Kirby Corporation

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Kirby Corporation 2026 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star 1 1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Donny Chia, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning and thank you for joining the Kirby Corporation 2026 third quarter earnings call. With me today are David Grzebinski, Kirby's Chief Executive Officer, Christian O'Neil, Kirby's President and Chief Operating Officer, and Raj Kumar, Kirby's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A slide presentation for today's call, as well as the earnings release, which was issued earlier today, can be found on our website. During this conference call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP or adjusted financial measures. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings press release and are also available on our website in the investor relations section under financials. As a reminder, statements contained in this conference call with respect to the future are forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's reasonable judgments with respect to future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various factors. A list of these risk factors can be found in Kirby's latest Form 10-K filing and in our other filings made with the SEC from time to time.

I will now turn the call over to David. Thank you Donnie and good morning everyone. Earlier today we announced record third quarter earnings per share of $2.09, up 27% year over year. Our results reflected strong continued momentum across both businesses and solid execution throughout the organization. In marine transportation, strong barge utilization and favorable pricing trends supported performance during the quarter. In distribution and services, results benefited from robust demand in power generation and strong growth on behind-the-meter power solutions. Overall, the company executed well during the quarter and delivered solid financial and operating results, reflecting our continued focus on safety and operational excellence. In inland marine, market fundamentals remained constructive during the quarter. Strong refinery operating rates healthy petrochemical activity, and limited new industry capacity supported barge utilization in the low 90% range. Spot market rates improved sequentially in the low to mid single digit range, while term contract renewals increased in the low single digit range compared with the prior year. Increased levels of Venezuelan crude imports resulted in heavier refinery feed slate and more byproduct moves. However, rising fuel costs remained a near-term headwind as higher costs were only partially mitigated by cost escalators and rate recovery mechanisms during the quarter. The inland business delivered margins in the 20% range, driven by a combination of steady demand, disciplined execution and limited industry capacity additions. In Coastal Marine, customer demand remained stable with barge utilization in the high 90% range and third quarter coastal revenues increased 3% year-over-year while operating margins were in the mid-teens range. There was only one contract renewal in the third quarter, which increased in the low double-digit range. Turning to distribution and services, Our performance reflected favorable market conditions for power generation and strong execution by our commercial and operations team. Segment revenues increased 6% year over year driven by strong demand for behind the meter and backup power solutions in a healthy environment for commercial and industrial. For the quarter, operating margins were in the low double digits. and up 200 basis points sequentially, reflecting the growing share of behind the meter power solutions in our power generation business, as well as operational improvements throughout the segment. Overall, the segment delivered solid results across the portfolio, demonstrating the strength of the company's positions across multiple end markets. In summary, Kirby delivered a strong quarter, underscoring the strength of our portfolio and the disciplined approach that we bring to our operations every day. In marine transportation, inland delivered strong revenue growth year over year, and coastal utilization remained high. In distribution and services, power generation remained a key growth driver, commercial industrial activity performed well, and oil and gas remained stable. Taken together, these trends reinforce our confidence in the outlook for the remainder of the year which I will discuss in more detail later in the call. But first, I'll turn it over to Raj to walk through the segment results, balance sheet, and capital allocation.