industry-leading team to re-establish market position. At the heart of Centric Success were two enduring strengths—uniformly consistent, excellent consumer satisfaction with the brand and best-in-class catalog accuracy. Installers have consistently praised the brake pads, not to mention all the other brake-related products as being industry-leading. We are particularly excited to have the product with the original breakpad formulations. These strengths will be powerfully amplified by MPA's proven manufacturing, engineering, cataloging, and related capabilities. We are excited to bring these customers the original Magic Source formulation they loved, reunited with their recognized brand. Together, these attributes have established a deep history and foundation of customer confidence. built on the consistent delivery of the highest-quality brake products. This commitment to quality and precision will be re-established to drive stronger consumer satisfaction and loyalty, positioning Centric for projected strong growth and long-term sustainability. As you probably know, we have been strategically focused on expanding our position within brake-related product categories for several years. Clearly, the Centric Break Path brand's purchase complements this strategy. I should mention that at its peak, we believe Centric generated approximately $400 million in gross annualized sales, indicative of the meaningful opportunities we anticipate moving forward. Even before the opportunities, we expect from the Centric purchase break-related product sales have, from the centric purchase, brake-related product sales have climbed, resulting in a second mega category, built upon our 50-plus-year flagship rotating electrical category and industry reputation. The market opportunities within the non-disquestionary, quote, wear categories are significant, enhanced by multiple replacement sales during the life of a vehicle. whether a repair has been done by a do-it-yourselfer or a do-it-for-me professional service provider. In either case, we have a growing presence in both markets across the big three automotive retailers along with Napa and the major traditional warehouse distributors. In short, we have the capacity, financial strength, and strategic vision to achieve meaningful market share gains across all of our non-discretionary aftermarket categories. We offer our retail and traditional customers great products, industry-leading SKU coverage, and order fill rates, supported by value-added merchandising and marketing support. As I have highlighted before, the average age of U.S. light vehicles continues to rise. Most recent industry data indicates that the average age has risen to approximately 13 years from 12.6 years in 2024. In addition, the number of vehicles on the road climbed to 289 million from just from 286 million just a year ago. We expect increased replacement opportunities for the life of vehicles, particularly with consumers holding on to their vehicles longer. This trend is also supported by broader aftermarket and new vehicle affordability data. According to Auto Care Association and MIMA data provided to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the U.S. light-duty aftermarket is projected to grow 5.2% in 2026, reflecting continued strength in hard parts, fluids, and service labor, and is forecasted to exceed $500 billion by 2029. At the same time, new vehicle affordability remains a constraint for many consumers, with Kelley Blue Book reporting that the average new vehicle transaction price exceeded $50,000 for the first time in September 2025. We believe these dynamics reinforce the consumer's tendency to maintain and repair existing vehicles rather than accelerate new car purchases. This supports long-term demand for non-discretionary aftermarket categories. In short, industry dynamics are favorable and we are all committed and focused on our customers, offering quality products and services with rational pricing. Our heavy-duty rotating electrical strengths also offer great opportunities going forward. We are continuing to leverage our reputation and industry position in this market, while focusing on opportunities to further enhance operating efficiencies and margins. In this regard, I should highlight the relocation of our heavy-duty operations to Mexico from Canada that started in the latter part of fiscal 26 as part of our ongoing commitment for continuous improvement which is near completion. We look forward to further opportunities to enhancing operating efficiencies as we're near the completion of this industry. Industry reports indicate that fleet operators are holding on to vehicles longer, which bodes well for our business because of our ability to offer dependable replacement parts. These dynamics also support our vision to leverage the reputation of our quality built brand name. We anticipate this will build momentum and enhance our market position, particularly with regards to supplying alternators and starters to our channel partners who are leaders in the heavy-duty aftermarket segment and the overall heavy-duty rotating electrical market. In addition, we continue to experience increased demand for our aftermarket parts in Mexico, which complements our existing strategic operational and distribution footprint there. As our U.S.-based retailers and warehouse distributor customers expand through Latin and South America, we are well-positioned to benefit while supporting their growth. Regarding our diagnostic business, our JVT1 benchtop tester leads the industry, and the installed base is continued to grow. We also expect more opportunities outside North America as the business evolves, including potential new applications that complement and leverage our technology. In short, we believe the outlook is bright for our non-discretionary aftermarket parts, both for passenger vehicles and for heavy-duty applications, and we are focused on leveraging our capability and capacity to offer a broad range of SKUs for all makes and models, with newer or older vehicles. As I've previously mentioned, deferment is not really a long-term option for our non-discretionary products. If your car or heavy-duty vehicle doesn't start or stop, you're not driving. We believe we have meaningful opportunities for further growth and profitability as the competitive landscape continues to change. I'd now like to turn the call over to David.

