CC&V is hedged for this year, which has helped to insulate us against the current elevated fuel prices globally. Our focus remains on equipment productivities, maintenance quality, and efficiency with consumables to manage current and potential future inflationary pressures. Work continues on growth initiatives across Marigold, particularly at Buffalo Valley, as we work to include the project into an updated life-of-mine plan at Marigold within the next 12 months. We have also had some great results from near-mine drilling across the property, including some high-grade intercepts at DG-80 targets to the southwest of the current Mackay Pit. Our teams are also continuing to evaluate longer-term open pit expansions at New Millennium. These initiatives combined with additional near-mine drilling campaigns and project evaluation work point to significant potential for mine life extensions at Marigold in the future. We are excited by what is ahead and look forward to providing more details in the new technical report. Now on to Slide 9 for an update on CC&V. CC&V had another great quarter with better than expected recoveries driving strong production and delivering more than $120 million in mine site free cash flow. Since acquisition at the end of last February, CC&V has now generated $325 million in free cash flow, an excellent result that now exceeds the total transaction consideration in just 12 months. CC&V remains well on track against its full-year production and cost guidance targets, with higher sustaining capital expected in the second and third quarters. We are continuing to evaluate opportunities to improve the longer-term production and cost profile of CC&V through trade-off studies and potential for future mineral reserve conversion. CC&V has an exciting future ahead, and we look forward to continuing to deliver value at that operation going forward. Now on to Slide 10 to discuss operations at Seabee. First quarter at Seabee saw our continued focus on underground development as we aim to deliver stronger grades and production in the second half of the year. Production was also impacted by extreme cold in the quarter, which caused some temporary downtime in the processing plant. AISC reflected costs incurred with the winter road season, and overall, Seabee remains on track for its full-year guidance ranges. Exploration and resource development activities at both Santoy and Porky continued in the quarter, with both programs targeting potential mineral reserve growth. At Santoy, near-mine drilling is focused on higher grades at depth, while our teams continue to evaluate Porky as a potential new mining front to support future mine life extension. Now on Puna on Slide 11. Puna continued its recent run of excellent operating results with a strong first quarter. Average daily processing plant throughput set another record, the fifth consecutive quarter Puna has delivered improvements in process plant efficiency. As planned, mining was focused on waste stripping in the quarter, and Puna remains well on track for full-year production and cost guidance. Average realized silver prices in 2026 exceeded $90 per ounce, enabling Puna to deliver more than $120 million in mine site free cash flow in Q1. Puna has been an excellent contributor to the business over the last few years and continues to clearly demonstrate its exceptional margins and free cash flow in the current silver price environment. We are advancing a number of opportunities to extend the current life at Puna, including additional laybacks at the existing Chinchillas pit, evaluation of the Malena target adjacent to Chinchillas for open pit potential in the medium term, and continued advancement of the Cortaderas underground project. With multiple avenues for growth at Puna, we are very excited for the future of this operation and see potential to meaningfully extend the mine life well beyond our current reserve base. On to growth on Slide 12. I have touched on the majority of these projects and targets as we worked through each asset, but it is still worth highlighting the wealth of potentially meaningful growth opportunities that currently exist across our portfolio. These projects have been identified through successful exploration and development work completed at each asset in recent years. In my view, there is no better way to serve value for our shareholders than through the advancement of organic growth opportunities. It is also important to note these projects are compelling at current mineral reserve prices of $1,700 per ounce of gold and $20.50 per ounce of silver. We do certainly see future upside at each of these assets, but we will be diligent in ensuring we advance the highest-returning growth opportunities. I am excited about the growth potential of this portfolio and look forward to executing on these opportunities to deliver value for our shareholders. I will turn back to Rod for closing remarks. Rodney Antal: Great. Thanks, everyone. With such an important and transformational quarter behind us, our focus is now on building on this momentum during the remainder of the year. We are in an excellent position and have a number of meaningful catalysts ahead of us as I mentioned in the introduction to this call. With a low-risk, Americas-based business, continued delivery of strong operating results, organic growth initiatives, and the potential for further capital returns, we are well positioned to benefit from the ongoing re-rate of SSR Mining Inc. So with that, I am going to turn the call over to the Operator for any questions. Thank you. Operator: We will now open the call for questions. Thank you, Mr. Antal. We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question is from George Eadie with UBS. Please go ahead. George Eadie: Yes, good evening, team, and thanks for the call and nice update today. On the Hod Maden strategic review, can you just remind me what are the goals and what does it look like? I guess my question is if a sale is concluded as the outcome, do we have to wait another two or so quarters for that process to run and then another couple of quarters to close? And I guess, could we be 12 months away from that deal closing if a sale is the decided outcome? Rodney Antal: Yes, hi, George. No. We have not really given much guidance on the process that we are going through other than to obviously announce, with the sale of Çöpler back in March. I think the objective of the review was to consider all of the options from actually building the project all the way through to sale. And then within sale or other strategic options to remove ourselves from Hod Maden and what does that mean, because there are multiple ways that can be achieved. Other than we are still in the process of doing that and going through those different trade-offs, there is really not much else to update you on, and I think some of the details that you are looking for here will come once we set a clearer picture for the direction. George Eadie: Okay. Yep, that is cool. Thank you. And then just two payment questions. Can you remind me what the Carlton Tunnel payment is at CC&V? And then secondly, just with the buyback, $300 million bought back 9.2 million shares. That says $32.6 a share average, but the shares were only really in that range for about five days in April. Is that right, or am I missing anything there, or you just bought at that little peak in early April? Michael J. Sparks: Yeah, George, I will take the second one first and then circle back to the Carlton Tunnel. With the share buyback program that we announced in the middle of the quarter, we did put an NCIB in place which allows us to give directions to the banks to exercise that outside of us having material information. That process did move very quickly in a range anywhere from $21 up to $32, but with the volatility of the price during that period, it did come in around that $32 a share average. Circling back to Carlton Tunnel, the $87.5 million that we paid to Newmont during the quarter was for the Carlton Tunnel milestone, and that leaves one more $87.5 million additional payment which would come in connection with the Amendment 14 and the updated closure plan to that site as we look at that deal structure. George Eadie: Okay. Yep, awesome. And so if Amendment 14 closes, say, in some months, whenever it is, that payment is straight after you get that approval. Is that right? Michael J. Sparks: Yes, that is right. Amendment 14 remains on track, anywhere from 12 to 18 months is kind of what we are penciling in, and then that payment will be due once that work is completed and that permit is issued. Rodney Antal: I will just chime in here a little bit, George. It is all going to plan, and we are leading that work now. William and the team have taken that over, and the work that we have done to establish our presence with the community in Colorado and also locally down at Cripple Creek has gone really well. So that is all tracking to plan. Analyst: Thank you, Operator, and good evening, Rod and team. Thank you for today’s update. Could I ask about the buyback and just thinking about your situation today, the balance sheet is very strong, the outlook for free cash flow generation is quite robust. You mentioned an intention to look at the buyback again, and now the buyback authorization is totally exhausted. Why not go to the board prior, along with the results, and ask for the renewal then? And what is your thinking on timing around a renewal? Rodney Antal: I think it is important to take a step back to take a step forward. The share buyback that we just executed, particularly on the announcement of the Çöpler sale, made a lot of sense to do, and it was executed very quickly given the parameters that we had put in place. The step back that I am talking about now is that post the incident where we suspended our capital allocation strategy with Çöpler a few years ago, we said once we have clarity on the outcome post that, we would then go back and have a look at our capital allocation and reimplementing and reinstituting it. That is what we are doing at the moment. The work around more holistically how do we manage our capital allocation, and then looking at the requirements for the business in the future with all the various growth opportunities we have in front of us, the balance sheet, and other things before we go and make our mind up on the mechanisms we use for returns to shareholders. That work is underway with Michael and the team. Analyst: So part of it is just a discussion between whether it is going to be increased dividend or increased buyback, rather than just whether you are going to do it? Rodney Antal: I would not say increase because we have not got a dividend in place at the moment because we suspended it, and that is the point. It is a question of whether we reinstitute our yields that we had in place before. We actually had that way back in 2021, as well as supplementing that through the share buyback program. That was how we had managed it before with the three pillars: balance sheet strength, growth, and returns. It is really just pulling all that work together with the emerging growth opportunities we have as well to ensure that we are making sound decisions. Analyst: Fully acknowledging those growth opportunities, I think it would be interesting to hear your views on M&A, particularly in light of your strong free cash flow and balance sheet position. That must compete with options within the portfolio, I assume. What is SSR Mining Inc.'s appetite right now for growth through M&A? Rodney Antal: If you go back to the start of the call, the reason we go to the pains of setting out our track record around M&A is to highlight we have been really good stewards of capital for a long time. We look at a lot of opportunities; we have never made a secret of the fact that we are active, always looking at different trade-offs and different opportunities around the market. When we do bring deals to the table and to our shareholders, there is usually a multiple of upside, and the results speak for themselves. That is part of who we are, and I think we are particularly good at it. We have a number of filters that we look at for M&A through any cycle. It has to align to our business strategy. It has to compete for capital. It has to make sense for us in terms of what we want to build. We have a particular focus now, with the reset of the business, on the Americas. That is a bit of a nuance to what we had before, but beyond that, we are staying active in that space. Operator: The next question is from Josh Wolfson with RBC. Please go ahead. Josh Wolfson: Thank you very much. Following up on the question about the buyback and capital allocation, I can appreciate the company’s desire to be measured here, but with pro forma net cash over $2 billion and $200 million generated in free cash flow this quarter, why not continue a little bit of the buyback in the interim before closing of Çöpler? Or is there another way that we should be thinking about this in terms of maybe capital needs being higher for some of the development projects? Thank you. Rodney Antal: Hi, Josh. Look, I think it is pretty simple. First things first, we want to close the deal and get the cash into the bank. That is really important through any transaction, and, as we said, we expect to achieve that within the third quarter. That is the most important catalyst. It does not mean we cannot do more share buybacks, but as we noodle through the various options and have the discussions with the board, the work that Michael and the team are doing really needs to be as holistic and predictable as possible. It is not because we have an aversion to doing any more share buybacks. It is really around just getting the deal closed, getting the cash in the bank, and then the rest will come. Josh Wolfson: Thank you. And then on Hod Maden, you had signaled minimal costs. You did spend $31 million in the first quarter. How should we think about what minimal costs are going forward? Michael J. Sparks: Yeah, Josh. A lot of the work under Hod Maden right now is around early site works. That is where you are seeing the majority of that $31 million coming in. A lot of that was advanced during the first part of Q1. We anticipate that as we go through the strategic review in the coming months that will be much lower. It will not be zero, but it will be towards the lower end of that range. Josh Wolfson: Got it. Thank you. And then there was some commentary earlier on the call about fuel price sensitivity, thinking of $7 to $10. Just clarifying, what does that number incorporate? Does it reflect the hedging program that is in place, and does that include secondary impacts that may not be just direct fuel usage? Michael J. Sparks: You bet. The hedge program goes through the end of this year, so that $10 per $10 oil move in AISC is really tied to this year with the hedge programs in place. Without the hedge programs, if we do not have anything in place going into 2027, that goes up to about double that, which is $20. Only about 10% of our operating costs are fuel. As William mentioned, we are focused on operational efficiency and controlling those costs. It is a bit early to look at the knock-on effects; we are monitoring it, but we are not seeing anything that is tangible at this point. We will continue to update as the year progresses. Operator: The next question is from Ovais Habib with Scotiabank. Please go ahead. Ovais Habib: Hi, Rod and SSR team. Congrats on a Q1 beat. Great to see CC&V outperforming. The amount of free cash flow this operation is generating is really impressive. Just a couple of questions from me. Sticking with CC&V, just a follow-up question regarding the Carlton Tunnel payment. Is there a positive read-through on the fact that you made this payment in terms of Amendment 14 permitting, and is that coming imminently? Rodney Antal: No. They are mutually exclusive. Think of it the other way. Amendment 14, as you recall, we put out the technical report for Cripple Creek as the first update from SSR Mining Inc. It was constrained around the already-in-process Amendment 14, which is an expansion permit that Newmont had already begun when we acquired the asset. The Carlton Tunnel discussions and considerations were another unique piece of work going on with the regulators around the long-term management of the water discharge. So it is entirely separate from Amendment 14. Ovais Habib: Got it, thanks for the color on that. Moving on to the mine plan expected at Marigold that includes Buffalo Valley, are you expecting any significant improvement in the production profile, or are you looking more at an increase in mine life? Any color on that? Rodney Antal: The first priority is to include some of the growth options we have to understand the requirements for those growth options—permitting requirements, where we might need more infrastructure, where we might need to develop a new area, where we might need to do more technical work—to ensure we are in good shape for that growth profile. Some of those growth options will feature later in the life of Marigold, not so much initially, because of permitting and other requirements. Some of