Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Good morning, my name is Regina and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the ITW's fourth quarter and full year earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, press star one a second time. For those participating in the Q&A, you will have the opportunity to ask one question, and if needed, one follow-up question. Thank you. Erin Linehan, Vice President of Investor Relations, you may begin the conference.

Thank you, Regina. Good morning, and welcome to our ITW's fourth quarter 2025 conference call. I'm joined by our President and CEO, Chris O'Herlihy, and Senior Vice President and CFO, Michael Larson. During today's call, we will discuss ITW's fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results and provide guidance for full year 2026. Slide two is a reminder that this presentation contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's 2024 Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the SEC for more detail about important risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. This presentation uses certain non-GAAP measures, and a reconciliation of those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is contained in the press release. Please turn to slide three, and it's now my pleasure to turn the call over to our President and CEO, Chris O'Herlihy.

Chris? Thank you, Erin, and good morning, everyone. As you saw in our press release this morning, ITW delivered a solid finish to the year. In the fourth quarter, we outperformed our underlying end markets with revenue growth of more than 4% and delivered a 7% increase in gap EPS to $2.72. Through disciplined operational execution, we expanded operating income and margins to record levels. Starting with the top line, organic growth of 1.3% marked our best quality performance of the year. Overall Q4 demand improved as reflected in higher than normal sequential improvement of 4% from Q3. In addition to market outperformance, the ITW team continued to execute at a high level, resulting in operating income of $1.1 billion, an increase of 5%. Segment margins were 27.7%, up 120 basis points, with 140 basis point contribution from enterprise initiatives. Looking back on a challenging external environment in 2025, the ITW team delivered another year of robust financial performance, We consistently outperformed our markets, solidly improved profitability, and made meaningful progress on our next phase key strategic priorities. Throughout the year, we remained laser-focused on building above-market organic growth fueled by customer-backed innovation, or CBI, into a defining ITW strength. We are pleased to have achieved 2.4% CBI-fueled revenue growth in 2025, a 40 basis point improvement. as we track toward our 2030 goal of 3% plus. Furthermore, I'm encouraged by a key leading indicator of CBI contribution or patent filings, which increased by 9% last year following an 18% increase in 2024. Turning to guidance, we enter 2026 with solid momentum. Per our usual approach, our organic growth projection of 1 to 3% reflects current demand levels adjusted for seasonality. we are well positioned to capitalize on any further improvement in the macro environment. Our EPS guidance midpoint of $11.20 represents 7% growth, and we expect operating margin expansion of about 100 basis points powered by enterprise initiatives. Our 2026 forecast ensures we remain firmly on track to deliver on our 2030 performance goals. In closing, I want to sincerely thank our global ITW colleagues for their unwavering dedication to serving our customers and executing our strategy with excellence each and every day. With that, I'll turn the call over to Michael to provide more detail on the quarter and our guidance for 2026. Michael. Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone.