“Note full-year operating margin is up 30 basis points, which is within the range of our long-term margin expansion expectation of about 30 to 50 basis points per year.”

In context

“especially the euro. I expect this trend to continue into 2026, which we'll discuss later with guidance. Excluding FX, underlying sales increased 3%, from 2% pricing and 1% volumes. The 2% price increase aligned with globally weighted inflation after considering APAC challenges associated with helium and China deflationary conditions. Volume growth was driven by project startups in the Americas and APAC, as base volume growth in the Americas was more than offset by continued industrial softness in EMEA. Sequentially, volumes were flat as normal seasonal declines were offset by project startups. Operating profit at $2.6 billion was up 4% from the prior year and resulted in a 29.5% margin. The quarter margin dilution attributed to the timing of other income, which was down over $30 million. Note full-year operating margin is up 30 basis points, which is within the range of our long-term margin expansion expectation of about 30 to 50 basis points per year. EPS of $4.20 increased 6%, and the lower share count more than offset the impact of a higher ETR. Note, we stepped up share repurchases in the fourth quarter to $1.4 billion as we saw an attractive buying opportunity from the stock decline. You can see the 17% growth in CapEx led by spending for the record project backlog. This trend, coupled with the increased acquisitions, has led to more capital-intensive growth, which negatively affected ROC. This was anticipated as I expect this metric to remain in the low to mid-20% range for the next few years. Slide five provides more details on capital management. Operating cash flow exceeded $3 billion in the fourth quarter from stronger collections and inventory management. As mentioned in prior calls, operating cash flow is seasonally stronger”