Integer (ITGR) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

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DATE

April 30, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• President and Chief Executive Officer — Payman Khales
• Chief Financial Officer — Diron Smith

TAKEAWAYS

• Reported Sales -- $440 million, representing 0.5% growth driven by a mix of product headwinds and the exit from the portable medical business.
• Organic Sales Growth -- 1.3% higher, excluding acquisitions, foreign exchange, and the impact of the portfolio exit.
• Adjusted Operating Margin -- 13.9%, contracting 230 basis points primarily due to lower fixed cost absorption.
• Adjusted Operating Income -- Down 14% to $61 million in the quarter, consistent with internal expectations.
• Adjusted EBITDA -- $85 million, decreasing by $7 million or 7% from the prior year.
• Adjusted Net Income -- $41 million, down 10% year over year.
• Adjusted EPS -- $1.20, declining 8% while benefiting by $0.10 from lower interest expense and $0.02 from share repurchases.
• Share Repurchases -- $50 million spent for approximately 600,000 shares during the quarter; cumulative $100 million repurchased across two quarters.
• Net Total Debt -- $1.264 billion at quarter end, rising $74 million primarily from share repurchases.
• Free Cash Flow -- $1 million generated, with operating cash flow of $25 million and capital expenditures of $24 million.
• Leverage Ratio -- 3.2x trailing 4-quarter adjusted EBITDA, within the targeted 2.5x-3.5x range.
• Cardio & Vascular Sales -- $262 million, up 1%, with trailing 4-quarter growth of 13% to $1.110 billion driven by electrophysiology and neurovascular demand.
• CRM & Neuromodulation Sales -- $168 million, increasing 5%; trailing 4-quarter sales up 2% to $677 million.
• 2026 Sales Outlook -- Reported sales expected to decline by 1%-3% to $1.805-$1.835 billion; organic sales flat to down 1% due to headwinds from three products.
• 2026 Adjusted EBITDA Outlook -- $375-$399 million, down 1%-7%; adjusted operating income of $285-$305 million, down 5%-11%.
• 2026 Adjusted Net Income Outlook -- $200-$220 million, decreasing by 3%-11% from the prior year.
• 2026 Adjusted EPS Outlook -- $5.83 to $6.40, flat to down 9%.
• 2026 Free Cash Flow Outlook -- $85 million to $105 million, with projected operating cash flow between $185 million and $205 million and capital expenditures of $95 million to $105 million.
• Strategic Review -- Board has initiated a process to explore opportunities to maximize shareholder value with no set timeline or assured outcome.

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RISKS

• Customer forecast reductions, notably in electrophysiology, are expected to pressure second-half sales performance as reflected in lower full-year outlooks.
• Adjusted operating margin contracted by 230 basis points to 13.9% due to lower fixed cost absorption.
• The company faces a 3%-4% headwind to reported and organic sales growth in 2026 due to three new product declines discussed previously.
• Management noted, "Given the lower sales outlook, we anticipate further margin pressure and are taking additional near-term cost actions to mitigate the profit impact."

SUMMARY

Integer Holdings (NYSE:ITGR) reported flat overall sales for the quarter, with organic growth hampered by known product-specific headwinds and the completed exit of its portable medical segment. An updated 2026 outlook signals lower revenue, profit, and cash flow expectations due to decreased customer forecasts, especially in the electrophysiology market, accompanied by additional risk adjustments across the portfolio. The Board has commenced a strategic review process in response to heightened recent interest from external parties, explicitly seeking outcomes to maximize shareholder value.