Thank you so much, and good morning, everyone. Let me begin by outlining several topics I want to discuss. We will go over analytics for the fiscal first quarter, sales momentum and opportunities, gross margin, cash flow balance sheet liquidity and debt leverage, share repurchases, potential strategic alternatives for our EV emulator business, and reaffirming guidance for the current fiscal of 2027 year ending March 31st, 2027. Let's start with analytics for the fiscal first quarter. Fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2026 net sales of $168 million as expected were impacted by timing of orders. As the fiscal year progresses, we believe higher sales and continued focus on efficiency and cost reductions will favorably contribute to fiscal 2027 results. From a sales perspective, as sales momentum increases combined with new business commitments that someone referenced earlier as well as other meaningful opportunities we believe the company will benefit in several ways near term including favorable impact to gross margin continued annual cash flow generation net bank debt reduction and opportunities to increase shareholder value in short the fundamentals of our business are strong regarding gross margin let me first discuss the first quarter in more detail. Gross margin was 16.2% compared with 18% a year ago, a year earlier. Gross margin was impacted by non-cash expenses of 2.4% and one-time items of 1.6% as detailed in Exhibit 2 of this morning's earnings press release. Excluding these non-cash and certain one-time cash items, gross margin was 20.2%. In addition, gross margin was impacted by unfavorable foreign exchange rates of approximately 2%, or approximately $3.5 million, due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar versus the Mexican peso. Gross margin was also impacted by lower sales due to timing of orders. Fiscal 2027 gross margin is expected to continue to be favorably impacted by increased sales, overhead absorption, and overall cost reductions and efficiencies. Overall, regarding gross margin, we remain focused on overall margin accretion, supported by strong momentum and greater utilization of brake-related capacity. We are also focused on positive impacts to overall margin from further improvements in operating efficiency supported by benefiting from our tariff mitigation initiatives, better pricing for scrap sales as we gain more market share for our products, additional opportunities to relocate certain operations to our low-cost facilities globally, including Mexico, and further strategic cost reductions. These initiatives are expected to positively impact overall gross margin. Regarding our cash flow balance sheet and liquidity for the quarter, as a result of working capital use impacted by an inventory ramp up for new business, we use cash and operating activities of $11.3 million for the first quarter. After share repurchases of $1.9 million for the fiscal 27 first quarter, the company's revolver loan of $118.8 million, less cash of $19.1 million at June 30, 2026, resulted in net bank debt of $99.7 million. The company has $20.1 million remaining to repurchase shares under its current authorized share repurchase program. For the prior three years that ended March 31, 2026, the company generated cash from operating activities of approximately $103.8 million. Our liquidity remains strong with total cash and availability of approximately $112.4 million as of June 30, 2026. We remain focused on increasing operating profit and gross margin and generating positive positive cash flow, supported by growth and operating efficiencies from our global footprint. In addition to our goal of generating increased operating profits, including benefits from our gross margin expansion initiatives previously explained, we expect further opportunities to neutralize working capital, supported by customer product demand planning, enhanced inventory management, and extending our vendor payment terms, including growing our supply chain finance program offered to our vendors. Regarding debt leverage, based on information in our filing today, EBITDA for the 12 months ended June 30, 2026 was $60 million. EBITDA before the impact of non-cash and one-time cash expenses was $79.1 million for the same period. To recap, our net bank debt was $99.7 million at June 30, 2026, compared with EBITDA before the impact of non-cash and one-time cash expenses mentioned above of 79.1 million for the 12 months ended June 30, 2026 resulting in a net bank debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.26. In addition, the company recently announced the renewal of its loan agreement extension of the maturity date of the revolver credit facility to August 2031 set by PNC Bank. The renewal recognizes the company's milestones, solid position within the automotive aftermarket, and management's commitment to strategic growth and profitability. We're also committed to further opportunities to increase share repurchases. For the fiscal first quarter, the company repurchased 129,523 shares for $1.9 million at an average share price of $14.98. Regarding our EV emulator business, which is a non-core asset, we are continuing to explore strategic alternatives to capitalize on its proprietary industry-leading technology, including a state-of-the-art next-generation emulator. While we continue to explore strategic alternatives, we continue to secure prestigious new OE customer commitments for our emulator business. Regarding guidance, Motor Car Parts of America reaffirms guidance and expects net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027 to increase between 7.5% to 10.2% year-over-year growth, reflecting the exclusion of certain non-recurring items, including tariff pass-throughs due to the reduction of import tariffs and non-recurring core revenue, representing net sales of between $780 million to $800 million. Current guidance includes new business commitments that are expected to ramp up in the second half of the fiscal year. The timing of the ramp up has been somewhat impacted by customers taking advantage of liquidated inventory purchased from a previous supplier. In addition, we expect to add more than $100 million of additional annualized net sales by the end of fiscal 2027, which is not included in the guidance due to the uncertainty of the timing. In summary, annualized net sales are expected to be more than $900 million by the end of fiscal 2027. Operating income is expected to be between $86 million and $91 million, representing between 12.3% and 18.8% year-over-year growth, and these estimates reflect the expected impact of tariffs enacted as of August 10, 2026 and do not include certain non-cash items and one-time expenses. Depreciation and amortization are projected to be approximately $9 million. Based on the above, EBDA is expected to be between $95 million and $100 million. For details on the results, refer to the earnings press release issued this morning. I would now like to open the line for questions.

We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. There are no questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Selwyn Jaffe for closing remarks.

Okay. In summary, we are bullish about our outlook. Our position within the non-discretionary automotive aftermarket continues to strengthen. The changing competitive landscape bodes well for our short and long-term industry position, which is being meaningfully enhanced by our expanding presence within brake-related categories. Equally important, the number of vehicles on the road continues to climb and age. In short, while seasonality and customer ordering dynamics can impact quarters, our year-over-year expectations are exciting. We remain laser-focused on further efficiencies and fully benefiting from a not easily duplicated global platform to meet demand and grow market share for our non-distortioning products as well as for our diagnostic testing business our liquidity is strong our leverage is low and we have the resources capacity and capability to further enhance shareholder value in closing we appreciate the contributions of all our team members who are continuously focused on providing the highest level of service we are all committed to being the industry leader for parts and solutions that move our world today and tomorrow.

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

Thank you. Thank you.