DaVita Inc.

Good evening, my name is Michelle and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the DaVita third quarter 2025 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer period. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star and then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then the number two. Thank you. Mr. Eliason, you may begin your conference, sir.

Thank you, and welcome to our third quarter conference call. We appreciate your continued interest in our company. I'm Nick Eliason, Group Vice President of Investor Relations, and joining me today are Javier Rodriguez, our CEO, and Joel Ackerman, our CFO. Please note that during this call, we may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All of these statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For further details concerning these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our third quarter earnings press release and our SEC filings, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, all subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other subsequent filings that we make with the SEC. Our forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to us, and we do not intend and undertake no duty to update these statements except as may be required by law. Additionally, we'd like to remind you that during this call, we will discuss some non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is included in our earnings press release, furnished to the SEC, and available on our website. I will now turn the call over to Javier Rodriguez.

Thank you, Nick. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. We are accustomed to operating in a dynamic healthcare environment, and today is no different. The government shutdown is on its 29th day, and key healthcare policy decisions remain in flux. And while these developments have real implications, we remain focused on what matters most, providing excellent care. This focus is not only in the best interest of our patients, but continues to generate consistent financial results. Our third quarter performance was in line with our expectations and keeps us on track to achieve our full year guidance. These results also enable continued investment to improve the lives of our patients and enhance the experience of our teammates and physicians. Today, I will share the highlights of our third quarter performance, update our guidance for the full year, and walk through a few swing factors for 2026. But first, as always, we will begin with our clinical highlight. Today, I will feature our research team, known as the Vita Clinical Research, or DCR. Powered by a dedicated team of medical directors and data scientists, and backed by one of the largest patient data sources in the country, DCR has been instrumental in advancing kidney care research. A few metrics that puts this team's contributions in perspective. DCR maintains more than 250 research sites in the United States and has conducted more than 500 clinical trials. This team of researchers has helped achieve FDA approval for dozens of ESKD drugs, and DCR research and data has fueled more than 700 clinical publications. With a drive toward innovation and patient safety, DCR has helped to develop new therapies, improve outcomes, and generate benefits to patients and physicians across the kidney care community. This long-standing commitment underscores our position as a leader in clinical research. Most recently, DCR is evaluating outcomes of middle molecule clearance using middle cutoff dialyzers, which will provide critical U.S.-specific data and has the potential to represent a significant step in advancing patient outcomes. This is just the latest example of how DaVita is advancing the development of new therapies and actively shaping the future of kidney care. Transitioning now to our financial performance. We delivered the third quarter adjusted operating income of $517 million in adjusted earnings per share of $2.51. These results were consistent with our internal expectations. Joe will provide detail on the quarter, but at the highest level, we continue to manage patient care costs effectively while the U.S. treatment volume was down approximately 1.5% year over year. Before I cover full-year guidance, let me provide a bit of detail on one of the ongoing strategic priorities, investing in technology infrastructure. As a reminder, last year we completed the rollout of our next generation clinical platform. We continue to enhance that system and are making other long-term investments to replace our scheduling system and further upgrade our revenue operations technology. Simultaneously, we're adopting AI solutions across our platform. This includes internally developed use cases, opportunities with commercially viable applications, and working with external providers. While these projects result in higher G&A growth, we believe that these investments are critical to advancing clinical care, improving the experience of our patients and teammates, and driving long-term cost efficiencies. Let me now transition to our full-year outlook. We're reaffirming the midpoint of our guidance ranges for adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share while narrowing each range. We now anticipate full-year adjusted operating income between $2.035 billion and $2.135 billion in adjusted earnings per share of $10.35 to $11.15. I recognize that many of you are already looking ahead to 2026. While it's too early to provide formal guidance, let me walk through several key variables that will influence our perspective on next year. First is volume. We faced several headwinds in 2025 that we don't expect to recur, including Hurricane Helene, the severe flu season, and the cyber incident. Beyond those discrete events, and as I talked about last quarter, we will continue our efforts to drive clinical progress to improve mortality and support treatment growth. Second is pair mix, where there's active policy debate right now. We're among the many who are closely monitoring the impact of enhanced premium tax credits on commercial mix. We'll also be assessing the ongoing recalibration of Medicare Advantage landscape as evolving market dynamics from government policy and payer behavior affect Medicare Advantage enrollment and insurance mix. Third is integrated kidney care or IKC. We're awaiting the release of final 2024 performance year results from the government CKCC program. The timing of the release and the recognition of the associated operating income could shift between 2025 versus 2026. We feel good about our progress in 2025 and it's important reminder the timing of operating income remains difficult to predict. In short, There remains a range of potential outcomes for 2026, and we expect to learn more about each of these factors over the coming months. And as customary, we'll provide formal guidance during our fourth quarter earnings call in February. To wrap up my comments, we remain on track to achieve our full-year goals. Meanwhile, our long-term investment in IT and clinical innovation strengthen our ability to deliver superior patient care and create sustainable value. As we look to 2026, we're monitoring a number of variables that will shape the coming year, and we remain confident in our ability to navigate them effectively. I will now turn it over to Joel to discuss our financial performance in more detail. Thank you, Javier.