• Diron Smith stated the reduction in cash flow guidance was driven by profitability changes, not working capital trends.
• Payman Khales clarified that recent reductions in electrophysiology forecasts were not linked to contract losses or supplier shifts, but rather changing customer requirements as the market normalizes post-PFA adoption.
• Leadership outlined continued investment in product development and new product introductions, even as cost controls intensify to balance near-term softness against future growth objectives.
• The company expects to return to "market growth" in the fourth quarter of 2026, normalized for production days, with above-market growth targeted in 2027 and beyond, primarily fueled by new product launches and recovery in affected portfolios.
• First quarter operating expenses remained flat year over year, with declining selling, general, and administrative costs offset by higher research and development spending tied to customer-funded milestones.
• Interest expense was reduced by $4 million due to the prior convertible debt refinancing.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA): A catheter-based electrophysiology technique that uses high-voltage electrical fields to isolate cardiac tissue, commonly adopted for atrial fibrillation therapy and contributing to recent volatility in procedural volumes and demand visibility.
• CDMO: Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization; a third-party partner engaged by medical device companies to develop, manufacture, and scale highly engineered products.
• CRM: Cardiac Rhythm Management; refers to devices and technologies used to manage heart rhythm disorders, including pacemakers and defibrillators.
• Neurovascular: Pertains to medical devices used in the diagnosis and treatment of brain and spinal cord blood vessels, cited as a growth market in the company’s portfolio.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Payman Khales: Thank you, Kristen, and thank you to everyone for joining the call today. This morning, we announced our first quarter financial results, which were in line with our February outlook. Sales were up 0.5% on a reported basis versus last year. As expected, our first quarter sales performance primarily reflected the decline associated with the 3 new products, which we first discussed last October as well as the exit of our portable medical business. On an organic basis, sales grew 1.3% versus the prior year. Our adjusted operating income declined 230 basis points, driven primarily by lower fixed cost absorption. This was at the midpoint of our prior outlook commentary.

Adjusted earnings per share totaled $1.20, benefiting from lower interest expense, offset by the decline in adjusted operating income. We also announced this morning that we were updating our 2026 outlook ranges to reflect the recent customer forecast updates and further risk adjustments we have made. We now expect reported sales to be in the range of down 1% to 3% compared to the prior year. On an organic basis, we expect sales to be flat to down 1%. We continue to expect a 3% to 4% headwind from the 3 new products. The outlook for these 3 products has not changed. Customer purchase orders and forecast updates are tracking in line with this outlook.

We now expect organic sales, excluding the 3 new products, to grow approximately 3% to 4%. This is compared to our prior outlook of 4% to 6% and driven by recent customer forecast updates and further risk adjustments across our portfolio. As a reminder, we received purchase orders from our customers, and those typically provide us with strong visibility for the next 1 to 2 quarters. In addition, we continuously communicate with our customers and most of them regularly share rolling 12-month forecast. Our customers adjust their forecast higher or lower based on their manufacturing plans. Therefore, we typically risk adjust the forecast with a balanced view of the risk and opportunities.

The recent customer forecast updates primarily affect the second half outlook for a few products in electrophysiology. Given our recent experience of reductions outside the 3 new products, we further risk adjusted our outlook across our portfolio to minimize the risk of additional forecast erosion. With regards to electrophysiology, over the last couple of years, this market has been very dynamic with the rapid adoption of Pulsed Field Ablation or PFA technologies, which added complexity to forecasting. Understandably, OEMs wanted to ensure sufficient availability of various products used in EP procedures to be prepared for a wide range of potential adoption scenarios. This contributed to increased variability in forecast and ordering patterns.

We appear to be entering a period of normalization in the market. We believe there is a clear view of the market dynamics and needs for various EP products. As a result, certain customers have adjusted their forecast for a few products. We expect the impact of these updates to be short term, primarily impacting the second half of 2026. These reductions are not due to in-sourcing or a shift to alternative suppliers. We continue to manufacture these products for our customers. The electrophysiology market continues to be an attractive high-growth market opportunity for us, and we believe we are well positioned.

We have strong relationships with the leading players in the market, a broad product portfolio and a strong new product pipeline. Our focus and investments have enabled us to significantly grow our EP business over the past several years. While we are seeing some pressure in 2026, we expect our EP business to contribute to our above-market growth in 2027 and to our growth profile over the long term. And finally, I want to emphasize that we do not take the outlook change lightly.

Our outlook reflects additional cost reduction actions underway to mitigate the impact on our bottom line results that do not compromise our ability to service our customers, deliver on our 2027 sales outlook commitments or affect our longer-term growth potential. I will now turn the call over to Diron to review the first quarter results and 2026 outlook in greater detail.

Diron Smith: Thank you, Payman. Good morning, everyone, and thank you again for joining today's call. Our first quarter financial results were in line with the outlook commentary we shared in February. First quarter sales totaled $440 million, up 0.5% on a reported basis and up 1.3% on an organic basis. As a reminder, organic sales growth removes the impact of acquisitions, the strategic exit of the portable medical market and foreign currency fluctuations. We delivered $85 million of adjusted EBITDA, down $7 million compared to the prior year or a decrease of 7%. Adjusted operating income declined 14% versus last year, and our adjusted operating margin contracted 230 basis points to 13.9%, both in line with our February outlook.

