Xylem Inc.

Welcome to Xylem's first quarter 2024 earned results conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andrea Vanderberg, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Xylem's first quarter 2024 earnings call. With me today are Chief Executive Officer Matthew Pine and Chief Financial Officer Bill Grogan. They will provide their perspectives on Xylem's first quarter 2024 results and discuss the second quarter and full year outlook. Following our prepared remarks, we will address questions related to the information covered on the call. I'll ask that you please keep to one question and a follow-up, and then return to the queue. As a reminder, this call and our webcast are accompanied by a slide presentation available in the Investors section of our website. A replay of today's call will be available until midnight, May 9th. Additionally, the call will be available for playback via the Investors section of our website under the heading Investor Invest. Please turn to slide two. We will make some forward-looking statements on today's call, including references to future events or developments that we anticipate will or may occur in the future. These statements are subject to future risks and uncertainties, such as those factors described in Xylem's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports filed with SEC. Please note that the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements publicly to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. and actual events or results could differ materially from those anticipated. Please turn to slide three. We've provided you with a summary of our key performance metrics, including both GAAP and non-GAAP metrics, with references to prior year segment metrics being made on a comparative basis reflecting the change in segments as of the beginning of the year. For purposes of today's call, all references will be on an organic and or adjusted basis unless otherwise indicated, and non-GAAP financials have been reconciled for you and are included in the appendix section of the presentation. Now, please turn to slide four, and I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Matthew Pine.

Thanks, Andrea. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. The Xylem team delivered a very strong first quarter, outperforming expectations on all metrics. The team drove high single-digit organic revenue growth, reflecting a healthy balance of both volume and price. And the team also expanded adjusted EBITDA margin almost 300 basis points. And with that outperformance, we delivered EPS growth of 14%. The story is pretty straightforward. We have strong commercial and operational momentum with resilient underlying demand in the majority of our segments and end markets. I want to thank all our teams for doing a great job. But I want to highlight two teams in particular, Measurement and Control Solutions and Water Solutions and Services. In both segments, focused effort paid off in really outstanding numbers. In MCS, organic revenue grew more than 20% and margins are up over 500 basis points year over year. And in its first quarter as a combined segment, WSS stayed focused on serving our customers and delivered both the highest orders growth of all segments and made a significant contribution to Xylem's overall margin mix. In addition to operational commercial performance, the first quarter also reflected continued momentum on integration synergies with Avoqua. We saw a very solid Q1 run rate on cost capture, and we're confident in how we're tracking both on revenue and cost synergies. On the basis of our momentum, the team's disciplined performance, and continuing resilient demand, we're raising our full year guidance for both revenue and margin, and lifting our EPS guidance eight cents from the midpoint. As we look forward operationally, we're focused on maximizing value from every additional increment of volume we deliver. The team's impressive first quarter margin performance reflects our increasing operational discipline. We're driving simplification across our business, doing the few things that matter most even more efficiently. To solve water, we have to simplify water both for our customers and for ourselves. Strategically, our demand outlook continues to be supported by secular trends that are set to continue across economic cycles. As the headlines reflect, we're seeing an increasingly water-challenged world. And, just as with energy, the water economy is intertwined with every part of business and life. So, as water security becomes pressing, we'll continue to see increasing demand for the solutions that can help make companies and communities more water secure. And Xylem's platform of capabilities is uniquely positioned to meet this demand. We recently announced we'll be hosting our investor day on May 30th to take place both virtually and here at our headquarters in Washington. We're looking forward to the opportunity to provide updates on our strategic outlook, long-term growth, and financial framework, and our 2030 sustainability goals. And with that, I'll hand it over to Bill to cover the quarter's results, our financial position, and our outlook in more detail. Bill?