Steve Valiquette

Hogan set expectations down explicitly, saying not to lean on ART for 2027 while describing lab adoption progress.

John confirmed Q2 expects international to continue growing faster than North America, consistent with recent quarters. The Q2 2025 scan-vs-treatment dislocation has 'more or less returned to normal' since then.

John confirmed competitor pricing actions are not in guidance but are noted as a positive evolution. Some competitors forced to raise prices from tariffs and profitability needs, which helps Align's competitive positioning.

John said HFD is playing out as planned in Q3 with growing doctor enrollment and incremental lift in treatment. Expects more impact in Q4 and beyond as adoption expands.

Joe attributed weakness entirely to macro/economic factors rather than competitive dynamics, noting a competitor even raised prices during the quarter.

John clarified the tariff impact is limited to raw material sourcing for China manufacturing, not product movement, and they're adjusting supply sources to mitigate.

Joe declined to speculate on practitioner geopolitical views but noted Chinese competitors operate at unsustainable pricing, and Align wins on technology, service, and relationships.

CEO characterized weather as slight financial impact with MSOs seeing modestly more impact due to difficulty rescheduling lost physician visits and procedures.

Jason clarified new products are within existing categories (compression, nutrition pumps), not new categories. Prioritizing broader/better products within current categories over expansion into new ones. Still significant runway to grow Cardinal brand mix in existing categories.

Jason noted competitor divestiture doesn't hurt. Cardinal focused on service levels and operational quality to be supplier/partner of choice. Continued investment in GMPD appropriate for turnaround stage.

Aaron did not directly answer whether NCI would be near zero. Referenced the raised guidance framework and directed to 10-K for detailed accounting treatment.

Jason noted inventory up ~8%, in line with business growth. At $16B representing less than 1 month of sales, significant pre-buying would create extreme balance sheet burden.

Jason distinguished pharma treatment volumes (stable/strong) from medical testing volumes (weaker). Respiratory/lab weakness on GMPD side, not pharma side.

Brian said Crossix is diversified across measurement/audiences and many clients, with no major single-customer concentration risk.

Peter said no particular learnings, decisions were customer-specific with some wanting to try something new. Now largely through the competitive distraction, entering the AI age. Vault CRM of 2026-2028 will be fundamentally different from 2022-2023.

Brian confirmed both measurement and audiences drove growth in Q2. Audiences remains the smaller but higher-growth segment. Declined to break out a specific quarterly growth rate but confirmed audiences remains the primary growth driver.

Brian said about three-quarters of margin outperformance was from revenue (Crossix usage-based and services timing), and one-quarter from expense timing. Both are non-recurring benefits. Q2 margins expected around 44%.

Brian said FX is primarily a revenue-side headwind. Natural expense hedge mitigates most of the operating income impact.

Paul said they monitor trial starts but don't over-index. Brian confirmed CRO revenue is about 5% and not materially changed.

Bob confirmed no pricing changes from MFN in European markets. International performing within expectations. Highlighted strong growth in pan-European 3PL platform as part of specialty strategy.

Jim acknowledged potential short-term dilution from sales but emphasized long-term accretion from focusing on higher-growth businesses. All businesses in other are profitable. MWI and Profarma expected to grow profits in FY26.

Jim said branded price appreciation about in line or slightly ahead of expectations but not material enough to call out. Reiterated that brand pricing has less P&L impact than historically as contracts have been rebalanced.

Bob confirmed weakness is market-wide, not customer-specific. Noted peak in clinical trial activity during COVID pandemic that has since reduced. Did not quantify the percent decline.

Bob described Walgreens as very important strategic customer, teams highly engaged. Jim confirmed guidance includes assumptions on all aspects including Walgreens.

Bryan has not seen the ASC shift accelerate near-term; noted it is a long-running trend and Solventum products are used in both hospital and ASC settings, limiting impact.

CFO differentiated remaining 10% TSAs (rebranding/supply chain) from the 100bps raw materials cost step-up option 3M holds for 2027; working with 3M on better solution for both companies.

CEO noted no dramatic regional differences; growth driven by global new product launches and specialized sales team rather than market dynamics.

CEO explained Ensemble relationship but declined to quantify; noted autonomous coding is early stage and will drive Ensemble margin improvement and better revenue capture for hospitals.

CEO noted resilient categories (restorative, prevention) and new innovation giving dental team tailwind; expects momentum throughout the year.

Ron said a significant majority of the 19.9% specialty profit growth was organic, with a back-half-2025 acquisition and margin efficiencies contributing the rest; no exact split.