Adjusted net income was $41 million, down 10% year-over-year. Adjusted earnings per share totaled $1.20, down 8% versus the same period last year. Turning to our sales performance by product line. Cardio & Vascular sales increased 1% to $262 million in the first quarter of 2026, which primarily reflected lower electrophysiology sales from the 2 new products we have previously discussed. This was consistent with our expectations. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, C&V sales increased 13% to $1.110 billion, driven by growth in electrophysiology, contribution from acquisitions and strong demand in Neurovascular. Cardiac Rhythm Management Neuromodulation sales increased 5% to $168 million in the first quarter 2026.

Cardiac Rhythm Management growth was partially offset by the previously communicated headwind in neuromodulation. This was consistent with our expectations. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, CRM&N sales increased 2% to $677 million. Cardiac Rhythm Management growth was partially offset by the planned decline related to an early spinal cord stimulation customer. Product line detail for other markets is included in the appendix of the presentation, which can be found on our website at integer.net. I'd now like to provide more color on the first quarter's profit performance compared to the prior year. In the first quarter 2026, adjusted net income decreased by $5 million and adjusted earnings per share decreased by $0.11.

Consistent with our expectations, the primary driver of our operational decline was lower fixed cost absorption, which affected our gross margin performance. We remain focused on effective cost management, reducing variable costs given the lower sales level and being disciplined in our overhead and operating expense management. Operating expenses were flat versus the prior year, including a decline in selling, general, and administrative expenses and a slight increase in research, development and engineering expenses due to the timing of milestone achievements for customer-funded new product development. As a reminder, the first quarter of the year typically has fewer milestones as compared to later in the year.

Interest expense was $4 million lower than the prior year, which contributed $0.10 per share, reflecting the savings from the convertible debt offering completed in March 2025. Our adjusted effective tax rate was 19% versus 17.4% in the first quarter of 2025. We continue to expect our full year tax rate to be in the range of 16% to 18%. The adjusted weighted average shares outstanding in the quarter decreased by 2%, reflecting our share repurchase activity. In the fourth quarter 2025, we completed a $50 million share repurchase of approximately 700,000 shares. And in the first quarter, we completed an additional $50 million share repurchase of approximately 600,000 shares.

The lower weighted average share count contributed $0.02 to adjusted earnings per share. In the first quarter 2026, we generated $25 million of cash flow from operations, down $6 million from the prior year, primarily reflecting lower adjusted net income and reduced accounts receivable factoring. CapEx spend was $24 million, which resulted in free cash flow of $1 million. At the end of the first quarter 2026, net total debt was $1.264 billion, an increase of $74 million, primarily driven by the $50 million share repurchase executed in the quarter. Our net total debt leverage at the end of the first quarter was 3.2x trailing 4-quarter adjusted EBITDA within our strategic target range of 2.5 to 3.5x.

As Payman noted, we are updating our 2026 financial outlook ranges to reflect recent customer forecast updates and further risk adjustments across our portfolio. For the full year 2026, we now expect reported sales to be in the range of $1.805 billion to $1.835 billion. On a year-over-year basis, we now expect sales to be down 1% to 3% on a reported basis and flat to down 1% on an organic basis. We have also adjusted our profitability outlook ranges. Given the lower sales outlook, we anticipate further margin pressure and are taking additional near-term cost actions to mitigate the profit impact, which are contemplated in our revised outlook.

We now expect our adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $375 million to $399 million, down 1% to 7% versus the prior year. We now expect adjusted operating income to be in the range of $285 million to $305 million, down 5% to 11% and adjusted net income to be in the range between $200 million and $220 million, down 3% to 11% versus the prior year. Lastly, we now expect adjusted earnings per share of between $5.83 and $6.40, flat to down 9% versus the prior year. Taking a closer look at our sales outlook.

As I mentioned, we expect sales to be down 1% to 3% on a reported basis and flat to down 1% on an organic basis. As we previously shared, our organic outlook is being impacted by lower sales of the 3 new products. We continue to expect the headwind to be approximately 3% to 4% to our 2026 reported growth. We now expect organic growth, excluding the 3 new products, to be approximately 3% to 4%. This compares to our prior expectation of 4% to 6%, reflecting the impact of recent customer forecast changes and further risk adjustments we have incorporated across the portfolio.

