The Greenbrier Companies, Inc.

Hello and welcome to the Greenbrier Companies' 4th Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Following today's presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Until that time, all lines will be in a listen-only mode. At the request of the Greenbrier Companies, this conference call is being recorded for instant replay purposes. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Travis Williams, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Williams, you may begin.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our fourth quarter fiscal 2026 conference call. Today, I'm joined by Lorie Tekorius, Greenbrier's CEO and President, Brian Comstock, Executive Vice President and President of the Americas, and Michael Donfris, Senior Vice President and CFO. Following their prepared remarks today, we will open the call for questions. Our earnings release and supplemental slide presentation can be found on the IR section of our website. Matters discussed on today's conference call include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Throughout our discussion today, we will describe some of the important factors that could cause Greenbrier's actual results in 2026 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of Greenbrier. With that, I will turn it over to Lorie.

Thank you, Travis, and good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Fiscal 2026 was a year marked by significant macroeconomic factors, including geopolitical uncertainty, wars, shifting tariff and trade policies, and higher interest costs, leading many of our customers to extend the timing of investment decisions in long-life freight rail cars. In that environment, Greenbrier delivered 15,400 rail cars, generated revenue of $2.5 billion, and earned core earnings per share of $2.60, with aggregate gross margin of 13.6%. While these results were below what we expected at the start of the year and fourth quarter, given the market conditions, our performance remained quite resilient. The last period of similarly low industry activity was four years ago during our fiscal 2022. Comparing fiscal 26 to 22, Greenbrier delivered about 4,500 fewer units but delivered aggregate gross margin 330 basis points higher. Core EBITDA was 30% higher and core net earnings were 76% higher. The changes that we've made over the last several years to our manufacturing footprint, our cost structure, and our lease strategy have raised Graybar's performance at a low point in our cycle. We remain focused on actively managing the business to ensure stronger through-cycle performance. Shifting over to manufacturing, we adjusted production rates and headcount to match demand while continuing to complete new railcar designs for customers. Our insourcing investments to produce key components continue to lower costs across our North American network. In Europe, market conditions remain soft and we continue to align our footprint and cost structure with demand as we drive for improved operational efficiency. Our leasing and fleet management team had a strong year. During fiscal 26, we grew our own lease fleet to approximately 21,000 rail cars. And with high fleet utilization and stable lease renewals, this business continues to deliver strong performance. A larger fleet adds recurring revenue opportunities for Greenbrier that make us less dependent on new rail car demand. Now I'd like to take a minute to discuss Our trade policy continues to affect our industry, particularly for tank cars. Earlier this month, a competitor filed petitions seeking duties on certain tank cars. And in September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection affirmed its determination regarding certain freight rail couplers on finished rail cars. We're vigorously defending our position in both of these matters, including appealing to the freight rail coupler appealing the freight rail coupler case to the Court of International Trade. On the tank car matter, to be perfectly clear, we proudly build tank cars in Arkansas today and employ more than 2,000 individuals in the United States, including our amazing teams of engineers and procurement professionals. The USMCA continues to benefit most of our products, and will work with policymakers to ensure greater understanding and reestablish consistent trade treatment of rail cars in the North American market. We're starting to see customer interest that was initially stymied beginning to return. Customer inquiries have increased across most rail car types, supported by growth in rail traffic and the cost advantages of freight movement by rail compared to trucks, particularly at current fuel prices. Brian will provide more detail on the market and our commercial activity in just a few minutes. I did want to mention that our balance sheet continues to support our leasing growth strategy, and we ended the year with liquidity of nearly a billion dollars. And Michael will dive into the capital allocation details in his remarks. As I reflect on the long-term targets we established at our April 2023 Investor Day, I'm pleased with the progress we've made. We are on track to double recurring revenue within five years, growing 55% to $175 million in fiscal 26. Our aggregate gross margin reached the mid-teens in fiscal 24 and 25 and remained solid at 13.6% in fiscal 26. And while ROIC fell below our targeted range in 2026, reflecting challenging manufacturing conditions coupled with significant investment in our growing lease fleet, It's actually averaged approximately 9% over the last three years. These results demonstrate the resilience of our business model and the benefits of our strategic transformation, positioning Greenbrier for stronger returns as market conditions improve. Looking ahead, our priorities remain employee safety, operational execution, cost discipline, strategic growth of the lease fleet, and improved through-cycle performance. Finally, before I turn the call over to Brian, I want to say a few words about our new board member, Manny Perlman, who officially joins the board tomorrow. Manny brings extensive experience in investment management and capital markets, as well as deep financial expertise. We look forward to benefiting from his perspectives as we continue to execute our strategy and drive shareholder value. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Brian.