it is to do trade-offs across various parts of the property—southern part around New Millennium and Buffalo Valley, and some of the extensions there—to see whether we could share infrastructure rather than having long haulage. There are optimization opportunities as we go through the mine plans. In the initial years, the key focus is to show and demonstrate that we have production that now accounts for the blending requirements we talked about last year. The importance is having different faces open to allow for blending requirements of the final ore on the heap leach pad. The next five years, as we said at the end of last year, will probably stay about the same overall, but then the growth options beyond that can bring in ounces where we can along the way and extend the life of mine at Marigold, which has a substantial amount of resources. Operator: The next question is from Cosmos Chiu with CIBC. Please go ahead. Cosmos Chiu: Hey, thanks, Rod and team. My question is on the contingent payment related to the Carlton Tunnel—$87.5 million. If I go back to your original agreement, it was due when there is regulatory relief relating to flow-related permitting requirements, achieving highest feasible allocation, or an alternative to water flow. I guess you have achieved that point. Could you explain what that means and where we are today in terms of that water flow? Rodney Antal: This remains a Newmont-led piece of work. They did achieve some of the permitting requirements from the regulators in Colorado that necessitated us paying that $87.5 million milestone. In layman’s terms, they achieved what they set out to achieve. There is ongoing dialogue by Newmont with the regulators to consider the overall requirements for what is going to be the ultimate plan for the Carlton Tunnel discharge—whether it needs intervention through some sort of water treatment facility in the long term, etc. Remember, the way that we carved that out through the deal was that it would always be on Newmont’s account. It is important that they take the lead on that and continue that dialogue. We are a stakeholder, but not a stakeholder who is leading the discussions on this. Cosmos Chiu: Maybe a question on Çöpler. As you had mentioned in your guidance, there was about $80 million to $100 million in care and maintenance costs budgeted for the full year. If I take the difference of your free cash flow in Q1—$210 million—and $175 million, the difference is about $35.6 million. Is that related to care and maintenance for the quarter, which seems a bit high because you had guided to about $20 million to $25 million? What should we expect in Q2, and when would it stop? Would it stop only when you close the deal? Michael J. Sparks: Yes, Cosmos, a couple of points on that. In Q1, you will remember there are a number of tax and license renewals, so our Q1 costs—care, maintenance, and otherwise—are always a little bit higher. The original guidance of $20 million to $25 million would be what I would use for Q2. We will maintain that care and maintenance and ongoing support through the closing of the transaction. For your modeling, use that $20 million to $25 million rough estimate, and that would continue until we announce the close of the deal. Cosmos Chiu: What else needs to be completed for closing of the deal? The due diligence period has been completed, so what else needs to happen in terms of closing? Rodney Antal: The work on the ground has been excellent, with discussions around the transition requirements with Cengiz Holdings. All of the cooperation you would expect through a transaction like this has been very good. The only things required, as we set out with the announcement, are regulatory approvals. We await those, particularly from the Ministry of Mining and Energy, and once they are achieved, we can close the deal. We expect that by Q3. Operator: The next question is from Don DeMarco with National Bank. Please go ahead. Don DeMarco: Hi, good evening, Rod and team. Thanks for taking my questions. First on Seabee, I heard that guidance is on track. Can you provide any incremental color on the costs in Q1 beyond what you already mentioned about the cold weather? Should we model a step-change to lower costs in Q2? Rodney Antal: Look, the feature here is development. At the end of last year and into the first half of this year, the real focus at Seabee is on development, which is ongoing and will continue through this quarter as well. We will start to see incrementally better production coming out of Seabee, but it is really fourth-quarter heavy in terms of production. That flows from the development work we began in the second half of last year and continued in the first half of this year. It will progressively get better, but the big quarter will be Q4 this year. The all-in sustaining costs will average themselves out over the year as we get ounces back into the guidance range. We are still incurring costs while doing development, but ounce production is much lower in Q1–Q2, moving up into Q3, and then a great Q4. Don DeMarco: In other words, Q1–Q2 might be above the top end of the guidance range for AISC, and Q3–Q4 could be below the lower end. Is that fair to say? Michael J. Sparks: Yes, I think that is right, Don. Just remember, a good chunk of our costs for Seabee come across on that ice road, so Q1 is always going to be a little higher for us. As we increase production throughout the year and get out of the Q1/early Q2 ice road spend, that will normalize. Don DeMarco: On Hod Maden, looking forward to your update on the strategic review. Can you remind us what your book value is for this asset? Michael J. Sparks: I do not have it on the top of my head, Don. We will get that for you and follow up. Don DeMarco: Finally, on M&A, you had mentioned the Americas. Do you have a bias in terms of stage or jurisdiction? Given your cash balance, would you favor development projects? And with the Americas, does that imply North and South America, and do you equally weight all the jurisdictions? Rodney Antal: We look at the full life cycle of assets—everything from greenfields opportunities, which we quietly acquire over time, particularly around our current assets, through brownfields development and producing assets. We do not have a strong preference across the spectrum. The most important thing is strategic fit—does it align with our long-term vision of building from the platforms we have—and the value we can add. Each opportunity is unique. We have a reputation as good discoverers, mine builders, and operators, so there really is not anything we would not look at. It is more about whether it is on strategy. Do I have a bias from North to South America? Right now our focus is North America, to continue to build out the lower-risk ounce base we now enjoy with Marigold, Cripple Creek & Victor, and Seabee. That would be a preference, not forgetting that we have a platform in Argentina and, more recently, we have seen a much better environment there for foreign investors. That is another thing we will keep looking at, given it is fairly under-explored and we already have a presence there. Our focus at the moment is really North America and then trying to build around the platform we have in Argentina. Operator: This concludes the question and answer session and today’s conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.
Operator: Greetings. Welcome to the AudioCodes First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Roger Chuchen, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin. Roger Chuchen: Thank you, operator. Hosting the call today are Shabtai Adlersberg, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Niran Baruch, Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that the information provided during this call may contain forward-looking statements relating to AudioCodes' business outlook, future economic performance, product introductions, plans and objectives related thereto, and statements concerning assumptions made or expectations as to any future events, conditions, performance or other matters are forward-looking statements as the term is defined under U.S. securities law. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in such statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the effect of global economic conditions in general and conditions in AudioCodes' industry and target markets, in particular, including governmental undertakings to address such conditions, shifts in supply and demand; market acceptance of new products and the demand for existing products; the impact of competitive products and pricing on AudioCodes and its customers' products and markets; timely product and technology development upgrades, the advent of artificial intelligence and the ability to manage changes in market conditions and evolving regulatory regimes as applicable; possible need for additional financing; the ability to satisfy covenants in AudioCodes' financing agreements, possible impacts and disruptions from AudioCodes acquisitions, including the ability of AudioCodes to successfully integrate the products and operations of acquired companies into AudioCodes' business; possible adverse impacts attributable to any pandemic or other public health crisis on our business and results of operations; the effects of the current and any future hostilities involving Israel, including in the regions in which we or our counterparties operate, which may affect our operations and may limit our ability to produce and sell our solutions, any disruption in our operations by the obligations of our personnel to perform military service as a result of current or future military actions involving Israel and any other factors described in AudioCodes filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. AudioCodes assumes no obligation to update the information. In addition, during the call, AudioCodes will refer to non-GAAP net income and net income per share. AudioCodes has provided a full reconciliation of the non-GAAP net income and net income per share to its net income and net income per share according to GAAP in the press release that is posted on its website. Before I turn the call over to management, I'd like to remind everyone that this call is being recorded. An archived webcast will be made available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at the conclusion of the call. With all that said, I'd like to turn the call over to Shabtai. Shabtai, please go ahead. Shabtai Adlersberg: Thank you, Roger. Good morning and good afternoon, everybody. I would like to welcome all to our first quarter 2026 conference call. With me this morning is Niran Baruch, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance of AudioCodes. Niran will start off by presenting a financial overview of the quarter. I will then review the business highlights and the summary and discuss trends and developments in our business and industry. We will then turn it into the Q&A session. Niran? Niran Baruch: Thank you, Shabtai, and hello, everyone. Before I start my formal remarks, I would like to remind everyone that in conjunction with our earnings release this morning, we will post shortly on our Investor Relations website an earnings supplemental deck. On today's call, we will be referring to both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. The earnings press release that we issued earlier this morning contains a reconciliation of the supplemental non-GAAP financial information that I will be discussing on this call. Revenues for the first quarter were $62.1 million, an increase of 2.9% over the $60.4 million reported in the first quarter of last year. Services revenues for the first quarter were $34 million, an increase of 4.3% over the year ago period. Services revenues in the first quarter accounted for 54.7% of total revenues. Revenues by geographical region for the quarter were split as follows: North America 49%; EMEA 34%; Asia-Pacific 13%; and Central and Latin America 4%. Our top 15 customers represented an aggregate of 53% of our revenues in the first quarter, of which 34% was attributed to our eight largest distributors. GAAP results are as follows: Gross margin for the quarter was 66.2% compared to 64.8% in Q1 2025. Operating income for the first quarter was $3.4 million or 5.4% of revenues compared to operating income of $3.6 million or 6% of revenues in Q1 2025. Net income for the quarter was $2 million or $0.07 per diluted share compared to net income of $4 million or $0.13 per diluted share for Q1 2025. Non-GAAP results are as follows: Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 66.3% compared to 65.2% in Q1 2025. Non-GAAP operating income for the first quarter was $4.8 million or 7.7% of revenues compared to $5.4 million or 8.9% of revenues in Q1 2025. And non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $3.8 million or $0.14 per diluted share compared to $4.7 million or $0.15 per diluted share in Q1 2025. At the end of March 2026, cash, cash equivalents, short-term bank deposits, short-term marketable securities and long-term financial investments totaled $68.1 million. Net cash provided by operating activities was $12.8 million for the first quarter of 2026. Days sales outstanding as of March 31, 2026, were 104 days. On February 3, 2026, we declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share. The dividend in aggregate amount of approximately $5.3 million was paid on March 6, 2026. During the quarter, we acquired 1.7 million of our ordinary shares for a total consideration of approximately $13.7 million. We reiterate our guidance for revenues for 2026 to be in the range of $247 million to $255 million and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.60 to $0.75. I will now turn the call over to Shabtai. Shabtai Adlersberg: Thank you, Niran. I'm pleased to report solid first quarter results, reflecting continued effective execution against our strategic priorities as we continue our transformation into a voice AI-driven hybrid cloud software and services company. Our top line growth accelerated during the quarter, driven by ongoing momentum in our two primary growth engines, our Live Managed Services and Voice AI. Combined, these two units contributed to $80 million annual recurring revenue exit first quarter '26, growing nearly 20% year-over-year and highlighting the increasing contribution of recurring high-quality revenue to our model. By segment, our connectivity business sustained well in the quarter, while conversational AI business grew above 50% and accounted in the first quarter for roughly 8% of revenue, underscoring the rapid uptake of our Voice AI offerings. As discussed previously, over the past several quarters and more so in the first quarter '26, we have reallocated and increased investments in Voice AI in both R&D and sales and marketing in order to scale our channel presence and better leverage our enterprise installed base through cross-selling of value-added services. These initiatives are clearly delivering tangible results and returns and our strong start to the year on the Voice AI puts us on track to achieve our target of 40% to 50% growth for this segment in '26 and to ultimately reach roughly $80 million of business in 2028. First quarter growth improved to 2.9% year-over-year. Enterprise revenues accounted for over 90% of revenues in the quarter, highlighted by ongoing strength in the Microsoft business, which grew 6% year-over-year. Overall, first quarter product revenues were about flat, while services grew 4.3% and accounted now for 55% of total revenues. Within services, the strength was driven by strong traction in our dual growth engines, namely the live family of UCaaS and CaaS, connectivity services and conversational business. We are growing ever more optimistic about the continued strong annual recurring revenue momentum and growth prospects for the overall company, fueled by a recent next-gen live platform wins and meaningful pipeline of opportunities; and second, growing demand for productivity-enhancing GenAI value-added services. This conviction is further reinforced by the growing backlog of Live and Managed Services that will convert to revenues in coming quarters. We exited first quarter '26 backlog with backlog at $79 million compared to $67 million from the year ago period, growth of close to 15%. Now to our business strategy. Modern enterprise communications are highly fragmented with the organization relying on a mix of telephony, networking, security, cloud and edge computing architectures, collaboration tool like Microsoft Teams and Zoom and emerging AI-driven technologies. As voice remains the main channel for real-time interactions, ensuring seamless, reliable, secure and compliant, integration across these diverse environments is increasingly challenging. This highlights the growing need for a unified strategy to orchestrate voice, cloud and AI application effectively and this is where AudioCodes is service. AudioCodes utilizes a 3-layer architecture comprising infrastructure, platforms and applications to address modern voice communication and collaboration challenges. The infrastructure layer delivers secure and reliable voice