We expect an inorganic decline of approximately 1%, which reflects the now completed Portable Medical exit slightly offset by contribution from acquisitions and foreign exchange. We now expect C&V sales to be flat to down low single digits compared to the prior year. This compares to the prior outlook of flat to up low single-digit growth and is due to the recent customer forecast updates that primarily affect our second half outlook for electrophysiology. Regarding our CRM&N outlook, we continue to expect sales to be flat to up low single digits. This growth rate includes the previously communicated headwind from one new neuromodulation product, which is unchanged.

In other markets, we now expect a decline of approximately $34 million to $36 million versus our prior range of $30 million to $35 million. The year-over-year decline is primarily due to the Portable Medical exit. As a reminder, other markets sales are primarily related to a manufacturing service agreement with the purchaser of our former Advanced Surgical and Orthopedics business and are outside our targeted markets. In the second quarter, we expect sales to increase sequentially versus the first quarter, resulting in a first half reported sales decline of approximately 2% to 3%, which is in line with our prior outlook.

The first half decline in reported sales primarily reflects the significant reduction in sales related to the 3 new products as well as the exit of the Portable Medical business. We continue to expect nominal sales to ramp sequentially throughout 2026. We expect organic sales to return to market growth in the fourth quarter normalized for fiscal calendar production days. As we have previously shared, we have fewer production days in our fourth quarter as compared to the prior year, which represents an approximately 5% headwind to our sales growth rate.

We expect our second quarter adjusted operating income margin to improve 80 to 140 basis points sequentially versus the first quarter, and we expect operating income margins to improve sequentially throughout 2026. Turning to our cash flow and debt outlook. We now expect cash flow from operations to be between $185 million to $205 million, a $15 million decrease at the midpoint of the outlook, consistent with the change in our profitability outlook. We continue to expect capital expenditures of between $95 million and $105 million or approximately 5% to 6% of sales. As a result, we expect to generate free cash flow between $85 million and $105 million.

We expect our 2026 year-end net total debt to be between $1.185 billion and $1.205 billion. We expect our leverage ratio to be within the targeted range of 2.5 to 3.5x trailing 4-quarter adjusted EBITDA in 2026. I'll now turn it back to Payman for his closing remarks.

Payman Khales: Thank you, Diron. In summary, we continue to view 2026 as a transition year. We expect the product headwinds we've discussed to be short term in duration. The long-term fundamentals of our markets and our business remain strong. The medical device markets we serve continue to present an attractive opportunity, and we are focused on high-growth markets such as electrophysiology, structural heart, neurovascular and neuromodulation. We are a trusted partner to the world's top medical device companies and emerging innovators. Our strategy includes engaging with our customers early in the design and development of new products, helping them to accelerate their timeline to market by solving complex engineering challenges and designing for scalable, high-quality manufacturing.

We have significantly increased product development sales in recent years, and this has yielded a robust and diverse pipeline. This pipeline, when combined with our underlying business, supports our return to organic sales growth 200 basis points above the market in 2027. Before we transition to Q&A, I would like to address this morning's separate announcement that our Board has initiated a strategic review. Our Board is highly confident in our strategy and our long-term objectives to grow sales above market, expand margins and remain disciplined within a targeted leverage range. At the same time, the Board and the management team continuously evaluate opportunities to enhance shareholder value.

As a respected and well-positioned CDMO serving the medical device industry, interest in Integer has historically been strong and has intensified in recent months. Given this recent heightened interest, the Board and the management team believe now is the right time to consider all opportunities to maximize shareholder value, which may include continuing to execute our stand-alone strategy. As is typical with this type of process, there is no deadline or definitive timeline set for the completion of the strategic review, and there is no assurance that the review will result in any transaction or other outcome.

I want to emphasize that this review does not change our overall focus, which is being a strategic partner of choice to our customers and advancing their goals through our industry-leading engineering and manufacturing and with a relentless commitment to quality, service and innovation, nor does this change our focus on delivering on our financial commitments. We will now turn the call over to our moderator for the Q&A portion of the call.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Matthew O'Brien with Piper Sandler.

Matthew O'Brien: I guess, Payman, for the first one, the second cut on the EP side here announced this morning, can you just talk a little bit more about that? Is that more a function of a market slowdown or inventory work down? Or are there additional products that are not ramping as fast as expected now and the next new headwinds that you're seeing within EP?

