Cintas Corporation

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Cintas Corporation announces FISCO 2026 Third Quarter Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Jared Mattingly, Vice President, Treasurer, and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Ross, and thank you for joining us. With me are Todd Schneider, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jim Rosakis, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Scott Garula, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We will discuss our fiscal 2026 third quarter results. After our commentary, we will open the call to questions from analysts. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor from civil litigation for forward-looking statements. This conference call contains forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views as to future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those we may discuss. I refer you to the discussion on these points contained in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I'll now turn the call over to Todd.

Thank you, Jared. We are pleased to have delivered another successful quarter, showcasing the resilience and strength of our value proposition. CentOS achieved record revenues and strong operating margins while continuing to invest for future growth. Third quarter total revenue grew a strong 8.9% to $2.84 billion. The organic growth rate, which adjusts for the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, was 8.2%. Each of our three route-based businesses continues to grow at attractive rates. Turning to profitability, We achieved all-time high gross margins in each of our three route-based businesses. Strong top-line growth along with benefits from our strategic investments and cost-saving initiatives continue to help drive margin expansion. Gross margin as a percent of revenue was 51%, a 40 basis point increase over the prior year. Operating income grew to $659.9 million, an increase of 8.2% over the prior year. When you adjust for the one-time gain we recognized in the third quarter of last year, operating income would have grown 11%. Diluted EPS of $1.24 grew 9.7% over the prior year. When you adjust for the one-time gain we recognized in the third quarter of last year, diluted EPS would have grown 12.7%. Turning to guidance, we are raising our fiscal 2026 financial guidance. We expect our revenue to be in the range of $11.21 billion to $11.24 billion, a total growth rate of 8.4% to 8.7%. We expect adjusted diluted EPS to be in the range of $4.86 to $4.90, a growth rate of 10.5% to 11.4%. The adjusted EPS guide does not include the impact of non-recurring transaction expenses related to Unifirst. Before I turn the call over to Jim, I'd like to provide some comments on the recently announced merger agreement to acquire Unifirst. We remain excited about this opportunity and the long-term value creation for Cintas and its shareholders, our employee partners, and the team partners of Unifirst that benefits to our collective customers. When we announced the transaction two weeks ago, we indicated that the merger was subject to approval by Unifirst shareholders, regulatory clearance in both the US and Canada, and other customary closing conditions. We in Unifirst have begun the process for satisfying these closing conditions. In order to avoid creating speculation, we will not be providing any additional commentary on the process. We will, however, update the market as appropriate. With that, I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss the details of our third quarter results.