UDR, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the UDR first quarter 2023 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Trent Trujillo. Please go ahead.

Welcome to UDR's quarterly financial results conference call. Our press release and supplemental disclosure package were distributed yesterday afternoon and posted to the investor relations section of our website, ir.udr.com. In the supplement, we have reconciled all non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in accordance with Reg G requirements. Statements made during this call, which are not historical, may constitute forward-looking statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be met. A discussion of risks and risk factors are detailed in our press release and included in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake a duty to update any forward-looking statements. When we get to the question and answer portion, we ask that you be respectful of everyone's time and limit your questions to one plus a follow-up. Management will be available after the call for your questions that did not get answered during the Q&A session today. I will now turn the call over to UDR's Chairman and CEO, Tom Toomey.

Thank you, Trent, and welcome to UDR's first quarter 2023 conference call. Presenting on the call with me today are President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Fisher and Senior Vice President of Operations Mike Lacey, who will discuss our results. Senior Officers Andrew Cantor and Chris Van Enns will also be available during the Q&A portion of the call. To begin, we started 2023 from a position of strength. Steady demand from years of housing under supply in the US, cycle best relative affordability versus alternative housing options, and embedded same store revenue growth that was three times higher than our historical average. Year-to-date results demonstrate this strength. Let me highlight those. One, our first quarter same store revenue growth of nearly 10% and same store NOI growth of almost 12% led to year-over-year FFOA per share growth of 9%. Two, early second quarter trends across traffic, blended rate growth, and collections are in line with our expectations. reinforcing the confidence we have in our business and guidance. And three, our balance sheet is strong and we continue to adhere to capital market signals with our capital light strategy. Our investment grade balance sheet and nearly $1 billion of liquidity provide safety during the potential downturn and afford the opportunity to grow the company should our cost of capital improve. Looking ahead, there remains a wide variety of economic scenarios that could play out, but UDR has excelled across a variety of environments over our 50-year history. Our strategy is built around diversification, prudent capital allocation decisions, and focusing on what we control to drive relative outperformance within the industry. These include First, our leading operating platform continues to maximize the value of our communities and deliver a high level of resident satisfaction. Second, innovation initiatives are again proving to be a differentiator versus peers and are a positive contributor to our growth profile in 2023 and beyond. And third, Our diversified portfolio provides both safety and the ability to allocate capital across a variety of markets and investment opportunities that generate high risk adjusted returns. Additionally, we benefit from favorable relative setups for the U.S. multifamily industry. Job and income growth have defied expectations and remain positive. Total housing supply is stable and the level of future development starts has started to decline. And relative affordability versus single-family housing is as favorable as it's been in nearly my 22-year tenure at UDR. Taken together, I remain very optimistic on the relative strength of the multifamily industry and UDR's advantages within the industry. We have a strong culture. a talented team with a robust track record of performance, and we continue to invest in our associates and additional technologies. We expect to improve our efficiency, expand our NOI margin, and create value for all UDR shareholders and stakeholders. In closing, I thank my fellow associates for your commitment to excellence and innovation which I'm confident should continue to drive attractive, absolute, and relative results. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.