Payman Khales: Yes. Matt, thanks for the question. So let me expand on that a little bit. So let me clarify first that the adjustments that we're talking about are not related to the 2 products that we had talked about previously. The forecast, the purchase orders that we're tracking and the outlook for those products has remained unchanged. We also do not believe that there is an impact of the market. The market is normalizing. It is slowing down. If you listen to the leaders in the industry and through our own research, we expect the EP market to be in the range of mid-teens to high teens in 2026.

This is slower than what it was last year, which was north of 20%, but it is still a very strong market, and we expect it to continue to be very strong in the future in the double digits in the coming years. The products that we're talking about are primarily used in electrophysiology procedures independent of the technology used, whether it's PFA, whether it's RF or other technologies. As we've mentioned before, we participate across the procedures in EP.

And these are some of the products that we believe that as the market is normalizing, as our customers have a clear view of what their needs are and they're adjusting their production plans, they have adjusted their forecast on us, and that's what this reflects. As I highlighted in the prepared remarks, this is not a loss of contract in-sourcing or any other change in the supply arrangement, and we believe the impact to be temporary.

Matthew O'Brien: Okay. Appreciate that. And just to put a finer point on that, you're saying basically this is not a new PFA catheter that's being impacted. It's maybe some of the accessory products like Crosser or mapping catheter or something along those lines that are kind of normalizing? Is that the right way to frame it?

Payman Khales: Yes. I mean the way we had previously discussed it, we had not specified the 2 products, what they were. We had just talked about 2 PFA products. That outlook has not changed. These are products that are used -- primarily products that are used in ablation procedures. As you pointed out, there are different types of products that are used in the procedure. And that's the primary source of the impact.

Operator: Our next question comes from Brett Fishbin with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Brett Fishbin: I was hoping you could expand a little bit more on the announcement of the strategic review. More specifically, just interested kind of what it was that led you to make this decision? And then how you're thinking about the tangible next steps regarding some of the outcomes that you mentioned in the press release?

Payman Khales: Yes, of course. So we -- I would like to start with our Board and management continue to believe and have confidence in our strategy. We've demonstrated that our strategy is delivering results. We have built a very strong pipeline, a very strong set of capabilities that our customers depend on for their success. And we believe that we have an excellent strategy. And as a result, look, over the years, there has always been interest in Integer, and our Board believes that we can deliver the best shareholder value by continuing our stand-alone strategy. But in recent months, there has been a heightened level of interest in Integer.

And our Board, of course, wants to make sure that we explore all options to see what can deliver the most value for shareholders, which is the reason why we're announcing this process now. In terms of the next steps, obviously, we will go through a process, and we will see what the outcome of that process is. As we mentioned, there is no guaranteed outcome with this, and we don't necessarily have a specific time line.

Brett Fishbin: All right. Great. Then I just wanted to ask a little bit more about the long-term dynamic. I note that you reiterated the expectation that you expect to return to above-market growth in 2027. Just to put a finer point on that, are you still defining your market as 4% to 6%, even though the 2026 guide assumes 3% to 4%, excluding the new headwinds? And then kind of what gives you the confidence or visibility to reiterate that 2027 directional guidance, just given some of the changes in the last few quarters?

Payman Khales: Yes, no problem. Yes, our markets continue to be 4% to 6%. And the reason that we are seeing 3% to 4% this year is because of some of the headwinds that we believe are temporary for the reasons that I mentioned that are primarily in the EP space. So in terms of our growth, our return to growth above market in 2027, as we mentioned, we expect to get back to market growth in the fourth quarter of this year. That will be our exit year into 2027, which is what we expect. And we -- our product -- new product launch schedules, that continues to be very strong.

We've talked about that we expect to have new product launches in all of our growth markets in the second half of 2026 as well as 2027. So when you combine the underlying market growth, which we expect to continue to be at 4% to 6% with the addition of NPI, we have confidence that we can get to 200 basis points over market. So I do want to highlight this. The EP market continues to be a very strong market for us. In fact, in the first quarter, our EP business, excluding the 2 new products, had very strong performance. We believe that our performance in EP in 1Q was above market.

When you exclude the 2 new products, which, of course, have had an impact. And we have a strong pipeline in electrophysiology, and we believe that this portfolio will continue to give us tailwinds and not only in 2027, but also beyond.

