Henry Schein, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Henry Schein Second Quarter 2021 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. If anyone should require assistance during the call, please press the star key followed by zero on your touchtone phone. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's call, Carolyn Borders, Henry Schein's Vice President of Investor Relations Please go ahead, Carolyn.

Thank you, Regina. And thanks to each of you for joining us to discuss Henry Schein's results for the 2021 second quarter. With me on the call today are Stanley Bergman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Henry Schein, and Steven Palladino, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to state that certain comments made during this call will include information that is forward-looking. As you know, risks and uncertainties involved in the company's business may affect the matters referred to in forward looking statements. As a result, the company's performance may materially differ from those expressed in or indicated by such forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in Henry Schein's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the risk factors section of those filings. In addition, All comments about the markets we serve, including end market growth rates and market share, are based upon the company's internal analysis and estimates. Our conference call remarks will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. We believe the non-GAAP financial measures provide investors with useful supplemental information about the financial performance of our business, enable the comparison of financial results between periods, where certain items may vary independently of business performance and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in operating our business. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented solely for informational and comparative purposes and should not be regarded as a replacement for corresponding GAAP measures. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP measures can be found in the Supplemental Information section of our investor relations website and in exhibit B of today's press release, which is available in the investor relations section of our website. The content of this conference call contains time sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live broadcast, August 3rd, 2021. Henry Schein undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. Please limit yourself to a single question and a follow-up during Q&A to allow as many listeners as possible to ask a question within the one hour that we have allotted for the call. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Stanley Bergman.

Thank you, Carolyn. Good morning, everyone. And, of course, thank you very much for joining us today. We are most pleased to report record second quarter financial results as we continue to execute on our key strategies. Strengthening demand in the global dental and medical markets drove strong year-over-year increases in sales versus the prior year when a significant number of dental and medical practices suspended activity because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, compared with pre-COVID-19 data, the environment of the second quarter of 2019 to be specific, Henry Schein's worldwide internal sales in local currencies increased by 15.2%. So if you go back to the second quarter of 2019, you will see that Henry Schein's worldwide internal sales growth in local currencies increased by 15.2%. in 2021, again compared to 2019. We are also pleased with operating margin expansion that reflects a favorable product mix as well as operating expense leverage. As we continue to invest in our business to supplement solid organic growth, we've completed several acquisitions during the second quarter of 2021 across the dental and technology and value-added services businesses with aggregate annual sales of approximately $60 million. Our capital allocation strategy also includes share repurchases as a means to deliver value to our shareholders. Stephen will provide greater detail on the approximately $113 million spent in the second quarter as part of our board-approved share repurchase authorization. While the number of new COVID cases has risen in certain geographies, To date, we have not seen a material impact on patient traffic. Rather, practice visits have continued to improve as offices are generally open. Data for the end markets we serve points to continued global improvements as economies recover across the globe. The most recent American Dental Association data shows current patient traffic at 88% of pre-pandemic levels, which we believe may under-represent volume in certain practices. We've also seen other industry survey reports that show practice volumes either consistent with or slightly better than pre-pandemic levels. I will also note that Henry Schein 1 billings associated with dental claims processing are currently above the 100% pre-pandemic levels, in line with increased restorative and dental specialty procedures which are driving greater practice purchases. So the overall global market recovery and our improving financial results have continued. We believe dental patient traffic in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand is close to or above to 2019 levels, and we are also seeing improving patient traffic in Canada, Europe, Brazil, and Asia with higher numbers in certain specific European countries. That said, in markets in certain geographies continue to face challenges due to the ongoing pandemic. Patient traffic in the United States physician offices and ambulatory surgical centers is improving as we approach more normalized practice operations. With solid execution in the first half of 2021 and a favorable outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, today we are raising our guidance for 2021 non-GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations to be at or above $3.85. Let me stress, this is representing a floor for the fiscal 2021 year. So we continue to monitor any potential impact to our business as a result of COVID-19, particularly as certain US states and some international geographies are experiencing an uptick in diagnosed cases, especially among those unvaccinated. And we're, of course, optimistic that the vaccination rate will go up. With these opening comments, I'd like to hand the call over to Stephen to discuss our quarterly financial performance and provide more detail on our guidance. Then I'll be back to provide additional commentary on the current business conditions in our markets and our thoughts going forward. So, Stephen, please.