Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the MAA Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterward, the company will conduct a question and answer session. In consideration of time, we have a one-question limit. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today, October 29, 2026. I will now turn the call over to Andrew Schaefer, Senior Vice President, Treasurer, and Director of Capital Markets of MAA for Opening Commons. Andrew, please go ahead.

Thank you, Samantha, and good morning, everyone. This is Andrew Schaefer, Treasurer and Director of Capital Markets for MAA. Members of the management team participating on the call this morning are Brad Hill, Tim Argo, Clay Holder, and Rob DelPriore. Before we begin with prepared comments this morning, I want to point out that as part of this discussion, company management will be making forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from our projections. We encourage you to refer to the forward-looking statement section in yesterday's earnings release and our 34-act filings with the SEC which describe risk factors that may impact future results. During this call, we will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. A presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as well as reconciliations of the differences between non-GAAP and comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release and supplemental financial data. Our earnings release and supplement are currently available on the For Investors page of our website at www.maac.com. A copy of our prepared comments and audio recording of this call will also be available on our website later today. After some brief prepared comments, the management team will be available to answer questions. When we get to Q&A, please be respectful of everyone's time and attempt to complete our call within one hour due to other earnings calls today. We will limit questions to one per analyst. We ask that you rejoin the queue if you have any follow-up questions or additional items to discuss. I will now turn the call over to Brad.

Thank you, Andrew, and good morning, everyone. As highlighted in our earnings release, our third quarter core FFO results met our expectations. While expense disciplines supported third quarter results, the later recovery in new lease pricing is reflected in our revised full-year outlook that Clay will walk through. As we move further into the fourth quarter, we continue to see evidence of recovery across our markets. Based on current trends, we're optimistic we will see year-over-year improvement in new resident lease-over-lease rates for the full fourth quarter, slightly later than the previously expected third quarter. While the timing has shifted slightly, the underlying drivers of recovery remain intact. Robust demand continues to absorb the elevated supply delivered over the past few years, and we're encouraged by the early signs affirming market conditions. Our renewal performance strengthened further, with year-over-year improvement accelerating 80 basis points in the third quarter from 50 basis points in the second quarter. supporting our blended lease-over-lease and revenue performance as new resident pricing continues to recover. With more stable occupancy, we're seeing a strong start to the fourth quarter with preliminary October new resident lease-over-lease pricing improving sequentially from September. This improved new lease performance combined with sustained strong renewals results in preliminary October blended lease-over-lease rates improving by more than 100 basis points compared to October 2025. We are optimistic this leasing momentum will continue to build into the busier spring leasing season. Demand fundamentals across our footprint remain healthy and continue to outperform non-MAA markets. Job growth, household formation, inbound migration, and population growth, along with persistent single-family affordability challenges, continue to support demand for rental housing Across our footprint, the Sunbelt remains an attractive destination for employers and employees supported by the high quality of life and relative affordability. These advantages reinforce our conviction in the long-term appeal of the Sunbelt, even as the near-term pace of recovery has been impacted by temporary supply pressure. Robust demand coupled with lower supply levels is beginning to translate to a more balanced operating environment. Performance varies depending on the stage of the local supply cycle, but year-to-date absorption across our markets has exceeded new supply deliveries, reducing the number of communities in lease-up and supporting a gradual reduction in concessions. As lease-up communities stabilize and new starts remain low, the impact of elevated supply eases and the balance between supply and demand shifts toward demand. That process is occurring and provides a foundation for improving leasing conditions and ultimately should lead to stronger pricing power. Our focus during this transition is to best position MAA to capture the benefits of that improvement. Our priorities remain disciplined expense management, investments in technology to support a stronger platform with increased centralization and specialization and enhancements to our communities through redevelopment, repositioning and property-wide Wi-Fi. Together, these initiatives are aimed at strengthening the resident experience, to support our sector-leading renewals, improving operating efficiency, and expanding our earnings growth opportunity as the operating environment further improves. In addition to these initiatives to strengthen our operating platform, we remain focused on creating long-term shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation. Our strategy balances investments in our existing portfolio with selective external growth opportunities while maintaining financial flexibility. During the quarter, we started construction on three projects. Wrapping up, our four-plan starts for the year. These projects include an 88-unit wholly-owned Phase II development in Kansas City, a 306-unit pre-purchase joint venture development in Northern Virginia, and a 312-unit pre-purchase joint venture development in Nashville, Tennessee. All three projects should reach stabilization in a much lower-supplied environment with stronger operating conditions. Fundamentals in 2029 and are expected to deliver long-term shareholder returns above our current elevated cost of capital, even under conservative underwriting assumptions. Looking ahead to 2027, we are optimistic that the balance will continue to shift more broadly from supply-driven competition toward demand-led improvement, supporting an acceleration in operating fundamentals. The timing and pace will vary by market, but with healthy demand, absorption exceeding new deliveries, and markets gradually firming, we see a favorable foundation for the next phase of recovery. As supply pressures ease, we believe the strength of our operating platform and the capabilities we've been building should become more evident to our performance. And to all of our associates across our communities and corporate and regional offices, thank you for your continued service to our residents and to MAA. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tim.