Atlanticus Holdings Corporation

Hello, and welcome to Allentica's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask the question during the session, you will need to press Start11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press Start11 again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Dan Mount. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Atlanticus released results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, this afternoon after market close. If you did not receive a copy of our earnings press release, you may obtain it from the investor relations section of our website at investors.Atlanticus.com. We have also posted an updated investor presentation. With me on today's call are Jeff Howard, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Bill McKamey, Chief Financial Officer. This call is being webcast and will be archived on the Investor Relations section of our website. Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to, among other things, earnings growth, returns on equity, portfolio performance, the benefits of the acquisition of mercury, including expected synergies, and future financial and operating results. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Please review our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our SEC filings. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and, except to the extent required by federal securities laws, the company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement. In addition, during this call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff.

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. 2026 is off to a very good start, combining strong legacy asset performance with continued momentum from our recent acquisition of Mercury Financial. We're now two full quarters into the Mercury acquisition, and the integration continues to progress well. Last quarter, we noted that we were ahead of plan, and that pace continued throughout the first quarter. We're encouraged by the early results from our portfolio management actions, which are ahead of our acquisition model, as well as better than planned origination volumes and unit level economics. And most importantly, we are ahead of schedule on our operational integration and the creation of one Atlanticus. As I stated in our earnings release, we are a more scaled, better resourced, more talented and capable company than we were at this time last year. And I will further add with the ability to serve an even broader customer base. We're excited about the opportunity to build on these enhancements in the periods ahead. Aside from the mercury acquisition, we also experienced growth in our legacy portfolios, which reinforces the underlying strength of the platform, with managed receivables growth excluding mercury of 35%. This growth remains broad-based across both our private label and general purpose product lines. Supported by increased customer acquisition on behalf of our bank partners and deeper customer engagement, as well as retail partners' organic growth and market share gains within those partnerships. From an overall portfolio perspective, we continue to see favorable asset-level performance. Payment behavior remains consistent, purchase activity is steady, and newer customer cohorts are performing well as they season. While macro uncertainty persists, we have not observed any material change in underlying trends. In fact, we continue to see stable and rational consumer behavior across the portfolio. Through our deep data-driven insights, we're closely monitoring our book of managed receivables for any signs of stress, particularly given the market's concern regarding recent increases in gas prices. Utilization rates, payment rates, first pay default, early delinquency trends, percent of consumers making on-time payments, percent of consumers making more than the monthly minimum payment, all exhibit normal behaviors. Yes, spending patterns have shown some changes. The percent being spent on gas did increase in March, but remains in line with 2023 and 2024 spending levels and well below 2022 levels. Conversely, we're actually seeing higher levels of discretionary spending and dining out expenditures. While we are mindful of the risk associated with inflation and specifically the continued rise in gas prices, we also note that the economy at large is in reasonably good shape. Unemployment rates are steady, jobless claims are at a 50-year low, and according to published reports, deposits as a percent of disposable income and inflation-adjusted deposit levels for middle-income consumers remain substantially higher than pre-pandemic levels. As a result, we continue to feel confident in our portfolio performance and the continued achievement of our unit level return targets. From a competitive standpoint, as mentioned last quarter, the general purpose card environment remains active with continued elevated solicitation levels across the markets we serve. As a result, we are seeing somewhat lower response rates. Despite this increased competition, we continue to see opportunities for prudent growth and attractive asset level returns, which are supported by our differentiated analytics, multiple product offerings, and omnichannel origination capabilities. Turning to financial performance, We delivered another strong quarter of earnings with net income attributable to common shareholders of $41.9 million, or $2.23 per diluted share, up 50% year-over-year and 27% sequentially. We also achieved a return on average equity of 26.8%. As we look ahead, we believe the business is better positioned than we have ever been. We remain focused on further optimizing the Mercury portfolio leveraging our scale, driving discipline growth, and maintaining stable credit performance as we continue to seek to serve the more than 100 million everyday Americans looking for a trusted financial partner. We're excited about the momentum we have coming out of Q1 and continue to expect to deliver earnings growth and returns on equity at or above our targets of 20%. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bill.