Aengus Kelly
Analyst · JPMorgan
Thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. I'll begin today with an overview of performance for the quarter before turning to discuss the market environment in light of current geopolitical events. I'll then touch on our outlook and strategic priorities for the remainder of the year before handing the call over to Pete to review the financials in more detail. Starting with performance. I am pleased to report that this was another record quarter of earnings for AerCap. The company generated GAAP net income of $818 million or $4.96 per share, and record adjusted net income of $889 million or $5.39 per share. This represents an 18% GAAP return on equity or 19% adjusted return on equity for the quarter. Despite the macro backdrop, we continue to see robust demand for aviation assets, supported by persistent supply challenges and sustained consumer demand for air travel. The first quarter serves as a clear reminder and reinforcement of the long-term and durable nature of this business. Our multiyear fleet planning discussions with customers continued during the quarter, resulting in an 87% lease extension rate and the closing of 286 transactions. This included the signing of 202 lease agreements and the sale of 41 owned assets, generating sales revenue of $1.5 billion. Importantly, 57% of the lease agreements were signed in March, suggesting little change in airline behavior despite the geopolitical uncertainties. Given our strong results in the first quarter, including the repurchase of $745 million of our outstanding shares, we are increasing our full year adjusted EPS guidance to $14.50 per share, not including any additional gains on sale. I am also pleased to announce today the authorization of a new $1 billion share repurchase program. Now turning to the broader market environment. We continue to see strong demand for our assets despite recent geopolitical events. That being said, if jet fuel prices persist at current levels for the next 3 to 6 months, it will place pressure on the airline industry. The extent of the impact on individual airlines will vary depending on factors such as region, business model, balance sheet strength and fuel hedging practices. To date, the industry has been able to pass on a significant portion of higher fuel bills to consumers. Looking beyond 6 months, elevated fuel costs will pressure airline profitability and place greater emphasis on airlines' balance sheet resilience and financial flexibility. Over time this could contribute to an acceleration in the retirement of older technology aircraft. So this is not a dynamic we are seeing play out just yet. As we know, airline fleet planning decisions span multiyear horizon, and carriers typically do not make long-term fleet decisions in response to a few months of market volatility. In the scenario in which fuel costs remain elevated beyond 6 months, we would expect to see additional growth opportunities emerge for AerCap. In particular, it is likely that we'd see increased sale-leaseback opportunities as airlines look to fund growth while preserving cash and prioritizing liquidity. For context, the global order book remains heavily skewed to airlines with just 4 airlines having a combined order book larger than that of the entire lessor community. In both the near and longer-term scenarios, AerCap is well positioned to support our customers while continuing to maintain a disciplined approach to capital deployment, execution and risk management. Against this backdrop, we entered the second quarter with a below-target leverage ratio of 2.1x net debt to equity, $21 billion of liquidity and more than $3 billion of excess capital. This positions us well to execute our strategy, balancing organic growth and share repurchases while maintaining flexibility for future opportunistic investments. Our continued investment in new technology assets, including the 110 aircraft added to our backlog in the first quarter, reflects our disciplined approach to capital allocation. We are targeting assets with strong demand fundamentals and attractive long-term economics, consistent with our positive outlook for the aviation sector. With respect to our 100 aircraft order in March, our infrastructure, industrial capability and scale enabled us to execute this very complex transaction with speed while supporting key business partners in the process. By leveraging our leadership in the engine leasing space, we were able to agree attractive terms, including a delivery stream that starts in 2028. This order not only underscores our unique market positioning, but it enhances the quality of our portfolio, aligns with our constructive outlook on the sector and ultimately supports long-term value creation. In closing, this was another strong quarter for AerCap, reflecting the durability of our business model, the quality of our asset portfolio and the disciplined execution of our strategy. Despite a mixed operating environment for our customers, underlying demand for aviation assets remains strong. We enter this period from a position of strength, supported by robust earnings, low leverage, high liquidity. We'll remain focused on prudent capital allocation, supporting our customers where appropriate and investing in assets that we believe will continue delivering attractive long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I'll now hand the call over to Pete to review the financials in more detail.