AstroNova, Inc.

And welcome to the AstroNova's third quarter fiscal 2021 financial results conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to David Kalustyan of the company's investor relation firm, Sharon Merrill Associates. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Hosting this morning's call are Greg Woods, AstroNova's president and CEO, and David Smith, the company's chief financial officer. Greg will discuss the company's operating results. David will comment on the financials. Greg will make concluding comments, and then management will be happy to take your questions. By now, you should have received a copy of the earnings release that was issued today. If you do not have a copy, please go to the Investors section of the Astronova website, www.astronovainc.com. Please note that statements made during today's call that are not statements of historical facts are considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions that could involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially except as required by law. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of today, December 7, 2020. The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. For further information regarding the forward-looking statements and the factors that may cause differences, please see the risk factors in Astronova's annual report on Form 10-K and the other filings the company makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On today's call, management will be referring to the non-GAAP financial measure Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, or EBITDAH. Astranova believes that the inclusion of this measure helps investors gain a meaningful understanding of the changes in the company's core operating results and also can help investors who wish to make comparisons between Astranova and other companies on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. A reconciliation of this non-GAAP measure to its most directly comparable GAAP measure is available in today's earnings release. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Greg.

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We performed in line with our expectations for the third quarter, particularly in light of the ongoing effects of COVID-19. In the product identification segment, revenue and operating margin increased sequentially and year on year. While in testing measurement, our results continue to reflect the effects of the pandemic on the commercial aerospace industry. Let me touch on each of these segments. On the product identification side, We're seeing the benefits of our new and fully updated product offerings, combined with the expanding emphasis on digital sales and marketing. Our enhanced digital presence, highlighted by our new website, AstronovaProductID.com, has been very well received. Earlier this quarter, we launched a new site globally, which integrates our Quick Label, Trojan Label, and Get Label brands into one comprehensive site with state-of-the-art interactive capabilities. This site includes digital educational content such as online demonstrations, e-books, white papers, and blogs to help customers make informed decisions. The response from the user community to all of the newly added digital thought leadership content has been very positive across the board. Product identification revenue in the quarter of $22.9 million was up more than 5% year over year and nearly 6% on a sequential basis. Pavement operating profit increased by 87%, the $3.5 million, due to the higher revenue as well as operating expense reductions. These results were driven by strong demand for our printers and supplies, including our new color label printers, such as the QL120X and the QL850, as well as our recently released wide format direct product and packaging printer, the T3-OPX, which continues to exceed our expectations. The rate of new customer acquisition was also favorable, which contributed to this segment's strong performance in Q3. Innovations in technology and applied marketing are cornerstones of our product identification growth strategy. At the recent PAC Expo Connects digital trade show, we demonstrated a range of advanced new products that enable customers to further increase productivity, reduce waste, and drive those efficiencies to the bottom line. These new offerings, includes several new products that expand our reach into our customers' product identification automation processes. For example, the LF100 and LF200 label finishers, compact all-in-one desktop finishing systems that add inline label lamination and die cutting, saving production time and lowering media expenses. And the T2C-based print-and-apply solution, a new downstream adjacency for us, that combines our label printing technology with high-speed automated robotic label placement. PackExpo Connects was our first large-scale virtual trade show. We hosted eight interactive seminars, as well as a broad range of video demo rooms. All were well-received and well-attended, and our sales teams are now busy following up with those attendees. Turning to test and measurement, Not surprisingly, the combination of COVID-19 and the 737 MAX grounding continues to adversely affect commercial printer deliveries in Q3. Segment revenue of $5.1 million was down about $6.4 million year over year and $900,000 sequentially. That being said, in light of recent developments, we're hopeful that the third quarter will represent the low point for our T&M segment. Though we don't have a crystal ball, The potential of approved coronavirus vaccines in the coming days and the FAA's November decision of clearing the 737 MAX for return to service are positive signs for our commercial aerospace business as we move through fiscal 2022 and beyond. As the aviation industry works its way through what is expected to be a gradual recovery, we have restructured the commercial aerospace portion of our business to more closely align our operations with the current reduced production levels. Even at these reduced operating levels, however, we have made sure to keep our core technical and support teams in place so that we can rapidly ramp up production as the current crises abate. In terms of recent highlights, during the third quarter, we announced the receipt of an exclusive multi-year commitment from a major North American carrier, which is deploying our narrow format Tuckrider printers in its Boeing 737 aircraft. As I noted on the Q2 call, This will likely result in more than 200 printer orders during the term of that agreement. The defense portion of our test and measurement segment, while traditionally a much smaller component of revenue than commercial, is growing and trending positively. In our last call, I mentioned the receipt of a printer contract for military transport aircraft, and we continue to pursue similar airborne activities and opportunities. We have received initial orders for our new data acquisition recorders and telemetry systems for evaluation at several US and foreign military ground facilities. These early successes bode well for this next generation equipment. Now, let me turn the call over to David for his financial review, after which I'll make some concluding remarks, and then we'll open the line for questions. David.