Operator: Our next question comes from Richard Newitter with Truist.

Richard Newitter: I have 2. Just maybe the first one, I think you gave some explanation for the forecast reduction. It was clearly some discrete EP areas that were not linked to the prior ones that led to the original reduction. So that's one. And then you also mentioned that you took the opportunity to further risk adjust some other areas that felt like as just in case. if you could elaborate on that, what is a discrete forecast reduction in your updated guidance versus what is an adjusted risk adjustment factor and for what? And is it because you think there's something there for that placeholder, if you will? Or is it just to be conservative?

And then I have a follow-up.

Payman Khales: Yes. Rich, the -- let me confirm the first part of your question that, yes, as you pointed out, the EP reduction, which was the primary source of the forecast adjustment was not related to the 2 other products that we had discussed. The risk adjustment is because we are seeing, as we mentioned, some variability within the EP market after a very dynamic period over the past couple of years and the normalization of the market, we are seeing some forecast adjustments that our customers have a better handle of the market and their needs. We wanted to be prudent.

Our guidance philosophy is still to be to take a balanced view, but we have biased it more towards risk adjustment just to minimize the risk of further forecast adjustments as we navigate this period of variability.

Richard Newitter: Okay. So just to follow up on that before I get to my second question, you're saying that the further risk adjustment above and beyond the forecast reduction you received was related to the EP areas that you're highlighting right now. Is that right?

Payman Khales: It's across the portfolio. And I think part of the question that you had asked, Rich, was whether we have visibility to further potential reduction and erosion. The answer is no. We wanted to make sure that we further risk adjust as we see some variability. That is across the portfolio, not only in EP, just to minimize potential further reduction.

Operator: Our next question comes from Nathan Treybeck with Wells Fargo.

Nathan Treybeck: Can you share if your wallet share in EP is expanding? Is it stable? Is it declining? And then is your 2027 algorithm dependent on EP reaccelerating? And if so, what would drive that?

Payman Khales: Nathan, we have a very strong portfolio in electrophysiology. In fact, that portfolio has expanded substantially in recent years. And that is because of the technologies that we've developed, the participation that we have in the EP portfolio with the major players in the industry. So that is a very strong portfolio for us. In terms of whether our share of wallet increasing or decreasing, we have a very strong portfolio. We believe that we are and expect to be a leader in the CDMO space in EP. We -- as I mentioned earlier, we believe that these headwinds are short term in nature. There are adjustments to a period of variability.

And we expect contribution of the EP market -- our EP portfolio to our above-market performance in 2027 and beyond. I do want to highlight that the 2 products that we had previously discussed, we are not counting on any contribution of those 2 products for our growth in 2027. But we believe that our EP portfolio in general as a whole will be a contributor to our growth above market in 2027 and beyond.

Nathan Treybeck: Great. And to your response to Rich's question, it seems like you risk-adjusted other parts of the C&V portfolio outside of EP. Can you just talk about the trends you're seeing in those markets? Is there anything specific you would call out?

Payman Khales: Yes, nothing that I would call out specifically, Nathan. This is in recognition that we've gone this period of somewhat volatility. Obviously, in the third quarter, we had an event with 3 products that had an adoption challenge. These products that we're talking about is more, we believe, an adjustment to the normalization of the market. We wanted to make sure that we were prudent that we were more measured and further risk-adjusted our portfolio still within a balanced view to minimize further risk of erosion in the event as a normalization continues, there could be some other adjustments. Now I do want to continue to highlight that we believe that our markets continue to grow at 4% to 6%.

We expect to get to 4% to 6% in the fourth quarter. And with the product launches that we have and the exit rate, we expect to get back to 200 basis points in 2027.

Operator: Our next question comes from Andrew Cooper with Raymond James.

Andrew Cooper: Maybe first, you talked about sort of a broader breadth of kind of challenged areas right now within EP. And yet you still talk about the end markets and the EP markets, in particular, still growing like you thought. So what's driving this mismatch? What gives you confidence that this is short term and not something that's a little bit more structural? And kind of how do you think about that at a higher level?

Payman Khales: Sure. Andrew, the -- maybe to preface my answer, I would just highlight the fact that we are in the supply chain of our customers. So what that means is that what we sell to our customers are things that likely go into their production sometime 1 to 3 quarters ahead. So there's a little bit of a difference in terms of what our customers sell into market and how they forecast on us. And there's a little bit of a variability there.

