Blue Bird Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us and welcome to Bluebird's fiscal 2026 second quarter earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Mark Benfield, Bluebird's head of investor relations. Mark, please go ahead.

Thank you and welcome to Bluebird's fiscal 2026 second quarter earnings conference call. The audio for our call is webcast live on blue-bird.com under the investor relations tab. You can access the supporting slides on our website by clicking on the presentations box on the IR landing page. Our comments today include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different. Those risks include, among others, matters we have noted on the following two slides and in our filings with SEC. Bluebird disclaims any obligation to update the information in this call. This afternoon, you will hear from Bluebird's president and CEO, John Weiskill, and CFO, Razvan Radulescu. Then we'll take some questions. Let's get started.

John? Thanks, Mark, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. It's an exciting day today, and we're going to share our strong fiscal 2026 second quarter financial results and the significant progress we've made with our long-term strategy. Results for Q2 were once again very strong and the Bluebird team delivered outstanding sales that adjusted EBITDA, beating guidance for the 14th consecutive quarter. Razvan will take you through the details of our financial results shortly, but let's turn to slide six where I will talk to some of the key takeaways for the quarter. Bluebird beat guidance on all metrics for the quarter. Again, we continue to manage the volatility associated with the administration's policy on tariffs well. Backlog for the quarter ended at just under 3,600 units, and operationally, all metrics are pointing in the right direction. And the team has been able to execute on a day-to-day basis while simultaneously developing detailed manufacturing plans for the future, which I will talk more to later in this call. In terms of pricing, we remain extremely disciplined. Bus prices remain higher than the previous year and the previous quarter. As I communicated prior, this process is just how we manage the business. In the all-power segment, our dominance continues. Our EV backlog is over 900 units, extending into 2027. We remain exclusive in propane, which has the lowest total cost of operation, and our gas variant continues to be a leader. Again, all power is a segment we created more than 15 years ago, and we continue to maintain our lead position. Our manufacturing strategy is coming into focus, and I will talk more to that later in this presentation. It's focused on building our new plant, automating where we can get good financial returns, and ensuring production contingency. all of which builds a safe path for ongoing cost improvement through industry 3.0 and 4.0 opportunities. And finally, we continue to manage the impact of the administration's executive orders and tariff volatility. We are fortunate to be well-positioned to navigate the situation to a margin-neutral outcome. As I've said on every earnings call, it is our objective to position this business to be a strong, long-term investment. Let's turn the page and take a closer look at the financial and key business highlights for the quarter on slide seven. We sold 2,148 buses in Q2 and recorded revenue of 353 million, slightly below last year. On the EV side, we sold 201 electric vehicles, just under 10% of unit volume, and our long-term outlook for EVs remains optimistic. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter came in at $51 million, $2 million stronger than last year, and free cash flow came in at an outstanding $40 million. Razvan will talk more about this and her outlook later in this call. Turning to the right side of the page, I will touch on a few points. As discussed earlier, our backlog finished at a solid 3,600 units, so we remain close to the sweet spot. As you know, backlog is a function of orders and production. And if you look at the first half of the year, order intake was up 7% from the same period last year versus the market, which was down almost 4%. So overall, we're feeling good about our performance in the market. And I continue to reiterate, the overall market fundamentals are still strong. The fleet is aging. We're coming into a heavy replacement cycle. And there's been industry supply issues the last few years, leaving pent-up demand. The horizon ahead continues to look very good for school bus volumes. Year over year selling price for buses was up almost $6,400. But of course, this also includes tariff recovery as part of our margin neutral tariff strategy. With tariffs excluded, pricing was still up year over year, and part sales totaled $28 million for the quarter. All powered buses represented a strong 41% of mix of unit sales for the quarter. Our powertrain strategy is a differentiator in the market and allows us to maintain stronger margins. For the quarter, we had 201 EVs booked and 912 EVs in our order backlog, pushing into 2027. Again, we remain optimistic on EVs in the school bus sector. EVs are a perfect fit for school buses when you look at the duty cycle, available charging intervals, range, and the proven health benefits for our children. Rounds two and three of the EPA Clean School Bus program remains intact with funds flowing to our end customers. And the EPA has invited comments for 26 funding, solidifying rounds four and five of the program consistent with what we've been communicating. We should understand very soon how and when the EPA will administer these funds. Overall, when you look at state funding and the fleet EV mandates, we believe this market will remain relevant. But finally, I have two very exciting items to report for the quarter. First, the $80 million MES contract with the DOE has been officially reconfirmed for funding, solidifying our manufacturing strategy and new plan. And second, we announced the acquisition of our Microbur 5050 JV. Similarly, this transaction is another key component of our profitable growth strategy. So let's turn to slide eight. MicroBird has a rich history with three main segments, Type A school bus, commercial shuttle bus, and integrated EV powertrains. The acquisition was a safe and accretive play that brings with it two plants, 950 people, and best-in-class quality products. For Bluebird, the transaction focused on a strategic value proposition for growth, technology, and efficiency. First, the transaction will allow us to consolidate sales and critical growth outside of the school bus segment by accessing the Buy America commercial shuttle bus segment, expanding our total addressable market. Second, it brings critical integrated EV technology through Ecotune, expanding our product offering, bringing vertical integration opportunities, and ensuring supply stability. And lastly, this transaction brings efficiencies through critical integration which has already begun both organizationally and in business processes. Overall, this is an excellent transaction for the company, and it brings a tremendous opportunity for growth, technology, and efficiency. It has certainly been a busy quarter with strong results and some exciting announcements. So I would like to now hand it over to Razvan to walk through our fiscal 26 second quarter financial results, as well as our full year updated guidance in more detail. Razvan?