First Citizens BancShares, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the First Citizens BancShares second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. If you require operator assistance during the program, Please press star zero. As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to introduce the host of this conference call, Ms. Deanna Hart, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Good morning and welcome to First Citizen's second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me on the call are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank Holding and Chief Financial Officer Craig Nix. They will provide second quarter business and financial updates referencing our earnings call presentation, which you can find on our investor relations website. Before we begin, please note that our comments will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. We assume no obligation to update such statements. These risks are outlined on page three of the presentation. We will also reference non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures against the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in Section 5 of the presentation. Finally, for citizens is not responsible for and does not guarantee the accuracy of earnings transcripts provided by third parties. With that, I'll now turn it over to Frank.

Thank you, Deanna, and good morning and welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I'll begin with a summary of our second quarter performance before turning it over to Craig Nix to review our financial results and our 2026 outlook in more detail. We delivered strong second quarter performance characterized by sequential top line growth that exceeded our guidance and consensus estimates. These results reflect the continued successful execution of a strategy built to drive long-term sustainable shareholder value and the strength of our diversified franchise. This morning, we reported adjusted net income of $691 million and adjusted earnings per share of $57.09, driving an adjusted ROE and an adjusted ROA of 1.18%. These results reflect robust sequential growth and significant year-over-year expansion. Both key metrics increased by more than 20% compared to the prior quarter. This strong profitability was powered by top-line net revenue expansion, disciplined expense and balance sheet management, and resilient credit quality. On the balance sheet, we delivered 1.6% sequential loan growth with increases in both period end and average loans. This momentum was anchored by our global fund banking business, fueled by strong production and heightened capital call line utilization. Additionally, we achieved broad-based growth within our tech and healthcare banking and middle market banking verticals. We delivered a 1.5% sequential increase in period-end deposits and a 2.8% expansion in average deposits. These results validate the structural resilience of our operating model and the effectiveness of our targeted deposit-gathering initiatives within a highly competitive industry environment. Beyond core balance sheet growth, client engagement in our tech and healthcare and global fund banking businesses drove solid increases in both period-end and average off-balance sheet Simultaneously, we continued to execute on capital efficiency, returning an initial $600 million to shareholders through share repurchases. Backed by a strong liquidity position, we prepaid another $2.5 billion of the FDIC purchase money note during the quarter, Followed by an additional $1 billion in July. This brings our total cumulative prepayments to $8.5 billion. To wrap up my comments, credit performance remains strong, exceeding our expectations. These durable credit trends combined with disciplined expense management and healthy client activity demonstrated this quarter positioned us well to drive positive operating leverage and long-term shareholder value moving forward. I would like now to turn it over to Craig to take us through our second quarter financial results and our outlook for the remainder of the year. Craig?