Our customers sell products on a regular basis, and they adjust, if you will, their forecast on us based on what they see happening in their business, how much product they have on hand, what is their production plans, et cetera, et cetera. So if there is a little bit of a variability, that is normal in normal times, I would call it. This is the reason why we typically point to a rolling 4-quarter look for our business because it takes away, it smooths out some of those potential lumpiness as customers adjust their production needs and then put it on us.

This adjustment, we believe, is a little bit unprecedented because of the very rapid change in the EP market caused by the disruption of PFA. Our customers have tried to make sure over the past couple of years, understandably, that they have all products on hand to make sure that they can maximize their opportunities depending on what their customers and physicians use. Well, now the market is normalizing. The growth rates have normalized a little bit. The market itself has stabilized. So the visibility has become clear. And we believe this to be an adjustment to the order patterns, which we believe is onetime and short term.

We don't expect it to be something that will continue in the long term.

Andrew Cooper: Okay. So maybe just a quick follow-up on that and then tag on a second question. Sounds like maybe you're pointing to some of this might be inventory management at the customer level as they do sort of mature into that more stable environment. Is that a fair takeaway from what you just said? And then secondly, maybe for you and Diron as well. But last quarter, you talked about continuing to spend, continuing your plans sort of regardless of some of these near-term headwinds. Has any of that changed at all? How do you think about the spend and the development work, et cetera, that you have in mind moving forward?

And what would have to happen to change that if the view hasn't changed yet?

Payman Khales: Yes, sure. So let me -- on your first part of the question, whether there's inventory, yes, there's some. So I think that's likely some of that. I think maybe -- let me start the answer to your second question, and then I'll ask Diron to chime in a little bit. We have a strong pipeline. We continue to invest in our business. We continue to expect to get back to strong performance in 2027 and beyond. So we want to make sure that although we are very -- in a very disciplined fashion, managing our costs that we're not making large changes, if you will, in that to protect our future growth.

But I'm going to have Diron chime in and add some more to that.

Diron Smith: Yes. So Andrew, thank you for the follow-up call -- a follow-up question. Yes. As Payman mentioned, we're continuing to maintain our disciplined cost management. We shared previously that we were not going to make any structural changes to the business given the lower sales volume and the return to market growth and the 200 basis points above growth in 2027. I would say, philosophically, that is still aligned. But we are looking to be more aggressive on the cost actions and the disciplined cost management but still ensuring that we're not going to damage the ability to return to market growth and the above market.

So we are looking to be more aggressive, and we have included that into our forecast and outlook that we have shared.

Operator: Our next question comes from Travis Steed with Bank of America.

Travis Steed: I wanted to go back on the EP market comments. You were talking about the market was north of 20%, now it's kind of mid- to high teens. But I think a lot of the slowdown has been kind of revenue per procedure, at least that's what we thought at least and would think you're more exposed to volume. And I don't know, like are customers expecting volume in the EP market to slow more from here? I'm curious what kind of volume growth does your 2027 guide assume at this point?

Payman Khales: Travis, you are correct that in the past couple of years, a lot of the growth in the market has been because of the price as PFA products have kind of taken over a little bit at a higher price in the market at the OEM level, and it's a little bit less for us. You are correct there that price has been a big factor in the market growth. And the 15% to, I would say, the mid- to high teens that I talked about that our customers talk about. But obviously, that also takes into account their ASPs and their average sale prices. So there is an element of price there.

Specific to your question about procedure volumes, yes, procedure volumes are a little less than that, but we still see them as being very strong. Somewhere in the -- close to the high single digits to low double digits, 10% to 12% is kind of what we see procedure volumes. So we consider that to be strong, and we expect it to continue to be strong.

Travis Steed: And kind of the follow-up question on inflation kind of coming back to investors' minds again after 2022. I'm just curious if you could remind us how you guys have managed inflation, how you expect to manage inflation, expecting the impact from here, kind of what your -- what kind of things you're exposed to that we can watch from a macro perspective?

Payman Khales: Sure. Some of the things that I can point to, obviously, the conflict in the Middle East is causing some inflation across the board. I mean I will start maybe with one of the obvious areas, which is fuel prices. It's relatively limited for us, Travis, in terms of impact. The majority of our customers, because they have strong logistics in place, they pick up product from our manufacturing facilities. So our exposure to fuel prices, if you will, is limited. We are very closely watching our supply chain for 2 things, obviously, for inflation, as you pointed out, but also for any potential disruptions.

