Crane Company

Welcome to the Crane Company's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and the floor will be open for your questions following the presentation. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If at any point your question has been answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star 2. So others can hear your questions clearly, we ask that you pick up your handset for best sound quality. Lastly, if you should need operator assistance, please press star zero. I would now like to turn the call over to Alison Poliniak, Vice President of Investor Relations.

Thank you, Kasia, and good day, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter 2026 earnings release conference call. I'm Alison Poliniak, Vice President of Investor Relations. On our call this morning, we have Alex Alcala, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Rich Maue, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, along with Jason Feldman, Senior Vice President, Treasury and Tax, who's on for Q&A. We will start off our call with a few prepared remarks from Alex and Rich, after which we will respond to your questions. And just a reminder, the comments that we make on this call will include some forward-looking statements. We refer you to the cautionary language at the bottom of our earnings release and also in our annual report, 10-K, and subsequent filings pertaining to forward-looking statements. Also during the call, we will be using some non-GAAP numbers, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP numbers in tables at the end of our press release and a company slide presentation, both of which are available on our website at www.claimco.com in the investor relations section. Now, let me turn the call over to Alex.

Thank you, Alison, and good morning, everyone. We delivered record second quarter results that reflected strong execution across the company and continued momentum across our portfolio. That excellent performance included solid 5% core sales growth, strong operating leverage, and the continued benefits of our recent acquisition. and momentum continues to build across the company. Total backlog increased 5% sequentially during the quarter with core sequential backlog growth across both segments, providing further visibility and confidence as we move into the second half of the year. Aerospace and advanced technologies led the way, delivering 13% core sales growth driven by broad base strength across both commercial aerospace and defense markets. Backlog also increased to a record of nearly $1.3 billion, with core year-over-year backlog growth of 11%. At Process Flow Technologies, we delivered a second consecutive quarter of sequential core backlog growth, providing increased visibility and supporting our confidence in a strong second half. Execution remains excellent. with another quarter of adjusted operating margin expansion despite the temporary dilution from our January acquisitions. Combined with positive and improving demand trends, this momentum positions us well for the second half and also as we head into 2027. Overall, operational execution was exceptional. Total company adjusted operating margin expanded 180 basis points to a record 21.3%, driven by strong core margins in both segments impacted by favorable pricing, strong productivity, and disciplined cost management. These results demonstrate our ability to convert growth into meaningful earnings extension while continuing to invest in the long-term opportunities across the portfolio. The performance of our acquisitions has been outstanding. Integration activities continue to progress ahead of plan. Operational performance has exceeded our expectations, and we are realizing synergies faster than anticipated, while also identifying new opportunities for growth and margin improvement. With six months now behind us, I'm incredibly pleased with all aspects of the four acquired businesses. All our associates at Panametrics, Truk, Laura Stokes and OpTec together with our dedicated integration teams are leveraging these businesses incredible technology combined with the process and discipline cadence of the crane business system to achieve results well ahead of plan to be. And my thanks to the team for driving it every day. It's clear that our vision for these businesses are becoming some of our best and most profitable businesses in crane is materializing well ahead of schedule. As a result, we now expect our recent acquisitions to contribute approximately 20 cents per share to full-year earnings, up from our prior expectation of approximately 15 cents per share. Another clear example of our ability to leverage the crane business system and our incredible culture and talent to drive tremendous shareholder value through accelerated inorganic growth. This is incredibly exciting for CREAM. Given our strong first half performance, record backlog levels, and continued confidence in both our core and acquired businesses, we are raising our full year adjusted EPS outlook by 20 cents at the midpoint to a range of 685 to 705 per share. Our updated guidance reflects expectations for core growth near the high end of a long-term framework, continued strong operational execution, and increasing contributions from our recent acquisitions as we build on the momentum established during the first half of the year. Turning to aerospace and advanced technologies, the judge returned from the Famborough Airshow in the UK. Our outstanding AAT team included our newest associate from drug at another very successful show, meeting with key customers and suppliers and solidifying alignment on a number of key growth initiatives. And from a market perspective, things could not be stronger with a combined broad-based demand across both our commercial and military customer base. Our teams continue to gain share among new and exciting customers. For example, In the corridor, we have selected and supplied crucial components for the GE RISE program. And just last week, we announced that we'll be supplying an innovative brake control system for the auto aerospace Samsung 3500 business jet. A solution that leverages claims highly modular and adaptable standard system architecture, which enables rapid and low risk development. Clear examples of our capabilities and our ability to win share on new and growing applications. Our defense power business, which many of you visited during our investor meeting in Fort Long Beach last year, continues to build momentum. We are seeing accelerating demand in our power solutions for our ESA radar platforms, while also expanding our position in emerging vehicle electrification programs. In addition to the XM30 demonstrator wind that we previously discussed, We secured additional power content on another hybrid electric combat ground vehicle program during the course. Overall, we continue to see strength across the aerospace and defense demand environment. The backlog we built, along with the new programs and opportunities our aerospace and advanced technologies teams have secured, continue to provide us with great visibility well beyond 2026. Looking to the balance of the year, we now expect full-year coal sales growth for the segment to land just above the high end of our long-term 7% to 9% range. Very confident for yet another outstanding year at aerospace and advanced technologies. Process load technology has delivered another strong quarter, and we remain confident in our ability to consistently outperform the markets we serve over the long term. Over the past several years, as you know, we have strategically shifted the portfolio towards attractive end markets that align well with our differentiated technologies, strong customer relationships, and leading competitive positions, providing a solid foundation for sustained growth and market share gains. Overall demand for the quarter was in line with our expectations, and execution was strong. driving an 80 basis points improvement in adjusted margins. Again, even with the dilutive impact of the acquisitions. Momentum and cryogenics remain strong, driven by capacity needs within the space gone segment. We secured projects for both SpaceX and Blue Origin in the quarter. We continue to win in this market based on our differentiated engineering support and manufacturing services. In nuclear, we continue to support restarts of existing facilities, such as Constellation Energy's Crane Clean Energy Center, and we remain well-positioned for future growth, given our positioning for Westinghouse AP1000 builds in our core business, and for Rotorstrokes, given their strong positioning in the nuclear space. For the full year, we expect core growth to be consistent with our initial guidance of flat to up to low single digits. leveraging within our targeted range of 30% to 35% and driving margin expansion despite market hindrance. In summary, we delivered a very strong first half and continue to build momentum across the portfolio. Our businesses are performing well. Our end markets remain attractive. We are exceptionally well-positioned to continue generating strong results and drive further long-term shareholder value. That strong position also provides us with significant strategic flexibility. As we look ahead, acquisitions remain an important lever to further enhance our growth and earnings profile. We remain active in evaluating opportunities and are encouraged by both the quality and breadth of activity across our pipeline. While timing and competitive dynamics are always difficult to predict, we believe we are well-positioned to deploy capital on a disciplined and value-creative Our focus on M&A remains consistent, adding highly engineered, mission-critical technologies that strengthen our existing franchises, increase our exposure to attractive end markets, and support long-term margin expansion. We continue to see strong opportunities across both aerospace and advanced technologies and process flow technologies. Now, let me turn the call over to our CFO, and Mr. Rich Maue for more specifics on the quarter.