Exponent, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Exponent Inc. 3rd Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in the listen-only mode. If you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by 0. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask a question. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Joni Concentralos with Riverbond Consultancy. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on Exponent's third quarter 2025 financial results conference call. Please note that this call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations section on of the company's corporate website at www.investors.exponent.com. This conference call is the property of Exponent, and any taping or other reproduction is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Joining me on the call today are Dr. Katherine Corrigan, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rich Schlenker, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we start, I would like to remind you that the following discussion contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, exponents' market opportunities and future financial results that involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here. Additional information that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements can be found in exponents' periodic SEC filings, including those factors discussed under the caption risk factor in exponents' most recent Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements and risks in this conference call are based on current expectations as of today. An exponent assumes no obligation to update or revise them, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise. And now I will turn the call over to Dr. Katherine Corrigan, Chief Executive Officer. Katherine?

Thank you, Joni, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I will start off by reviewing our third quarter 2025 business performance. Rich will then provide a more detailed review of our financial results and outlook, and we will then open the call for questions. Exponent delivered a strong third quarter with double digit net revenue growth, demonstrating the strength of our diversified portfolio and our ability to deliver value across industries. Increasing demand for dispute related work drove robust growth in reactive engagements across the energy, transportation, life sciences, and construction sectors. Proactive engagements were led by risk management and asset integrity projects in the utilities sector and regulatory consulting in the chemicals sector. While these were offset by lower activity in consumer electronics, we are encouraged by improving demand trends in this space as we enter the fourth quarter. Turning to our engagements in more detail, reactive engagements in the quarter were driven by increasing dispute-related activity across a broad range of industries. In the energy sector, we saw increased activity across generation, delivery, and storage, as clients seek failure analysis expertise for legacy systems, as well as challenges with new technologies. The convergence of energy transition initiatives, extreme weather events, and the rapid growth of data centers is accelerating opportunities for exponent specialized expertise around the globe. In transportation, disputes regarding the design and performance of advanced vehicle technologies are becoming more prevalent and increasingly complex, and the consequences of failure continue to grow. In life sciences, we saw increased reactive engagements involving complex medical devices with particular scrutiny of product safety, quality, and performance. We also saw increased demand from domestic and international clients related to complex construction challenges and disputes. Our diversified portfolio and deep technical capabilities position us well to capture this demand and deliver meaningful value for our clients. Proactive engagements in the quarter were led by risk management and asset integrity projects in the utility sector, where we evaluate the resilience of critical infrastructure and help mitigate safety risks for consumers and communities. In the chemical sector, we saw strong demand for regulatory consulting, supporting clients on issues related to the impact of chemicals on human health and the environment. These gains in the third quarter were offset by lower activity in consumer electronics, However, we are encouraged by improving demand trends in this sector as we enter the fourth quarter, particularly with our human-machine interaction studies. The pace of innovation is creating new opportunities for exponent, as companies seek trusted partners to help them ensure safety, reliability, and performance. We are actively engaged in early-stage initiatives tied to transformative technologies that will define the next generation of products and systems. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly delivered via specialized hardware and integrated into safety-critical systems, complexity and risk rise just as rapidly. With that acceleration comes a greater potential for new, high-consequence failure modes. Our deep roots in failure analysis are driving growth as technical challenges become more novel and complex, and clients increasingly turn to Exponent for specialized expertise when the stakes are highest. We continue to advance and diversify our work evaluating human-machine interaction in safety-critical systems, from advanced medical devices and robotics to autonomous vehicles. The more complex the challenge, the greater the need for our expertise. Our multidisciplinary team is uniquely positioned to help clients navigate this transformation by turning technological disruption into opportunity and driving sustained growth for our business. I'll now turn the call over to Rich to provide more detail on our third quarter results, as well as discuss our outlook for the fourth quarter and the full year.