Navient Corporation

Good morning and welcome to the Naviant first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. This call is being recorded. Currently all participants are in listen only mode. Following the remarks, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time. If anyone should require assistance during the call, please press the star key followed by the zero on your telephone keypad. At this time, I will turn the call over to Jane Eris, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Hello, good morning, and welcome to Navient's earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. With me today are David Yohan, Navient CEO, and Steve Hopper, Navient CFO. After the prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. Today's discussion is accompanied by a presentation, which you can find on Navient.com slash investors. Before we begin, keep in mind our discussion will contain predictions, expectations, forward-looking statements, and other information about our business that is based on management's current expectations as of the date of this presentation. Actual results in the future may be materially different from those discussed here. This could be due to a variety of factors. Listeners should refer to the discussion of those factors on the company's Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. During this conference call, we will refer to non-GAAP financial measures, including core earnings, adjusted tangible equity ratio, and various other non-GAAP financial measures that are derived from core earnings. Our GAAP results, description of our non-GAAP financial measures, and the reconciliation of core earnings to GAAP results can be found in Navient's first quarter 2026 earnings release, which is posted on our website. Thank you, and now I will turn the call over to Dave.

Thanks, Jen. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call and for your interest in Avianz. This morning, we reported Q1 results that demonstrate continued momentum in our ability to deliver high-quality loan growth while maintaining expense discipline. Our reported results are in line with the full-year outlook we provided in January and thus a strong start towards achieving those targets. Overall, this quarter reinforces the strength of our platform, driving consistent growth, improving efficiency, and delivering strong credit performance. Total originations grew over 60% year over year. Refinanced loan originations grew 65% year over year, marking our 10th consecutive quarter of growth, driven by continued strength in demand generation and our ability to capture that demand. At the same time, we're seeing that volume growth come through more efficiently as we scale our loan production. Marketing and other operating costs continue to improve as a percentage of originations. Thirdly, credit quality strengthened, with Q1 refi originations having an average FICO of 775. We're seeing continued strength in demand from borrowers with established credit and employment histories. Together, these outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of our platform, enabling us to grow efficiently while delivering stronger credit performance. In-school lending had a solid quarter, originating $40 million of new loans with strong credit quality and margins. This performance and the peak season preparation we are doing increases our confidence in capturing beyond strategy opportunities in graduate lending contained in our outlook. Operating expense levels compared to the year-ago period reflect the actions we've taken to eliminate costs and significantly reduce our expense base. With the Phase 1 strategic actions in our rearview mirror, the final expenses associated with our wind-down activities were incurred this quarter. We saw sequential improvement in credit performance across all of our private portfolios. Delinquency rates in private legacy improved from year end but continued to run above long-term historical trends. Steve will take you through these and other parts of our results in greater detail in a few minutes. We repurchased $23 million of shares during the quarter as we viewed the share price that prevailed for the quarter as an opportunity to repurchase shares at a greater discount to book value. We are mindful of a more volatile macro and geopolitical environment and are monitoring it closely. We have the flexibility to adjust quickly as and if conditions evolve. The successful completion of the strategic initiatives and the accompanying expense reduction targets that were announced in January 2024 are a natural time for me to step out of the CEO role. Ed Branson will step into the CEO role in a few weeks' time. I'm proud of what's been achieved and grateful for the commitment of the many colleagues who accomplished it. The actions we have completed create the foundation for a more strategically focused, flexible, and efficient organization to support future growth. Ed has been heavily involved in the development of our strategies and initiatives. I look forward to continuing to guide and support management as I remain on the board. With that, I will turn it over to Steve, who will provide more detail on Q1 results.