We believe that the potential disruption is minimal, and we don't see a risk of disruption at this point. And the inflation that we see is not something that is material for our outlook and that we believe it is manageable. So it is not a source of concern for us at this time.

Operator: Our next question comes from Joanne Wuensch with Citi.

Joanne Wuensch: Looks like a lot of attention has been paid to EP for good reason. But I'm curious what you're seeing in the CRM and neuromod side of the business and how you're seeing that progress?

Payman Khales: Yes. No problem. Joanne, our CRM business is performing well. In fact, in the first quarter, our CRM came slightly ahead of expectations. So it continues to perform well. Our neuromod business, as you know, and as we've talked about, is affected in 2026, primarily by a reduction of the one product. So obviously, that has given us some headwinds in 2026. But -- so our neuromod business is expected to be softer in 2026. While we continue to expect neuromod to grow, for example, our emerging customers with PMA products, those products are primarily in the neuromod space.

And although we've had a few quarters of softening, we still expect that portfolio to contribute -- to grow at 15% to 20% in that horizon of 3 to 5 years that we have provided previously.

Operator: Our next question comes from Suraj Kalia with Oppenheimer.

Suraj Kalia: So Payman, I just want to go back to the fundamental question at hand. In your comments, you talked about the attractiveness of med tech markets, normalization in second half, the Board's confidence in the company's strategy. So Payman, the timing of the strategic review seems a little bit hard to digest, especially given where the stock is. Can you help us thread the needle why now? What's driving this? I understand the outside interest, but just if you could just help us understand the different moving parts here.

Payman Khales: Sure. Happy to do that, Suraj. So yes, I would like to reiterate that both the Board, management and myself have strong confidence in our strategy, in our pipeline and the future of the company. Our Board has a fiduciary responsibility to always make sure that we are maximizing shareholder value. And although we believe that the strategy that we have is we can do that. Given the heightened interest that we've had in recent months, we believe and our Board believes that now is a good time to explore those strategic alternatives to see whether there is an opportunity to maximize value for shareholders.

The outcome of that exercise could be something, some sort of a transaction or could be a determination that our stand-alone strategy is the best way to generate value for shareholders. This is the reason for doing this now is because of the heightened interest that we have received in recent months.

Suraj Kalia: Got it. Diron, one question for you. I'll hop back in queue. What percent of your costs would you say are fixed versus variable? And I mean company-wide. Part of the reason I ask is if the Iran war is prolonged and the economic uncertainty lingers, what switches can you turn off temporarily? And then by the same token, how long does it take to turn them on again? Just trying to understand how to model it given the macro level dynamics that are going on.

Diron Smith: Yes. Thank you, Suraj. Yes. Look, when you look at our overall footprint as a manufacturer, certainly, we have an amount of fixed cost in our OpEx level, both in the structural elements of supporting the organization. There's a bit of discretionary costs in there, but I would say the OpEx is a highly fixed portion of the business. And then certainly, in gross margins, you're going to have a mix of variable costs between your direct material, your direct labor as well as in your fixed infrastructure for the manufacturing footprint. As an example, rent, repairs and maintenance, utilities, things of that sort.

So I think you got to -- you kind of have to look at the fixed versus variable structure when you kind of look at those splits to do the modeling aspects of it. When it relates to dynamics such as conflict in the Middle East or other areas, we look to manage the variable costs very, very closely with our volumes, our sales volume, and that's how we've been managing through this dynamic as well. I think when you look at the sales profile, one of the key things is understanding whether you believe that to be a more longer-term impact or call it, 1 quarter.

We've talked about some of the variability that we see at the CDMO on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Our products are not simple products, right? They're complex, which is why we bring great value to our customers. And so as a result, there's a training element for direct labor. So there's an element where that is not turned off and on, on a dime, right? You got to make sure you spend the right time to get the labor trained. And so as you look at the individual quarter variability, that's where we're able to leverage that workforce and look at that.

So I think hopefully, that helps you understand a little bit of the nuances of as a complex manufacturer, some of the elements that we have.

Operator: Thank you again for joining us today. You can access the replay of this call as well as the presentation on Integer's investor website at integer.net. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

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