communication through SBCs, gateways and devices. The platform layer enables integration and orchestration of telephony networking, cloud communication platform and AI systems supporting environments of market leaders such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom Phone, Cisco Webex and Genesis Cloud. The application layer provides AI-driven solutions for business outcomes, including contact center functionality, compliance analytics, recording and meeting intelligence. As such, AudioCodes is transforming from a traditional voice infrastructure provider into a leader in an AI-driven voice communication by integrating advanced voice and conversational AI technologies. This approach enables enterprises to adopt AI solution without disrupting existing systems, reducing complexity and accelerating Voice AI adoption. This positions AudioCodes at the forefront of the evolving enterprise voice communication landscape where voice and AI are becoming increasingly interconnected. Now to Edge Computing. Lately, cloud computing has captured most of the workload moving from premises computing. And so while cloud remains an important deployment modality, there's a growing consensus that not all workloads belong into cloud, particularly when considering data sovereignty, security, latency and cost. This becomes even more critical as we move towards an enterprise authentic AI environment where complex multistep workflows are autonomously executed by AI systems and latency directly impacts performance and reliability. This shift from a cloud-first or cloud-only philosophy towards a hybrid architecture optimized by use case is well-articulated in a recent report published by a leading industry analyst firm called Aragon Research. In its report titled 2026 Edge Computing Pivot, Privacy, Control and Latency, Aragon provides in-depth analysis of edge computing as a fundamental trend shaping the future of enterprise software. The report further highlights key verticals such as government, defense, health care and financial services as early adopters, areas that are also core targets for our meeting insights on-prem solution. We were early in the game addressing this market need, having launched MIA OP service in Israel over 8 months ago. Today, we are in the leading -- we are a leading provider of organizational meeting intelligence for edge-based deployments. Customer interest has accelerated meaningfully with a notable expansion in pipeline opportunities initially in Israel and increasingly across other geographies. In summary, our on-prem GenAI capabilities, combined with a broad and mature portfolio of cloud-based offering uniquely position us to capture the AI opportunity regardless of how customers choose to consume our services, cloud or edge. Before turning to some of our business lines, let me quickly shift to our profitability metrics. As mentioned earlier, last quarter revenue totaled $62.1 million and grew 2.9% year-over-year. Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter of 66.3% is within our long-term target range of 65% to 68% compared to 65.2% in the first quarter '25 and 65.9% in the previous quarter. First quarter non-GAAP operating expenses of $36.4 million compared to $35 million in the first quarter -- fourth quarter of '25 and $34 million from the year ago period. On a year-by-year basis, the higher expenses are attributable mainly to targeted investment planned to support long-term growth in the conversational AI business, our main growth engine for coming years. In terms of workforce, we have concluded first quarter with 1,000 full-time employees, representing an increase of 2% from the 920 employees in the previous quarter and 960 employees in the year ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $5.8 million, reflecting a 9.4% margin compared to $6.2 million or 10.2% in the year ago quarter. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.14 compared to $0.15 in the year ago quarter and in line with our plans for the year. Net cash provided from operating activities was $12.8 million for the quarter. As you can see, we have a long list of core behind us, each generating positive cash flow. Let's go to Microsoft highlights. First quarter Microsoft business increased 6%. This was driven by ongoing health of our live business and connectivity franchise, coupled with increasing attach rate of Voca CIC, our Teams-certified contact center solution. Some representative wins in the quarter include the following: we signed a 48-month contract with a Tier 1 system integrator to deliver SBCs and gateways on a recurring revenue basis. The solution supports a global Teams voice deployment of a European multinational company. Important to note that following an architectural review of the required solution, the end customer determined that its existing approach is no longer meeting its operational requirements and goals based on our assessment and recommendation, the customer transitioned to a direct routing architecture to better align with its global voice strategy. Turning to our live platform. During first quarter, we signed a multiyear low single digit million-dollar agreement with an existing Tier 1 global care customer to transition their on-premise deployment of our services to our cloud-based service. This managed service deployment will enable this carrier to seamlessly provision connectivity service for its enterprise clients. Finally, in first quarter '26, we recognized bookings for our initial phase of migration covering 20,000 users to the on-premise Live Pro platform for Teams voice supporting high security prison facilities in the major countries. Upon full completion of the migration, we expect the platform to support at least 70,000 users alongside gateways, SBCs and incremental IP phone sales. Our sales team will also be looking to cross-sell our conversational AI services on top of the existing platform. Now to Conversational AI. First quarter '26 was very successful in growing our Voice AI business. Quarterly business grew above 50% compared to the year ago quarter. We believe we are creating a strong growth engine for years to come. Just to remind everybody that the revenue trend in that business, the Voice AI business was about $12 million in 2024, grew 40% to $16.7 million last year in 2025 and we now plan to grow by 50% and achieve $25 million at the end of this year. Ultimately, we aim to achieve business revenue of $50 million by 2028 with strength in telephony, networking, security, cloud and edge computing, collaboration tools and AI-driven technologies. We believe we are well-positioned for growth and success in this market. Let's now shift to a detailed discussion of each of those major business lines in the conversational AI business. Let's start first with VoiceAI Connect and Live Hub. We delivered another strong quarter, led by continued growth in our VoiceAI Connect service and our Live Hub self-service platform. Momentum remained broad-based with steady new logo wins across the U.S., Europe and APAC, alongside meaningful expansion within our existing customer base. Main highlights of the first quarter on the opportunity side were substantial increases of bookings, more than 80% year-over-year and steep growth in new creative opportunities of about 100% compared to the year ago quarter. So very strong uptake in bookings and newly created opportunities. Let me mention a few notable wins. This quarter, we secured a Tier 1 win with a major North American retail conglomerate adopting VoiceAI Connect to power its virtual agent customer experience. We also see a clear path to expanding this use case into additional division. On the Live Hub front, we continue to see encouraging traction, including traditional purchases from a multinational insurance carrier that has now tested and deployed our full suite of conversational AI capabilities, namely virtual agent, Agent Insights, IVR and code summarization. More broadly, seeing Tier 1 enterprises adopt Live Hub underscores the strength, scalability and appeal of our all-in-one platform. Live Hub's financial performance reflects this with annual recurring revenues growing more than 20% sequentially and more than 100% year-over-year. Overall, our VoiceAI Connect and Live Hub offerings are scaling rapidly and we are well positioned to build on this momentum as the voice agent market keeps -- continues expanding substantially in coming years. Now to Voca CIC. We reported record invoicing in first quarter '26, growing more than 60% year-over-year. Key highlights include: first, a new contact center as a service entry in Europe, a Swiss banking institution selected Voca CIC as its exclusive platform for customer service engagement on top of Microsoft Teams, replacing its legacy contact center system. We beat out a major Swiss contact center as a service competitor to secure this win. The selection underscores the maturity of our platform and validates its ability to meet the stringent security and data protection requirements demanded by leading banking institutions. Extending our momentum in higher education in the U.S. was another point to mention. We further extended our leadership in North American higher education segment with the addition of another U.S. university customer who selected Voca CIC omnichannel CCaaS solution as part of a broader Microsoft Teams deployment. This marks our 10th university customer in the region, reinforcing Voca CIC position as a trusted CCaaS provider for complex multi-stakeholder environments where Microsoft Teams is the leading ecosystem. On the new product front, following the recent launch of Agent Insights in fourth quarter '25, our AI-driven summarization and sentiment analysis service, we successfully deployed the solution across multiple existing enterprise customers. Early customer feedback has been highly positive, particularly around the value of custom AI-generated summaries and in surfacing actionable insight and triggering downstream CRM workflows that improve end customer outcomes. Importantly, Agent Insights represents a meaningful upsell opportunity with this service accounting for more than 50% of agency's value. Agent Insight has been deployed with some large enterprises, including universities, airports and manufacturing facilities. Feedback so far has been extremely positive, particularly around the customer AI summary capability, which allows contact center managers to tailor and surface specific insights from customer interaction using this new generative AI-based add-on. We identified a hot entry-level AI use case for the SMB market. We have created a stand-alone offering purely focused on the AI receptionist use case, namely providing support for automatic call routing, Q&A-based documents and web by scroll, CRM integration, appointment scheduling and outbound SMS. Moving on to Meeting Insights Cloud Edition. Meeting Insight Cloud Edition maintained strong momentum this quarter with continued growth across key metrics. Both the number of meetings and active users again reached record levels, contributing to strong year-over-year monthly recurring revenue growth exiting March 2026. This operational momentum was supported by ongoing product innovation. Following the extension of support with Google Meet in the fourth quarter, we expanded the platform this quarter by integrating Cisco WebEx. With this milestone, Meeting Insight is now positioned as the go-to meeting intelligence service across all the 4 top leading UCaaS systems. We have launched new features to boost enterprise efficiency and productivity, including pre-built templates for specific roles and personas and customizable tools for business verticals. Positive customer feedback is driving increased adoption. These value-added features, combined with our continued focus on customer workflow solutions for verticals such as higher education, municipalities, local governments, HR and finance position us well for sustained momentum in the foreseeable future. Moving on to MIA OP. In first quarter, we experienced a significant pickup in business opportunity in both Israel and international markets with the recent geopolitical environment acting as a further catalyst to already emerging demand for edge computing. In Israel, we signed several new customers across diverse public sector organization, each with meaningful expansion potential. We executed an agreement with one of Israel's largest health care service organization to provide transcription services for both meetings as well as customer conversation within its contact center. We also inked an initial purchase order with the Israel national regulatory and centralized purchasing entity municipalities for municipalities. Assuming successful implementation, this customer is expected to recommend MIA OP and make it broadly available to municipal organization via its internal procurement marketplace, creating a scalable distribution channel across 200 municipalities. Additionally, we signed a contract with a regional IDF command responsible for civilian production during emergencies. Under this engagement, MIA OP will deliver transcription and summarization services for all incoming citizen interactions, further validating our solution in mission-critical environments. Outside of Israel, our direct sales efforts complemented by strategic channel relationships are gaining traction and driving awareness of MIA OP as a differentiated innovative solution. As an example, we are working closely with a prominent system integrator in North America that operates a proprietary UC system serving major U.S. government agencies. Recently initiated an MIA OP proof-of-concept trial to provide meeting transcription and summarization. Subject to successful results, we expect this relationship to serve as an entry point into broader adoption of service across large U.S. government agencies. And with that, I'd like to wrap up my portion of the call. We had good operational momentum in the first quarter of 2026, particularly with the continued strong growth of our 2 primary engines, our live family of managed services and Voice AI. With the progress we are making in increasing our recurring revenue, we are on track with our target of delivering improved healthy top line growth in 2026 and beyond. And I would like to turn now the call to operator. Thank you. Operator: [Operator Instructions] We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Shabtai for closing remarks. Shabtai Adlersberg: Thank you, operator. I would like to thank everyone who attended our conference call today. With continued good business momentum in our UCaaS and CCaaS operation and continued growth in our emerging Voice AI business, we believe we are on track to continue growth in the next coming years. We look forward to your participation in our next quarterly conference call. Thank you all. Have a nice day. Operator: This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to Fresh Del Monte Produce First Quarter 2026 Conference Call. Today's call is being broadcast live over the Internet and is also being recorded for playback purposes. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn today's call over to the Vice President, Investor Relations with Fresh Del Monte Produce, Ms. Christine Cannella. Please go ahead, Ms. Cannella. Christine Cannella: Thank you, Krista. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 conference call. Joining me in today's discussion are Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Ms. Monica Vicente, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I hope that you have had a chance to review the press release that was issued earlier via Business Wire. You may also visit the company's IR website at investorrelations.freshdelmonte.com to access today's earnings materials and to register for future distribution. This conference call is being webcast live on our website and will be available for replay after this call. Please note that, our press release and our call today include non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the press release and earnings presentation, which is available on our website. I would like to remind you that much of the information we will be speaking to today, including the answers we give in response to your questions, may include forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. In today's press release and our SEC filings, we detail risks that may cause our future results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Our statements are as of today, May 5, 2026, and we have no obligation to update any forward-looking statements we may make. During the call, we will provide a business update, along with an overview of our financial results, followed by a question-and-answer session With that, I will turn today's call over to Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh. Please go ahead. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh: Thank you, Christine. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Following up on our last quarter, we reached an important milestone this quarter with the closing of the Del Monte Foods transaction, bringing the brand back under a single owner for the first time in nearly 4 decades. The quarter included approximately 1 week of contribution from the acquired business. So the financial impact in the quarter is limited due to timing. We are encouraged by the initial performance of the Del Monte Food business, and we see clear opportunity as we begin to thoughtfully scale the business and believe there is a meaningful opportunity to realize the full potential of these assets. As I mentioned during our last call, this acquisition is not expansion for expansion's sake. It's alignment, bringing the brand, the portfolio and the platform back under a single focused owner. This acquisition not only reunites one of the oldest and most recognized brands in the world, but it also positions us to operate from a more complete platform, expanding our presence across both the perimeter and center of the store and allowing us to offer customers a broader, more integrated portfolio. Our priority during this early phase remains continuity, ensuring stability for customers, partners and employees, while taking a disciplined approach to evaluating the business and identifying where we see the strongest opportunities. We are focused on strengthening the platform, prioritizing key customer relationships and building a more focused, high-quality portfolio over time. It is important to dedicate a portion of today's call to discuss the broader environment shaping our business, the industry and the global food system. The conflict in the Middle East has introduced a meaningful shock across key input fundamentals to food production, energy, fertilizers, packaging and transportation. There is no part of agriculture that is not energy dependent from inputs to packaging to transportation. As a result, movements in energy costs do not remain isolated. They cascade through the entire system. Agriculture does not operate in real time. The timing of impact varies meaningfully by category. In crops like pineapples, for instance, where production cycles extend to approximately 18 months, the inputs being deployed today will be reflected in cost and pricing later this year. Bananas by contrast, move more quickly through the system and therefore, respond more immediately to changes in input costs. As a result, the pressures that emerged during the quarter are now embedded in the system and will continue to move through the value chain in the periods ahead, regardless of how conditions in the Middle East evolve from here. We are already seeing this dynamic take hold from higher fertilizers and packaging costs to increase ocean freight and inland transportation driven by fuel and labor. The impact is more pronounced in our fresh business given its production cycles and input intensity, while other parts of the portfolio are affected differently based on their supply chain structures. This is not a short-term volatility. It's a natural transmission of input costs through a global time lag system. The situation remains dynamic, and we are managing the business with discipline and flexibility. This is an environment we are well positioned to navigate, but it will not be without challenges. We expect pressure to build in the coming quarters, particularly in the second and third quarter, as these costs continue to flow through the system and the full impact move through the value chain. Our global footprint, diversified sourcing and integrated supply chain enable us to adjust and respond across markets. While our scale and disciplined execution position us to manage through this period effectively, these are the conditions where those advantages become more evident. We have navigated complex operating environments before, and we will continue to do so with clear focus on execution, cost management and operational efficiency. With that, I will turn it over to Monica Vicente, our CFO, to discuss our financial results. Monica Vicente: Thank you, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, and thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning. I will begin with our first quarter results and then share our expectations for the year ahead. I will cover key items affecting comparability, most notably the Del Monte Foods acquisition and updates to our segment reporting structure. We closed the Del Monte Foods acquisition late in the quarter. Results include 1 week of contribution and have no meaningful impact on the first quarter results. We are assessing the cost structure and spending profile to establish a near-term cost baseline while identifying efficiency opportunities we expect to execute over time. We are also evaluating the operating footprint, including a recent purchase of a warehouse previously leased by Del Monte Foods in Wisconsin with a focus on optimizing asset utilization and portfolio alignment across our facilities. We paid a total cash consideration of $308 million, which included $285 million base purchase price plus $23 million in cash, representing wind-down and closing costs, along with adjustments for working capital associated with the transaction. The acquisition was funded through a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. The consideration closely approximated the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to net sales by $600 million and adjusted EBITDA by approximately $23 million in 2026 as operations normalize. As a result of the acquisition, beginning this quarter, we updated our business segment reporting to better align with internal management reporting. A new reportable segment, Prepared Foods, combines the Del Monte Foods business acquired with our existing Prepared Foods operations. Prior period segment information has been recast for comparability. We also completed the previously announced divestiture of Mann Packing in December 2025. Our first quarter results reflect continuing operations. Prior period comparisons are presented as reported and where applicable on an adjusted basis with reconciliations in today's earnings press release. With that context, I will turn now to our first quarter financial performance. Year-over-year results reflect portfolio changes following the divestiture of Mann Packing, alongside pricing, volume, cost and foreign exchange dynamics, as well as the recent geopolitical developments. Net sales were $1 billion, primarily driven by lower net sales in our fresh and value-added products segment. This reflected the divestiture of Mann Packing and lower net sales in our avocado product line due to industry-wide oversupply, which resulted in lower per unit selling prices. The decrease was partially offset by the initial contribution of Del Monte Foods and the favorable impact of fluctuations in exchange rates, primarily the euro. Gross profit was $89 million, reflecting lower gross profit in our other products and services and Prepared Foods segment, where results were impacted by lower selling prices in our poultry and meats business due to softer demand and the conflict in the Middle East. In our Prepared Foods segment, higher per unit production costs weighed on results. Gross profit was generally affected by supply chain disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the unfavorable impact of a stronger Costa Rica colon. These impacts were partially offset by higher per unit selling prices in our banana and pineapple product lines, as well as the contribution of Del Monte Foods. Gross margin increased to 8.5%. Adjusted gross profit was $91 million and adjusted gross margin was 8.7%. Operating income was $20 million, primarily driven by higher asset impairment and other charges net. Adjusted operating income was $40 million. Asset impairment and other charges were related to the Foods acquisition. Income from equity method investments was $7 million. The increase reflected higher equity earnings from unconsolidated investments, primarily from distributions received in excess of our carrying value upon the liquidation of a fund in which we previously held an interest. Fresh Del Monte net income was $10 million. And on an adjusted basis, Fresh Del Monte net income was $30 million. We delivered earnings per share of $0.21 and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.63. Adjusted EBITDA was $58 million, with a margin of 6% as a percentage of net sales, reflecting disciplined cost management amid a dynamic cost environment. I will now go into more detail on the quarter performance for each of our business segments, starting with our fresh and value-added products segment. Net sales were $549 million, primarily driven by strategic reductions in our fresh and fresh-cut vegetable product lines, reflecting the divestiture of Mann Packing, as well as lower per unit selling prices in our avocado product line driven by industry-wide oversupply. These declines were partially offset by higher net sales in our pineapple product line, reflecting higher per unit selling prices and the favorable impact of exchange rate movements, primarily the euro. Gross profit was $60 million, driven by the divestiture of Mann Packing, which generated negative gross profit in the prior year, as well as higher per unit selling prices in our pineapple product line. The increase was partially offset by higher per unit production costs as well as weather-related events in North America that negatively impacted sales volume in our fresh-cut fruit product line and contributed to lower per unit selling prices in our melon product line. Gross margin increased to 10.9%. Adjusted gross profit was $61 million. Turning to our banana segment. Net sales were $357 million, primarily driven by lower volume and market disruptions across regions, including adverse weather and supplier changes. The decrease was partially offset by higher per unit selling prices across all regions and the favorable impact of fluctuations in exchange rates. Gross profit was $16 million, driven by higher per unit production and procurement costs, partially offset by higher per unit selling prices. Gross margin was in line at 4.6%. Adjusted gross profit was $18 million and adjusted gross margin increased to 5%. Moving to our Prepared Foods segment. Results reflected 1 week of contribution from the Fresh Del Monte Foods acquisition, along with contributions from our existing Prepared Foods operations. Net sales were $83 million, including $22 million of net sales from the acquisition, partially offset by lower net sales in Europe due to supply availability constraints of pineapple used in our canned pineapple product line. Gross profit was $9 million, primarily driven by lower net sales in Europe and higher per unit production and distribution costs. Gross margin decreased to 10.8%. Lastly, our results for other products and services segment. Net sales were $56 million, driven by higher net sales of our third-party freight services business, partially offset by lower net sales in our poultry and meats business due to lower per unit selling prices. Gross profit was $4 million and gross margin decreased to 6.8%. Now moving to selected financial results for the first quarter of 2026. Our income tax provision was $8 million, reflecting changes in the global tax and regulatory environment and higher earnings in certain jurisdictions. Net cash provided by operating activities was $44 million. Cash flow was primarily driven by net earnings and partially offset by higher noncash items, including asset impairments as well as working capital movements, mainly lower inventory levels and higher trade receivables due to the timing of period-end collections. Turning to capital allocation. At the end of the first quarter, long-term debt stood at $438 million, and our average adjusted leverage ratio is at 1.4x EBITDA. This compares to $173 million in long-term debt at year-end, with the increase reflecting the closing of the Del Monte Foods acquisition. Capital expenditures totaled $14 million during the quarter, reflecting pineapple expansion and packing facility construction in Costa Rica, equipment investments in Kenya and the replacement and maintenance capital. As previously announced, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share payable on June 11, 2026, to shareholders of record as of May 19, 2026. On an annualized basis, this equates to $1.20 per share, representing a dividend yield of approximately 3% based on our current share price. During the quarter, we repurchased 100,000 shares of our common stock for $4 million at an average price of $40.24 per share. As of March 27, we had $116 million available under our $150 million share repurchase program. Together, our capital allocation actions during the quarter, including dividends, share repurchases and the completion of the Del Monte Foods acquisition reflect our balanced approach to capital deployment. We continue to prioritize reinvestment in the business and a competitive, reliable return to shareholders. Turning to our outlook for the full year of 2026. We are providing our expectations for our business segments and key financial priorities, including SG&A, capital expenditures and cash flows. This outlook is based on the information available to us today and our experience managing through comparable industry and macroeconomic cycles. Given the current environment, our priorities for 2026 are clear: first, protecting the long-term earnings power of the portfolio; second, maintaining balance sheet and liquidity flexibility; and third, managing through near-term volatility with discipline. Our 2026 outlook reflects Fresh Del Monte's continuing operations. It excludes the Mann Packing business exited in December 2025 and includes 9 months of contribution from Del Monte Foods transaction. We expect net sales on a continuing operation basis to increase between 13% and 15% year-over-year, reflecting execution across our base business and the contribution from the Del Monte Foods transaction, which we expect will contribute $600 million of net sales in 2026. As discussed, developments in the Middle East have driven higher energy, shipping and commodity input costs. Based on current assumptions and observable market conditions, we estimate the impact of these cost pressures to be approximately $40 million to $45 million, which will impact us starting in the second quarter. These impacts are primarily related to ocean freight costs, including bunker fuel and war-related surcharges, inland transportation, fertilizer and packaging costs, consistent with recent elevated oil and fuel price trends. Our outlook also reflects approximately $20 million to $25 million of headwinds over the balance of the year, roughly 50% from foreign exchange impacts, primarily related to the Costa Rica colon and the remainder driven by higher domestic transportation and logistic costs resulting from shortage of -- of driver availability in the U.S. Separately, tariffs implemented beginning in March 2025 continue to function largely as a pass-through. Tariffs had a modest impact in the first quarter. And given the uncertainty around recoverability and timing, we have not assumed any tariff refunds. In banana, near-term industry supply and cost dynamics, combined with trade dislocations following Middle East-related disruptions are creating incremental volume pressure in North America and Europe markets, which is reflected in our guidance. At the same time, per unit costs are higher, driven by lower production from Costa Rica and the disease management efforts on our own farms. Fertilizer inflation has added further pressure. These headwinds are reflected in the segment gross margin ranges we are providing today. Consistent with our established cost management approach, our outlook reflects a disciplined and active response to the current environment. This includes targeted pricing actions where market and customer dynamics support them, contractual fuel recovery mechanisms and continued focus on cost containment and operational efficiency. Just as important, it reflects ongoing deliberate trade-offs around timing, mix and service to protect customer relationships, sustain throughput and preserve long-term earning capacity during a period of elevated volatility. Turning to gross margin expectations by segment. In our fresh and value-added products segment, we expect gross margin to be in the range of 11% to 12% compared with 14% last year. This reflects higher per unit production and distribution costs across the segment as well as industry-wide supply constraints in pineapple volumes that limit our ability to fully benefit from increased market demand from our premium pineapple varieties. In our banana segment, we expect gross margin to be in the range of 3% to 4%, consistent with the cost supply and market dynamics discussed before. In our Prepared Foods segment, we expect gross margin to be in the range of 13% to 14%. This reflects the combination of Del Monte Foods transaction, which brings an inherently higher-margin branded CPG profile with our existing Prepared Foods operations as well as integration, timing, input cost volatility, and mix across geographies. Importantly, the reported range does not yet reflect the full margin potential of the Del Monte Foods platform as integration progresses. In our other products and services segment, we expect gross margin to be in the range of 12% to 13%, consistent with prior years. Selling, general and administrative expense is expected to be in the range of $270 million to $280 million, reflecting the inclusion of Del Monte Foods and our intentional shift to a branded CPG operating model, which carries a higher SG&A profile than our historical fresh produce operations. This range also includes wage inflation and targeted investments in technology and organizational support to operate and scale a global branded foods platform. Capital expenditures for the full year are expected to be in the range of $85 million to $95 million, focused on production expansion in Central America, growth in our fresh cut and Prepared Foods operations in Europe, a recent warehouse investment and other investments related to the Del Monte Foods acquisition as well as investments in core technology systems. For the full year, we expect net cash provided by operating activities to be in the range of $40 million to $50 million, which reflects lower cash generation than we historically produced as a pure fresh produce company. With the addition of Del Monte Foods, our cash profile now reflects the seasonal working capital dynamics of a branded CPG business. This includes higher working capital requirements in the second and third quarters as inventories are built to support seasonal packing and processing activities that ramp through the harvest season and peak from summer through fall. As those inventories convert to sales, we expect stronger cash generation in the fourth quarter and into the first quarter, driven by peak demand during November and December holiday season and again around the Easter holiday period. Due to the timing of the acquisition, working capital needs will be higher in 2026 than in future periods. In summary, while the operating environment remains challenging, we believe the underlying fundamentals of our portfolio are sound, and our focus remains on disciplined execution, prudent capital allocation, protecting long-term value, consistent cash generation across the full operating cycle and maintaining flexibility and financial resilience as conditions evolve. This concludes our financial review. We can now turn the call over to Q&A. Krista? Operator: [Operator Instructions] And we have no questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh for closing comments. Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh: Thank you, Krista, and thank you everyone for joining us today, and hope to speak with you on our next call of the second quarter. Thank you, everyone, and have a good day. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Release Conference Call. [Operators Instructions] During the course of the conference call, ADTRAN representatives expect to make forward-looking statements that reflect management's best judgment based on factors currently known. However, these statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the successful development and market acceptance of our products, the ability of our third-party suppliers to supply components and products, our ability to convert our backlog into revenue, our ability to maintain current expected delivery schedules, competitive pricing and acceptance of our products, intellectual property matters, the effect of economic conditions, the impact of tariffs and trade policy, and other risk factors described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in our quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ADTRAN Holdings assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. During today's call, management will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP measures and certain additional information are also included in our investor presentation and our earnings release. ADTRAN Holdings has not provided reconciliations of its second quarter 2026 outlook with regard to non-GAAP operating margins because it cannot predict and quantify without unreasonable effort of all the adjustments that may occur during the period. The investor presentation has been updated and is available for download on the ADTRAN Investor Relations website. Hosting today's call is Tom Stanton, ADTRAN Holdings' Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board; and Timothy Santo, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Tom Stanton, Chief Executive Officer of ADTRAN Holdings. Sir, please go ahead. And Tom Stanton, I turn it over to you. Thomas Stanton: Thank you, Kayla. Good morning, everyone. ADTRAN delivered solid first quarter results with revenue of $286.1 million, up 15.5% year-over-year, and non-GAAP operating margin of 6.9%, up 3% year-over-year. These results reflect the continued strength of our core markets and the operating leverage we have now firmly established across the business. The demand drivers underpinning our business continue to strengthen. In the U.S., broadband expansion is gaining traction and BEAD deployment funds are beginning to reach operators in a growing number of states. In Europe, high-risk vendor displacement continues to progress with momentum reinforced by legislation such as the proposed Cybersecurity Act 2.0, which would mandate the removal of high-risk vendors from critical network infrastructure. This quarter also marked a meaningful step in our growth strategy as we showcased our expanding portfolio addressing cloud and AI infrastructure connectivity. This included the introduction of the LiteWave800, a solution purpose-built for high-performance and low-power intra-data center connectivity. Optical networking solutions revenue was $97.3 million in the first quarter, up 24% year-over-year. On a sequential basis, strength from our larger customers and hyperscalers was offset by seasonal declines with smaller customers and government sales. Across our service provider base, demand remains healthy. Operators across all geographies are expanding wholesale optical capacity to support growing demand for cloud connectivity and higher bandwidth services, reflecting a broad-based trend. In Europe, high-risk vendor replacement initiatives continue to add to that demand with growing strength among our cloud and hyperscaler customers, and a positive outlook across our service provider base. We expect our optical networking revenue to build throughout the year. Access and aggregation solutions revenue was $90.5 million in the first quarter, up 2% year-over-year and 14% sequentially, driven by broad-based strength across the U.S. and Europe. We expect steady progress across our European business through the remainder of the year. In the U.S., BEAD deployment funding is beginning to reach operators in select states. And while we are seeing early orders from several customers, we expect the impact to become more meaningful as we move towards the back half of the year. Subscriber solutions revenue was $98.2 million in the first quarter, up 22% year-over-year. Demand remains healthy, supported by continued investment in fiber-to-the-home, multi-gig Wi-Fi 7 and carrier Ethernet applications. In recent weeks, our award-winning SDG Wi-Fi 7 portfolio received conditional FCC approval, exempting our platforms from covered list restrictions. We are among the first vendors to achieve this designation. And while the broader industry works through the approval process, we are already seeing service providers engage with us on competitive opportunities that this creates. Stepping back from the details for the quarter, I want to take a moment to talk about our business and the market dynamics that continue to drive demand for our solutions. Service providers are investing across transport, access and subscriber platforms to scale their networks for long-term demand and improved reliability. These investments are being reinforced by several important tailwinds, including high-risk vendor replacement initiatives in Europe, the expansion of managed optical fiber networks or MOFN to address surging demand for wholesale services from cloud providers, and continued upgrades across access and subscriber networks to support multi-gig service delivery. In addition to these network upgrade catalysts, operators are in the early stages of transforming how they operate their networks and engage subscribers through agentic AI. With the launch of Mosaic One Clarity, which recently received the FTTH Europe award for AI innovation, we are addressing the shift towards proactive and increasingly autonomous network operations. Early deployments have provided strong validation of these capabilities across both small and large operators, particularly in the areas of predictive maintenance and improving the in-home subscriber experience. Beyond our core service provider business, we continue to see meaningful opportunities to further accelerate growth by expanding our presence in both cloud providers and enterprise customers. These segments benefit from many of the same underlying trends shaping service provider networks, but they are growing at a faster pace and are driving new network architectures and requirements. In the enterprise space, we have a long history of providing secure optical and Ethernet connectivity to some of the world's largest enterprise and government customers. Demand in this customer segment is increasingly shaped by 2 important tailwinds. First, the expansion of AI workloads across secure enterprise environments is driving demand for higher capacity interconnects between private enterprise data centers. And second, growing awareness of the limitations of traditional security mechanisms is accelerating interest in quantum-safe, optical and Ethernet communications. Building on our longstanding presence in these markets, we have developed a comprehensive portfolio of quantum-safe communication solutions. While still early, we are seeing increasing engagement across a broadening base of enterprise, government and utility customers, positioning us well for longer term growth as these initiatives mature. In our cloud provider customer segment, the rapid expansion of AI compute infrastructure and the networking required to connect large-scale cluster GPU deployments is driving a surge in networking investment, making this the fastest-growing segment in our industry. Data center operators are scaling capacity to support AI workloads where power efficiency, thermal constraints and network density have become defining design considerations. We have long served data center customers through our interconnect solutions and as evidenced by last quarter's results, that business continues to benefit from growing demand for data center connectivity. Our strategy is to build on that foundation and extend our portfolio to address surging bandwidth demands from inside the data center as well. LiteWave800 is the first clear example of this strategy in action. It is purpose-built for intra-data center connectivity and high-density AI compute environments, and is designed to reduce power consumption by over 90% compared to existing alternatives. We are still in the early stages of this product family, but initial market engagement and feedback have been very encouraging. Shifting from our market opportunities to operations. Memory pricing has remained elevated industry-wide and freight costs are adding an additional layer of pressure, headwinds that are affecting the entire sector. Despite these pressures, our non-GAAP operating margin of 43% reached its highest level since the beginning of the supply chain disruption in 2020. This was achieved through a combination of disciplined cost management, pricing adjustments across the portfolio and a revenue mix that has less reliance on lower-margin CPE where memory cost pressure is the most acute. Consumer CPE represents a relatively small portion of our overall revenue. Although memory costs remain elevated and could deteriorate further, our current visibility supports gross margins in the near term, remaining broadly consistent with what we have delivered over the past several quarters. We entered the second quarter with a positive demand outlook. Fiber infrastructure investment remains active across our core business, and we continue to advance our initiatives in AI infrastructure and enterprise networks, expanding our business opportunities. Our priorities remain consistent: expanding operating margins, generating cash and converting the strong customer pipeline into revenue. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tim to review our financial results in more detail. Tim? Timothy Santo: Thank you, Tom, and thank you all for joining us today. We delivered solid results for Q1 2026 led by continued and consistent execution. We had operating margin expansion to a new level despite a seasonal reduction in revenues that remained above the midpoint of our previously issued guidance, driven by continued cost discipline and scale in the business. Our first quarter revenue was $286.1 million, up 15.5% year-over-year and returning to a more normalized seasonal pattern. Geographically, U.S. revenue was $146.2 million, representing 51% of total revenue, up 42% year-over-year and 7% sequentially. Non-U.S. revenue was $139.9 million or 49% of total revenue. Access and aggregation solutions revenue was $90.5 million or approximately 32% of total revenue, up 2% year-over-year and 14% sequentially. Subscriber solutions revenue was $98.2 million or 34% of total revenue, up 22% year-over-year. Optical networking solutions revenue was $97.3 million or 34% of total revenue, up 24% year-over-year. Turning to gross margin. Non-GAAP gross margin was 43%, up 55 basis points year-over-year from 42.5% in Q1 '25 and up 54 basis points sequentially from 42.5% in Q4 2025, driven by favorable product mix and continued progress on cost efficiency. Non-GAAP operating expenses for the first quarter were $103.3 million compared to $95.5 million in Q1 2025 and $105.1 million in Q4 '25. The year-over-year increase largely resulted from the impact of foreign currency fluctuations on our European cost base, which has had minimal impact on operating leverage due to natural hedging and continued investment in R&D and go-to-market activities. Non-GAAP operating income was $19.9 million or 6.9% of revenue. On a sequential basis, operating income increased from $18.8 million or 6.4% in Q4 2025. Year-over-year, non-GAAP operating margin expanded 300 basis points from 3.9% in Q1 2025, continuing the progression from 5.4% in Q3 '25 and 6.4% in Q4 '25. Non-GAAP tax expense in the first quarter was $4.4 million, reflecting an effective non-GAAP tax rate of 25.5%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ADTRAN Holdings was $11 million or $0.14 per diluted share compared to $0.03 in Q1 2025. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow. Net working capital was $253.9 million at quarter end compared to $259 million at December 31, 2025. During the quarter, inventory was $209 million with days inventory outstanding of 110 days, down 4 days sequentially. Trade accounts receivable were $215.5 million with DSO of 68 days, up 2 days sequentially due to the timing of quarter end invoicing. Accounts payable was $170.6 million with days payable outstanding of 66 days, which is flat sequentially. As revenue scales, our focus remains on improving working capital efficiency. Operating cash flow was $12.7 million for the quarter and free cash flow was a negative $3.3 million, reflecting timing of cash receipts and higher purchases of inventory. We ended the quarter with $88.3 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $95.7 million at December 31, 2025. Turning to our outlook for the second quarter of 2026. We expect revenue to be between $283 million and $303 million, and non-GAAP operating margin within a range of 5% to 9%. This concludes our prepared remarks. Before turning the call over to Tom, I'd like to highlight that we will be participating at the B. Riley Conference on May 20 in Marina Del Rey and the Evercore Technology Media and Telecom Conference on June 2 and 3 in San Francisco. We look forward to seeing many of you there. And now I will turn the call back to Tom. Thomas Stanton: Great. Thanks very much, Tim. All right. Kayla, at this time, we'd like to turn it over to people that may have some questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Mike Genovese with Rosenblatt Securities. Michael Genovese: Tom, I'd like to hear about the LiteWave800 more about basically the strategy of launching this product, maybe bigger thoughts on getting into the data center. But more specifically, any timing or size or margin expectations for the new product that you could share would be helpful. Thomas Stanton: Yes. I probably -- I'm going to shy a little bit away from pricing on the product, although there is a lot of IP in that product and IP typically gains better gross margins. The reason I mentioned it upfront in my remarks is the market reaction to it has been fantastic. We've had some very large, very well-known customers that have been very encouraging for us to get the product out as quickly as possible. But unfortunately, there is a lot of work to be done. And I would expect that to be sometime about a year from now before we really kind of hit production level type numbers. We did show -- we do have prototypes now. We did show operating models at the recent OFC. It is a real product. It does work. It's a matter of getting it -- finalizing and then getting it to scale, which will take some time just because it's very -- it's a semiconductor type product. That is one of the products we have. We also have the Quattro, which will be coming out at the end of this year, which is a 4 by 100 product versus the 8 by 100 product. It is also a very, very power-saving product. I think it's better than anything out there on the market today. The real thing about the 800 though is it's ridiculously low power. I mean it's -- I think, 1 picojoule per bit, which is an industry first, and that's what's driven the excitement around it. Michael Genovese: Interesting. Now, when you say there's a lot of IP in it, I mean, is it fair to say that it would not be significantly dilutive to company gross margins? Thomas Stanton: It will not be dilutive to company gross margins. Michael Genovese: Okay. That's good to hear. I guess, maybe just something similar on any other new products. I mean we saw something about an announcement of an AI edge platform I'd like to hear more about. And then if I go back to OFC, I also think there was an announcement, at least where you were demoing 800 and 400ZR. So is that a product that you have, ZR? And could you talk more about the AI sort of edge platform? Thomas Stanton: Yes. The AI edge platform, I think you're talking about is still an offshoot of Clarity. So I'm not sure if there's anything else out there that we've -- at least I've seen that we announced. I'm not telling you it couldn't happen. But all of our AI products are in the Clarity family. We have an edge product that we are trialing right now, and then we have the core product for network operations that we have been trialing for some time. I will tell you the feedback here also is fantastic. I just recently had a bunch of customers in. We had 150 or so customers here in Huntsville and the feedback there just overwhelmingly positive. So good things there. On the 400ZR, we do have products coming out towards the end of this year, I think, for 400. And those are just ongoing pieces. The AI piece, now that I think about it, the AI piece you may be talking about it on Ensemble, which is the product that we were highlighting that has started to implement AI -- agentic AI in this product line. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Irvin Liu with Evercore. Jyhhaw Liu: I also had a question related to AI infrastructure. As you target this opportunity, can you talk about any sort of R&D and go-to-market investments needed to serve this customer segment? Thomas Stanton: There is some shifting that we'll be doing throughout the year where we make sure that we have the right R&D resources and sales resources to be able to do that. But all of that is within the current operating budget that we have today. So I don't think there's going to be any significant increase. We're kind of committed to and believe that we can grow the business fairly meaningful within the budgets that we have today. Once we get north of our targeted 10% -- or excuse me, we said low-single-digit, but 10% operating income, then we'll take a look at that as well and make sure that we're investing in the right places. But right now, we don't see any problems. Jyhhaw Liu: Got it. And then for my follow-up, you've been seeing strong demand in the regional service provider customer segment. So can you talk about any sort of momentum you're seeing as it relates to your suite of software products such as Mosaic One and Intellifi? Just any color on upsell efforts and attach rates here would be helpful. Thomas Stanton: Yes. We don't have those numbers broken out, but I will tell you the uptick on Intellifi has been fantastic. Mosaic got a very good launch. We have probably close to 500 customers right now on Mosaic One. And all of those are in different levels of subscription base. But Intellifi is doing really well. I think last time we reported on, it was over 100 customers and it was -- it's been a real highlight. So we don't have those numbers broken out. Hopefully next quarter, I'll be able to talk about them. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of George Notter with Wolfe Research. George Notter: I wanted to -- you mentioned cloud revenue in your cloud business. Can you remind us what percentage of sales comes from cloud operators? Do you have a sense for that? Thomas Stanton: Yes. We don't break that out. As you know, George, we don't break out specific customer segments like that. But just to give you some color, hyperscalers actually did really good in the fourth quarter. They were, as I mentioned, a real positive in the quarter, and we would expect that to continue on through this year. I mean we've got a fairly good backlog with some of our hyperscaler customers right now that's building. So that's pretty much it. George Notter: Got it. Okay. And I assume these are -- can you just walk through maybe the product sets that you sell in there and just kind of get us for your point on what is -- what you're leading with customers. Obviously, the LiteWave product is going to come on. But is it optical? What pieces are you selling? Thomas Stanton: Yes. The biggest piece is optical, and it's -- a lot of the momentum we're seeing right now is around our 100ZR plug. George Notter: Got it. Okay. I guess I would have assumed the 100-gig ZR plug was a little bit more of a telecom application rather than a cloud application. Thomas Stanton: As you know, maybe you do know, I think you do know, George, that we have a fairly large footprint. So when you look at large data center connectivity, not in the sweet spot. That's where the 400 and 800 will play more. In the smaller data center interconnectivity spot, which some of the hyperscalers have as an architecture, it plays very well. George Notter: Okay. Super. And then the other one I had was just on the LiteWave800. Obviously, laser datacom chips are really hard to come by in the industry. And I hear what you say about the business ramping a year from now. I guess I'm just curious about where you guys are getting laser datacom chip supply. Is that difficult to come by? Is it easy to come by? Is there anything you can tell us about where you're sourcing those? Thomas Stanton: I probably won't get into direct sourcing on that. We do have some partners that we're working with on this. They do know what the supply needs are right now. We see -- depending on how aggressive that launch is, we don't see any issues in being able to supply it as we launch it. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Ryan Koontz with Needham & Company. Ryan Koontz: I want to ask about optical demand, kind of that maybe step it up to a higher level. You talked about MOFN demand here. Can you maybe characterize where you are, where you see the biggest drivers specifically within Europe for your optical product lines and which products you're seeing the greatest success with in terms of demand? You just talked about 100ZR. I assume that's a big piece, but maybe any more color beyond that would be great. Thomas Stanton: Yes, I do think 100ZR also -- I think that the -- especially in Europe, I think that our 400 and 800-gig products are going to play very well in that upgrade path as well. The customer base that we're talking about is the customer base that you already know. It's ones that we've been doing business with for a very long period of time. And they're trying to situate their networks to be able to do more basically wholesale services. That customer is active. And then there's one here in the U.S. that you're already aware of that's also making a lot of noise around it. Ryan Koontz: Helpful. And are you seeing -- within that, are you seeing a shift away from traditional chassis-based transponders over to ZR pluggables in the telecom side as well? Thomas Stanton: It's a mix. That is dependent on the carrier size. And it also depends on whether or not they already have installed chassis. Where there's already an installed chassis there, they're going to upgrade that chassis. Where it's a footprint, even in footprint on some of the larger carriers, the operational ease that the current systems provide is actually very beneficial to them, but it's definitely a mix. Ryan Koontz: Got it. And then maybe hitting the gross margin here. Obviously, great results on the quarter. Congrats. And you talked about a lower mix of consumer CPE within your subscriber solutions. Can you maybe -- is consumer CPE, would it approach half of that number? Or you think it's maybe less than half of your total subscriber business? Just sort of quantify. Thomas Stanton: It's probably -- to be fair, it's probably -- I think it's definitely not less than a half, but it's not substantially more. And I think the reason that I was bringing it out is we have gotten feedback that customers were unclear about kind of how much the CPE margin problem is affecting us, and it does affect us. I mean there's no doubt about it. But the impact is substantially less when you take a look at it in the overall perspective of the entire company, but it is north of 50% of just the subscriber segment. Ryan Koontz: Makes sense. And maybe one last one, if I can squeeze it in. You talked about some better visibility on BEAD projects here. What sort of milestones should we look for before we start to see your revenues start to inflect for BEAD? Are we talking about permits and design and forecasts and orders? Can you maybe walk us through how we should think about the milestones that lets BEAD unfold and start to contribute for ADTRAN? Thomas Stanton: Yes. So funding is starting to flow or could flow for the -- by far, the majority of the states now. So a lot of that has been worked itself through. Now what you're seeing is kind of individual customers deciding how they want to roll out. We have some customers that have already placed purchase orders and they're rolling out and/or at least making sure that they've got supply to be able to not be a hamstrung. The smaller the customer, the easier that is. On the larger customers, the biggest pull -- long pull is going to be actually deploying the fiber itself, which is why we've been saying end of this year is probably where you start seeing that. On a local level, I mean, you can look at permitting and kind of where that is, that's kind of hard to actually get a good grasp of. At the end of the day, I'm looking for purchase orders. We're starting to see some today, but it's a trickle. It's not a lot. But we expect that -- I mean, this whole unlocking of the approval process really has accelerated. We went from, what, maybe 2 states a quarter ago, I think 3 states a quarter ago to pretty much all of the states now being able to send out funding. So I think the best visibility is actually seen in the numbers though because every carrier is going to be a little different. Ryan Koontz: And you think you'll just see nice steady improvements and '27 starts to feel like a more material number for you from being... Thomas Stanton: Absolutely. Yes. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Christian Schwab with Craig-Hallum. Christian Schwab: Just a quick clarity on that, Tom. With '27 orders picking up indeed more materially, would you anticipate '28 being potential peak revenue for that program? Or do you think it extends beyond that? And would you be willing to quantify a revenue range of opportunity over a multiyear time frame that this program could offer you guys? Thomas Stanton: I think we've given a range before, and that math changes depending on ultimately which carrier actually is deploying where. But Tim, do you remember what that range was? Timothy Santo: We had said of that market size, there's about $1 billion to go to the industry over multi years. Thomas Stanton: So it's a 5-year program. The timing of this, we've seen programs like this in the past. I think if you pick the middle of the window, that's typically where you see the majority of the spend. And then you'll see some kind of cleanup at the very tail end when people try to make sure that they get all the funding they can get. So my guess would be the middle of the program, which would be probably towards the tail end of '27. And then you'll probably see some cleanup from that point forward. And as you get towards the end of the program, you'll typically see some kind of flush as people try to make sure they did all the work they need to do. Christian Schwab: Great. That's great clarity. And then my last question just as your largest -- one of your competitors spent a significant amount of time on their conference call talking about memory cost headwinds. I'm just wondering how you guys are navigating through that. Thomas Stanton: Yes, sure. Right now, we're doing good. So I do think that we are helped by the fact that we have a fairly diverse product portfolio. When you get into some of our larger products like some of our larger access and ag platforms, which handle thousands of customers, or you get into optical for that matter, the memory content on those products is just less of the total bill of material. So the impact is significantly less. If you get into some of the lower-end residential CPE, that memory can be a large percentage of the total bill of material. And I think that's the direct impact. If you take a look at our -- that maybe that's the direct tie through to your question. If you take a look at our CPE for residential, which is the most materially impacted, it is also the lowest cost products we sell and the lowest inherent gross margins to begin with that we sell. There's a bigger impact. When you get to some of the larger 100-gigabit platforms, 400 gigabit platforms, that memory impact is just substantially less. And I think that's the difference. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Dave Kang with B. Riley. Dave Kang: Just the first question is regarding the Middle East conflict. Just wondering if you can talk about the impact from that. Thomas Stanton: Yes. So I think it impacts us in a couple of different ways. One is, without a doubt, it hurt us on the freight line. There are some disruptions. Our freight expense this quarter was higher than I would like it to be. Probably be higher this quarter as well, so last quarter and this quarter. And that's just a matter of being able to get capacity in the right planes. And it was a little messy last quarter, freight line. I think that's the biggest -- that's the biggest headline impact. We absolutely saw an impact though in our Middle East revenues as well. Some of that was disrupted last quarter. I don't know when that gets better. I would expect it to be a little better this quarter, but I think it hurt us both on the revenue and the cost line. Dave Kang: Are we talking like maybe 1%, 2% revenue impact? Timothy Santo: Revenue, yes, less than 5%, yes. Dave Kang: So it's definitely meaningful. I mean, material, right? Thomas Stanton: Well, especially if you talk on a -- we tend to -- we really look at EMEA as one big bucket, and that's how we manage it. And for the EMEA area, yes, it definitely hurt. But on the overall company, it was -- it was not as meaningful. I think on the freight side, it probably hurt more to be honest with you. Dave Kang: And should we expect that to be better this quarter, the... Thomas Stanton: I don't want to tell our operations guys, but I don't expect our freight to be materially better this quarter. I think it's going to be messy this quarter as well. I can't project. Go ahead. Dave Kang: Yes. Got it. So that leads me to my second question, is your operating margin guide for 2Q, 5% to 9%. Just wondering if you can go over some of your assumptions of 5% versus 9%. Timothy Santo: Yes. So we continue to think that -- I mean, if you think about it, basically we're assuming a similar freight environment in this quarter as last quarter and a similar memory impact in this quarter as last quarter. Dave Kang: Got it. And then my last question is, were you able to raise prices or any plans to raise prices to counter elevated freight as well as component costs? Thomas Stanton: Freight, we're not pushing so much on. I mean we're still very hopeful that that's transitory. Component prices on the memory prices, we have raised prices to customers to reflect the current challenges in that supply chain. