CSX Corporation

Good afternoon and welcome everyone to the CSX Corporation second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Matthew Korn, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Audra. Good afternoon, everyone. We are very pleased to have you join our second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me from the CSX leadership team are Steve Angell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Corey, EVP and Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Boone, EVP and Chief Financial Officer, and Mary Claire Kenney, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. In the presentation that accompanies this call, which is available on our website, you will find slides with our forward-looking and our non-GAAP disclosures. We encourage you to review them. And with that, I'm very happy to turn the call over to Mr. Steve Angel.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining our earnings call. This quarter, CSX continued to make progress toward our goal of best-in-class performance. Stronger demand led to volume growth across our business, and we managed this growth while delivering strong safety and productivity outcomes. These results reflect the hard work and dedication of our railroaders as they serve our customers safely and reliably. For the quarter, volume increased 6% and our revenue increased 10%, reaching a new quarterly record. At the same time, we improved operating efficiency and maintained strong cost discipline. driving substantial margin expansion and double-digit growth in operating income and earnings per share. We are proud of our accomplishments so far this year, but our objective is to build an organization that can consistently deliver strong performance over the long term. There are many areas across the business where we can improve performance and network fluidity and service are among them. Plans are in place to address opportunities for improvement and we expect to see steady progress throughout the quarter while maintaining our focus on profitable growth. Our solid volume growth this quarter reflects the benefits of our commercial initiatives, network investments, and the execution of our team across the railroad. Our priority is achieving profitable growth, not gaining market share for its own sake. I believe that industries that become too focused on market share eventually drive out profitability. At CSX, what's most important is that the business we add increases operating income, expands margins, and delivers good returns on invested capital. Mike? Thank you very much, Steve, and good afternoon, everyone.