“We expect slightly lower sales and revenues in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year, impacted by lower machine sales to users versus a strong comparison.”

In context

“s I mentioned earlier, our full year expectations for adjusted operating profit margin and adjusted profit per share remain unchanged compared to our last earnings call. We continue to expect adjusted operating profit margin to be above the top end of the target range. In addition, we are increasing our expectations for ME&T free cash flow for the year, which we now anticipate to be near the top of our $5 billion to $10 billion target range. To assist you with your modeling for the full year, we now anticipate CapEx of around $2 billion and restructuring costs of approximately $400 million. Our expectation for the global annual effective tax rate, excluding discrete items, remains at 22.5%. Turning to Slide 17, I'll provide a few comments on the fourth quarter, starting with the top-line. We expect slightly lower sales and revenues in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year, impacted by lower machine sales to users versus a strong comparison. On machine dealer inventory, our planning assumptions include the expectation that dealers will reduce their inventories in the fourth quarter while balancing their need to be prepared for 2025. The magnitude of the decline for machine dealer inventory is expected to be less than the $1.4 billion decrease we saw in the fourth quarter of 2023. For perspective, we expect machine dealer inventory to end the year around the same level as year-end 2023. Also, the ongoing benefit of our services initiatives is expected to positively impact sales in the fourth quarter. By segment, in the fourth quarter, compared to the prior year, we anticipate a sales decrease in Construction Industries. This is impacted by lower sales to users, which Jim mentioned, along with unfavorable price realization. In”