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Tim Savageaux with Northland Capital Markets. Timothy Savageaux: I want to come back to a comment you made about optical, mainly kind of building throughout the year, which makes sense. Typically, in access and aggregation, you see kind of the opposite pattern, which is a stronger first half driven by Europe and then maybe a weaker second half. My question is, I wonder if BEAD can serve to offset that this year. So you might be able to have a similar type profile building throughout the year. And at least let's just focus on access and aggregation here as a result of that. And at this point, are you able to make an estimate for what the annual incremental contribution of BEAD might be in the second half or this year in general? Thomas Stanton: I really -- yes, unfortunately, I really can't give an estimate on BEAD because there's too many customers and too many unknowns. But your question is, do I think you would also see the typical access and ag. I think a couple of things can play into that. BEAD definitely will be helpful. I think the other thing that we expect to see, and this is still relatively early in the year, but I think Europe is going to be stronger than what we saw the last couple of years seasonally. So I think that we're -- you won't see -- the current expectations is that we won't see the same kind of falloff in the second half versus first half that we saw last year. Did that answer your question, Tim? Timothy Savageaux: Sure guys. Operator: And your next question comes from the line of Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital. William Dezellem: Relative to the LiteWave800 and your engineering knowledge set that you have gained to reduce that power consumption by 90%, is there a carryover or an opportunity to take that knowledge and apply to other products throughout your catalog that could be materially impactful to the business? And if so, what's the timeline that it would take to have that technology or those capabilities infiltrate the rest of the product line? Thomas Stanton: I think it's relatively unique to the product sets that we're talking about. It is because of particular speeds and particular distances that we're able to actually get the power savings that we're talking about. I think the -- but I did call it a family. And I consider Quattro to be part of that same family, which is in our multi Mux family, which is very, very power savings as well. But I think the proliferation you'll see of that technology is in that pluggable space. So you're going to see first product is QSFP. We do have other products that are, let's say, I'll just say more integrated that will be coming out over time. So I think you're going to see different members of the family and similar application sets where this technology will actually play itself out. William Dezellem: And Tom, those applications are all within the data center? Or are there other short distance opportunities that are outside of the data center that I'm not thinking about right now? Thomas Stanton: There could be, but I can tell you that demand with inside the data center is worth focusing on. It is very large. At this, I think we are out of questions. So I want to thank everybody for joining us on the conference call, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter. Thanks, everyone.
Operator: Welcome to SelectQuote's third quarter earnings conference call. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to introduce Matt Gunter, SelectQuote Investor Relations. Mr. Gunter, you may begin the conference. Matthew Gunter: Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to SelectQuote's fiscal third quarter earnings call. Before we begin our call, I would like to mention that on our website, we have provided a slide presentation to help guide our discussion. After today's call, a replay will also be available on our website. Joining me from the company, I have our Chief Executive Officer, Tim Danker; and Chief Financial Officer, Ryan Clement. Following Tim and Ryan's comments today, we will also have a question-and-answer session. As referenced on Slide 2, during this call, we will be discussing some non-GAAP financial measures. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of the differences between the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are available in our earnings release and investor presentation on our website. And finally, a reminder that certain statements made today may be forward-looking statements. These statements are made based upon management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company. And therefore, involve a number of uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to those described in our earnings release, annual report on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2025, and subsequent filings with the SEC. Therefore, the actual results of operations or financial condition of the company could differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Tim Danker. Tim? Timothy Danker: Thank you, Matt, and appreciate everyone joining us this morning. We're pleased to report another quarter of strong financial results across each of our segments. We reaffirm our outlook for fiscal 2026 and continue to execute our goal to drive profitability and cash flow. We're especially proud of the results given the headwinds our industry has faced over the past year plus. This is a testament to our people and strategy. SelectQuote continued to advance our goal to expand cash flow, and the company is very well positioned to accelerate that effort in fiscal 2027. To summarize, SelectQuote generated $431 million in revenue, driven by solid results across each of our segments. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $45 million, growth of 18% year-over-year. In Senior, we grew revenue by 8% year-over-year to $183 million. Growth was driven by healthier OEP, strong agent productivity and customer retention, as well as a positive change to our commissions receivables that Ryan will detail. As we have mentioned before, we firmly believe the SelectQuote's strategy and our agents make the difference. This now marks 4 consecutive years of strong operating performance in Senior, despite widely varying Medicare Advantage backdrops each year. To say it lightly, we're very proud of the results and our differentiated model. Senior adjusted EBITDA totaled $59 million, which includes the positive $14 million adjustment I just mentioned. It is important to note that the adjustment reaffirms the value of the commissions receivable on our balance sheet and the approximate $1 billion in assets we expect to receive in the quarters and years ahead. When we offer bespoke advice to American seniors and do so year-in and year-out, they get the best care, and we and our carrier partners benefit through strong retention. That said, excluding and normalizing the adjustment for comparison purposes, SelectQuote's model once again drove strong Senior margins of 26% and a Medicare Advantage backdrop that was mixed this season. Turning to Healthcare Services, revenue grew 5% compared to a year ago, totaling $199 million. Our revenue and profitability in SelectRx was impacted by both carrier-specific actions on reimbursement, which we detailed earlier this year, and the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. Ryan will provide detail on that impact shortly. Those headwinds notwithstanding, our adjusted EBITDA improved sequentially to $5 million, and we maintain our view that Healthcare Services will be a significant driver of profitable cash flow growth in fiscal 2027 and beyond. Overall, including our Life Insurance segment, we expect to exit fiscal 2026 on very strong footing in spite of what was a challenging environment. Looking ahead to 2027, we are encouraged by increasing visibility within the Medicare Advantage ecosystem. We're excited about SelectQuote's ability to compound cash flow growth in the near future and see significant value for shareholders as a result, especially at what we believe is a wildly dislocated valuation for our company. To that end, let me be clear that we will take all necessary action to maintain our listing on the New York Stock Exchange. We remain confident our stock will continue to be traded on the NYSE for years to come. Lastly, I'd like to take a minute to highlight a new and important initiative called SelectQuote Local. As you know, we have longed and proud of our company's ability to help underserved Americans. SelectQuote Local is a natural extension of our model and allows local community healthcare and life insurance participants to leverage our information and market advantages to help more people in need. The business offers our leading marketing, technology, products and customer service platform through a franchise model with local sales and service. Put another way, we're offering local providers the information engine of SelectQuote on a fee-based arrangement, and we can do so with minimal capital investment. Similar to the expansion of our revenue to CAC metric with the growth of Healthcare Services, we see SelectQuote Local as another extension of how our model can help more Americans with the same scale dollar of investment. SelectQuote Local won't be a meaningful revenue driver in the near term, but strategically, it broadens our reach and addressable market. Now let's flip to Slide 4, and let's take a look at the KPIs from our very strong quarter. We've shown these before, primarily for our Senior business, but we've also included additional detail on SelectRx. Starting with Senior on the left, we drove another strong quarter measured by agent productivity and OEP. Agent service and productivity are an evergreen goal of ours, but I'd remind you that this is all the more impressive considering the very strong compares in the previous 2 years. Specifically, we drove a 1% improvement in policies per agent over this timeframe despite historically wide swings in the environment from one season to the next. Moving down the page, we saw even better results on marketing efficiency, spending 14% less per approved policy compared to 2 years ago. Ryan will speak to elevated approval rates this season, but even excluding that unique impact, we saw a strong return on marketing spend beyond just policy booking. Senior engagement was high across the full range of our channels. We're underscoring our Senior division efficiency performance here, because we oftentimes find investors and analysts overlook the progress we've made on cash conversion in this segment. Moving to the right side of the page, we highlight the significant progress we've made with onboarding of SelectRx members. As you can see, we have driven a 64% increase in prescriptions shipped compared to 2 years ago relative to a commensurate 55% increase in SelectRx members. Progressive maturity and onboarding of our membership, combined with the improved operating efficiency of our Olathe, Kansas distribution facility has driven significant leverage on a relatively fixed cost base. As a result, SelectQuote generated a global revenue to CAC multiple of 6.7x. Only SelectQuote offers this unique combination of capabilities to help patients in multiple ways. This increases the value we bring to consumers and drives additional profitability with each senior we engage with. For products and services that are inherently recurring, especially when done at our level of care, the cash flow streams from our customers drive very compelling returns on invested capital. As we've noted, there is a wide disconnect between the value we see in our platform and cash flow streams and the valuation of common equity. Take one simple example. Our Medicare Advantage commissions receivable balance at the end of fiscal third quarter totaled nearly $1 billion, which compares to our market cap of under $200 million today. We have fielded questions about the LTV assumptions in our commissions accounting going all the way back to our IPO, but I'd simply note that SelectQuote has just operated in 2 of the most disruptive Medicare Advantage environments on record. Over those 2 years, we had a recapture rate of over 33%, and we're able to recognize a favorable adjustment to our receivables. The point being, we have visibility and conviction in our balance sheet asset and multiple capital markets transactions would suggest others analyzing the business closely share that conviction. Before I hand the call over to Ryan, we're very proud of the great progress we've made over the past 4 years, both operationally and on our capital structure. We continue to prioritize cash flow generation and will deliver significant year-over-year improvement in operating cash flow in fiscal '26. We expect to build upon that meaningful cash flow improvement in fiscal '27 and beyond with a stated goal to delever our balance sheet in the years to come. I'll end my comments by underscoring our commitment to remedying the disconnect in our equity value and see a very compelling opportunity in SelectQuote for investors in the future. With that, let me turn the call over to Ryan to review our third quarter. Ryan? Ryan Clement: Thanks, Tim. I'll pick it up on Slide 5 with a summary of our consolidated financial results. As Tim noted, SelectQuote had a strong quarter with revenue growth of 6% year-over-year, totaling $431 million. The growth was driven by both our Senior and Healthcare Services businesses, reflecting a strong OEP and continued demand for SelectRx. Adjusted EBITDA of $45 million was aided by the positive change in estimate to our commissions receivable that Tim noted. Excluding the favorable adjustment, our consolidated EBITDA margin for fiscal 3Q would have been 7%, which is a strong result for an OEP quarter. Overall, given the volatile backdrop, we are proud of the progress we continue to make on profitability and cash flow generation. The fiscal third quarter was strong operationally, and we are very well positioned to end fiscal 2026 on a positive note and carry momentum into 2027. Let me begin the segment overview on Slide 6 with a summary of our Senior business. As Tim noted, Senior revenue grew 8% compared to last year, totaling $183 million on 4% growth in approved MA policies and the positive change in estimate. Let's detail those 2 drivers, starting with approved policies. While growth in approved policies was strong, it's important to note that approval rates this OEP were materially higher than in previous years. While we are encouraged by these strong carrier approval rates, we will continue to monitor as it's possible some of this increase may reflect approval timing and volume that was pulled forward from 4Q, contributing to the outsized strength this quarter. Shifting to the positive adjustment, the majority of the $14 million increase in receivables was due to a change in our estimate of expected renewals driven by additional anticipated renewals from our policyholders as we continue to gain visibility to retention through this most recent renewal event. Having now operated through 15 Medicare seasons, we are proud to say we still have customers from our earliest cohorts. As a reminder, our LTV accounting assumes 10 renewal years and also assumes a 15% constraint. We think this is yet another indicator that our commissions receivables balance represents a large and perhaps not appropriately understood source of future cash flow to the business. Moving to adjusted EBITDA, Senior generated $59 million, including a favorable $14 million adjustment to our commissions receivable. Excluding that adjustment, the Senior segment produced an EBITDA margin of 26%. We have now maintained profitability of at least 25% during the AEP and OEP seasons for each of the last 4 consecutive years. Over that timeframe, the SelectQuote Senior business has averaged EBITDA margins of over 25% on a full year basis. Moving to Slide 7, our Healthcare Services business performed in line with our expectations against the pressures Tim mentioned. As we forecasted, membership growth in the quarter was strong at 11%, but moderated compared to the recent past. To be clear, demand remains very strong, but we continue to focus on driving further improvement in segment profitability. Our nearly 117,000 members drove revenue of $199 million for the fiscal third quarter. Let me take a moment to speak through the dynamic that changed booked revenue sequentially. The Inflation Reduction Act went into effect on January 1 of this year and set maximum fair prices for 10 higher-priced drugs. Essentially, all of the sequential drop in revenue was driven by that specific price change in the quarter. It's important to note that while the IRA drove a notable change to our top line, the actual impact to EBITDA was in the low single-digit millions and was fully accounted for in our original forecast. To that point, moving down the page, we drove adjusted EBITDA of $5 million despite the headwinds mentioned. As we noted last quarter, we see significant profit and cash flow in our base of SelectRx members. We are driving profit improvement through the seasoning and higher utilization of our membership base. Additionally, we continue to grow more and more optimistic about the cost efficiency of our Olathe distribution facility, which came online in April of 2025. At this time, less than 20% of our prescriptions shipped from that facility, but we are already recognizing 30% plus efficiency gains on those shipments relative to our 2 legacy locations. We have been investing in the development of a proprietary pharmacy management system to support all of our locations, and we are in the testing phase at this point. Upon successful completion of our testing, the new pharmacy management system will allow us to fulfill many more SelectRx members through the Olathe facility in the quarters to come. We currently use less than half of the facility space and run only 1 shift in that facility. So there's ample room to scale into this highly efficient operation. Flipping to Life Insurance on Slide 8, the business remains steady with cross currents between our 2 main products, Final Expense and Term Life. Final Expense continues to be a tailwind for the business with commissions up more than 8% year-over-year at highly attractive margins. We continue to see strong demand for this product and believe it will be a consistent growth driver well into the future. Strength in Final Expense was partially offset by Term Life, which remains a competitive market as consumers are shifting where and how they consume media. Overall, Life revenue grew 4% to $48 million and generated adjusted EBITDA of $6 million. While small, it's worth noting that the Life business generates sufficient cash flow similar to our Healthcare Services segment. In summary, our Life division remains a steady contributor of profitability and cash flow. Finally, on Slide 9, we are reaffirming our revenue range of $1.61 billion to $1.71 billion and adjusted EBITDA range of $90 million to $100 million. Despite realizing a positive adjustment this quarter, we believe it is prudent to maintain our guidance ranges at this time. As mentioned earlier, 3Q results were aided by approval rates in Senior that were materially higher than previous years. While we are encouraged by this approval rate increase, we want to continue to monitor whether some of this goodness may be timing related, impacting our fourth quarter approved policy levels. To echo Tim's comment, the SelectQuote model is generating visible and strengthening cash profitability, and we are highly focused on closing the disconnect between our equity market value and the real value of those cash flows. With that, let me now turn the call back to the operator to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Drew Sterrett from RBC Capital. Andrew Sterrett: This is Drew Sterrett on for Ben Hendrix. You previously noted that PBM headwinds have continued for SelectRx. I mean for this quarter, it appears reimbursement came in a little ahead of our expectations. Do you have any additional commentary around this? And how should we think about the PMB (sic) [ PBM ] reimbursement environment going forward? Timothy Danker: Yes, Drew, thanks for joining. This is Tim. I'll take the first part of the call and maybe have Ryan also speak to the IRA impact. But as far as the PBM reimbursement environment, it remains very stable. As we talked about earlier this year, we faced a challenge with the change in our reimbursement rate. We have successfully resolved that issue and have seen reimbursement rates normalize in the third quarter results. So, would categorize the environment from a reimbursement rate is stable, and we're happy to have secured a multi-year agreement with our largest PBM partner. Ryan, maybe you can elaborate a little bit more on the IRA dynamic Inflation Reduction Act that impacted revenue for the quarter. Ryan Clement: Yes, happy to. As Tim noted and I mentioned on the call, the revenue sequentially declined and the biggest driver there or the driver is the Inflation Reduction Act, which when you look at it optically, revenue obviously dropping, but the bottom line impact, very different from what we see in the top line, top line is outsized. And the reason for that is we're receiving refunds from the drug manufacturers, and that's actually flowing through in the cost of goods line item. So for the quarter, we actually received $13 million in refunds. But again, there's a little bit of a geography change that's happening. And certainly, optically, it looks like there's a sequential decline, but that's really driven by the IRA impacts, which were fully accounted for in our guidance. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of George Sutton from Craig-Hallum. George Sutton: That's a new way to say, Craig-Hallum. So nice results. I wondered, Tim, if you could talk about, you mentioned in your prepared comments, you're positioned to accelerate the cash flow dynamics in 2027. Can you just give us a little picture of that? Timothy Danker: Yes, I'd be happy to, George. And I appreciate you being on, George. As far as cash flow dynamic, we feel like we're making substantial progress year-over-year. I think it's a byproduct of the positive changes that we made in the capital structure and kind of cash interest obligations. Certainly, as you've seen the results for OEP, which I think we have highlighted is there's been a lot of change over the past 2 years around the environment. So we feel really good about the OEP results and the underlying efficiency that we're driving in our Senior distribution business, both from an agent productivity as well as from a marketing efficiency standpoint. And clearly, we had a bounce back quarter in terms of SelectRx. And that's a big part of the story moving forward, really those 3 factors that would emphasize SelectRx is a significant opportunity for us to continue to improve the cash flow generation. So we highlighted the Olathe, Kansas or Metro, Kansas City facility and some of the things that we're doing there that are driving 30% plus efficiency relative to our legacy pharmacies, and we expect that to continue to compound as we exit fourth quarter this year into next year. George Sutton: Great. You also mentioned increased visibility in the Medicare Advantage ecosystem. I wondered, you've got some fairly public comments from a large carrier about their plans, which don't necessarily align with the brokers. I'm curious where you're seeing this increased visibility? Can you give us a sense of the discussions that you're having with the carriers? Timothy Danker: Yes, I'd be happy to. Great question, George. I think we are certainly seeing some positive developments relative to maybe a few quarters ago in the broader MA market recovery, if you will. But I think we would still caution at the pace of recovery. The things that we're seeing, I know that you and other analysts are covering from the payers that have reported is we're seeing some of the medical cost trends easing a bit, still expected -- forecasted to be up in high single-digit year-over-year, maybe coming in slightly favorable to that. But a reimbursement trend that's not fully sufficient to cover those costs. So that's a bit of a mixed story there, if you will. Some of the changes to the stars rating changes, we think is a positive tailwind if the payers can manage the enhanced focus on the clinical factors. And then you're seeing the payers' margin improvement recovery happening. I think when you put all that into the blender, if you will, we think there will be a continued discipline in the market for plan year 2027. We believe that there's some potential reemergence to targeted growth for plan year 2028. So we're anticipating that there could be some elevated disruption again this next year as carriers try to get to those target margin goals. But we have performed very well over the past 2 years. We certainly take the position that SelectQuote has been in this business for 15 years. Many members of this exec team have been in Medicare for 20 years. And we know these cycles don't last forever. We continue to have an optimistic outlook, I would say, cautious optimism. George Sutton: Lastly for me, if I could. Both you and Ryan were pretty adamant about wanting to remedy the disconnect of your equity. And I'm just curious how broad you're thinking there. Obviously, execution is one factor, but I'm curious outside of that, how broadly you're thinking in terms of things like segment sale or monetizing receivables or other M&A. Just curious on that side? Timothy Danker: Yes. Fair question, George. I mean we definitely plan to remedy it, and we made the public comments about ensuring that this company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. But beyond that, which we will certainly accomplish, we continue to evaluate a series of options. And I think we've been on record as a company that continues to evaluate various capital markets transactions, securitization, obviously, we've accomplished one. We think the positive development of how we've worked through the past 2 years on the renewal side and this positive change in estimate gives us more conviction, even increased conviction around our back book receivables, that's certainly an option. And there's other M&A, we certainly believe that -- and we've said this before, there's -- the market is at the point where consolidation might make sense. We think there'll be a small handful of sophisticated and capability-rich players, and SelectQuote will certainly be one of those. We think the strength, the diversification, the durability of our business creates an option set for us that's quite wide. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Steven Couche from Jefferies. Steven Couche: I'm on for Dave. Maybe we can start on SelectRx. Do you still expect to exit the year at the $40 million to $50 million EBITDA run rate that you had previously messaged? Timothy Danker: Hello, Steven, I appreciate you joining, and I'm happy to answer that. I think we are highly confident that in the very near term, this business will be at a $40 million to $50 million EBITDA run rate business. We continue to gain operational efficiencies like we've commented on in our Kansas City facility, and we expect that to continue to compound as we exit 4Q and enter fiscal '27. Steven Couche: Okay. Great. And then I actually wanted to ask about Kansas City and how you think about taking volumes out of the other 2 facilities, I believe they're in Indy and Pittsburgh and moving them into Kansas City. And I mean, does it create some sort of stranded costs or decremental margins in the other 2 facilities when you move into Kansas City? Timothy Danker: Yes. I can take that one. As far as getting volume in, we are -- we've been very open that we've been working on kind of a new pharmacy management systems and things like that. And in order to really take more volume in, we are really close, but we're working on getting that done. We've sent our first patients through that process, it's gone very, very well. So pretty soon, we will be kind of moving more patients over. It doesn't -- actually, that should help the margins in the other facilities, because it should take a little bit of a burden off of some of the later night shifts and things that we have to do. So again, that cost savings that Ryan was talking about is very real. So we feel like that will just enhance margins even more as we run more volume through there. Steven Couche: Okay. And then maybe 1 or 2 on Senior. So the $14 million positive change of estimate, did I hear you correctly when it sounded like those -- that better performance was on recent policies. I don't know if it was this most recent AEP or maybe the one before that. And I guess the underlying question is how much of that $14 million should we think about folding into the underlying EBITDA run rate? Timothy Danker: Yes. So I think with respect to -- obviously, the guide, we've kind of set that out, there is $90 million to $100 million, we weren't adjusting it. With respect to the positive tail adjustment, that's really -- we've been through another renewal event. We're sitting looking at our book of business, looking at persistency, making adjustments based off our expectations. And so through this enhanced visibility, it became clear that we would expect to collect more than what we currently have on the balance sheet, which led to the change in estimate. So I think it's less about any specific cohort and more broadly as we assess the book of business, it became clear that it made sense to go ahead and make this adjustment. But again, at this time, we're not modifying the guidance. I want to see how Q4 develops. And obviously, we've talked about the approval rates. And so just seeing how that develops, but we're very pleased with the overall business results as well as the way the book is holding up. Steven Couche: Okay. Great. And maybe I can sneak in one more here. So when we think about the LTV calculation, obviously, this last AEP was extremely disruptive, probably max disruption. And so when we think about moving forward the LTV calculation, do we just need the industry-wide enrollment disruption to be less and that would theoretically benefit the LTV calculation? Or are there other variables at play where just if the environment just stabilizes, that wouldn't necessarily result in the LTV also stabilizing or improving? Timothy Danker: Yes. So I would say there are many factors that impact the LTV, it's customer retention, carrier mix, payment structures. Obviously, we have been through 2 disruptive seasons, and that does put some pressure on persistency. We're incredibly pleased with the 34% recapture rate. We've done phenomenally well navigating the season. And I think it's worth calling out that when we do help someone with a new policy that may have a plan term, we're actually putting that policy on the books at a very low cost. All that being said, I think clearly, strong performance and the ability to navigate through a range of Medicare seasons. Your question around stability, if we do see increased stability within the system, that would be a tailwind to lifetime values. And so again, I think that's what we're hoping for in the future, but clearly been able to navigate 4 very different Medicare seasons. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Kupinski from NOBLE Capital Markets. Michael Kupinski: Congratulations on your quarter. Tough to kind of go a little bit later in asking questions. Most of my questions have been answered. I was just wondering in terms of the marketing spend by national carriers, have you seen any changes there? And then also just in trends on your Senior, I know that you've kind of touched around this. Just wondering if you can just kind of give us your thoughts in terms of the back half of the year and how that's trending, particularly? And I know you touched on all of this in terms of submission volumes, approval rates and average revenue. But just wondering if you can kind of give us your thoughts in terms of how things are trending as we kind of look into the next quarter? Timothy Danker: Yes, Michael, thanks for joining. Just to clarify, your first question is regarding kind of a carrier marketing investment. I just want to clarify before I respond. Michael Kupinski: Yes, the carrier marketing spend. Timothy Danker: Yes. Thank you, Michael. So the short answer to that, Michael, is no additional updates beyond what we shared on our second quarter call regarding strategic marketing investment other than to say what we had projected is what we're experiencing. So we're certainly in line there. Carriers will go through their annual planning cycles with us this summer, and we'll expect to have a clearer picture when we provide our fiscal '27 guide. But I think if you look at how we navigated this OEP, we obviously had to absorb some of the aforementioned $20 million impact, a material amount of that came through in our fiscal 3Q, and we were able to still drive, we believe, outsized results. So we think this is all certainly manageable. I think the second part of your question was additional detail on how the back half of the year is going. And I would say that, again, we just went through our second biggest quarter in OEP, we think, with flying colors, and we're really proud of the results and the efficiency and how that also builds towards oFur commissions receivable as well as 4 straight years of 25% plus full year EBITDA margins, we're quite proud of that. We now enter into the SEP period, and we are seeing -- honestly, SEP period looks a lot like last year. No substantial changes for us year-over-year. We do believe that our year-round model and the viability of our economics, inclusive of the quieter SEP periods is very unique amongst other direct-to-consumer players in our category. We're really able to make the quieter periods work economically and also enhanced by this unique asset we have called SelectRx and how our enterprise economics work even when the heartbeat might be a little slower during SEP. So everything is kind of in line, while early, and expect to finish the year strong. Operator: At this time, there are no further questions. I will now hand the conference over to CEO, Tim Danker, for closing remarks. Timothy Danker: Yes. Thank you all again for your time, and we appreciate your support of SelectQuote. As Ryan and I have both noted, the SelectQuote model continues to drive consistent and reliable value to our customers and insurance carrier partners. We know the underlying cash flows for our services are real and significant, and we look forward to convincing more and more investors of that value in our equity in the months and years ahead. We appreciate your time. Have a great day. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you all for attending. You may now disconnect.