AI. He brings a deep understanding of technology and AI and his leadership of our enterprise AI vision and long-term technology roadmap will be key in accelerating innovation across Emerson and positioning the company for continued growth. Please turn to slide four. End market demand is robust, supported by secular trends and our growth verticals, a meaningful investment in automation. Underlying orders grew 7% in the third quarter, with broad-based growth across all business groups led by software and systems, which was up 10%. Demand was strongest in North America and Asia, and I'll discuss demand trends in more detail on the next slide. Everson delivered an outstanding third quarter with sales, margin expansion, earnings, and cash all exceeding expectations. Underlying sales grew 6%, led by sustained momentum in test and measurement, and in our ovation business, both up 23%. Overall, our growth verticals were up 27%, led by Semiconductor and Power, which both saw significant growth. Adjusted segment EBITDA margin expanded 140 basis points to 28.5%, and adjusted earnings per share grew 13% to $1.71, above the top of our guidance. Annual contract value of our software grew 9% year over year and ended the quarter at $1.68 billion. While the situation in the Middle East remains dynamic, the resilient efforts by our teams and customers drove a better than expected performance in the quarter relative to our reduced expectations. The demand environment in the Middle East is constructive with repair work underway. Our field service engineers are now operating at pre-conflict levels, but customer operational capacity remains approximately 75%. Large projects are moving forward, and we are seeing new opportunities emerge across the energy chain to support energy security and resiliency in the region. Emerson's customer relationships and strong local presence position us well to capture the near-term investment priorities, pipelines, and alternative export routes to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz. The long-term capital outlook is robust, and we remain confident in the growth potential of the Middle East. Lastly, the year is shaping up largely as expected, with a meaningful second-half step-up in organic growth in a slightly better Middle East than what we forecast in May. We are raising our four-year guidance, reflecting strong third-quarter results and healthy demand trends. We are raising sales growth expectations to 5%, with underlying growth of 3.5%. Adjusted segment EBITDA margin is still expected to be approximately 28%, and we are raising our adjusted EPS guide to $6.55. Through the third quarter, Emerson completed $898 million of share repurchases, and we remain committed to returning approximately $2.2 billion of capital to shareholders this fiscal year. Please turn to slide five. Underlying orders grew 7% in the third quarter, with broad-based demand across the portfolio as customers are investing in automation to enhance productivity, reliability, and resilience in their operations. North America and Asia drove the growth, led by the continued strength in the U.S., India, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Demand in Europe and China remained soft, but showed signs of improvement in the quarter. Test and measurement orders growth of 19% exceeded expectations, with semiconductor up 70%, and double-digit growth in aerospace and defense, and the portfolio business. We are seeing a continuation of the unprecedented investment in power generation, with orders in our ovation business up 31%. electrification is also driving exceptional activity in grid modernization and acv in aspen tech's digital grid management suite was up 28 percent our project funnel grew 1.2 billion dollars to 12.4 billion dollars up eight percent year over year secular tailwinds are supportive of sustained capital activity in our growth verticals, which were up $1 billion sequentially. Power was up $450 million from the second quarter and now accounts for $3 billion of the funnel. The power generation build-out is accelerating with substantial demand for both utility and behind-the-meter power. The need for more stringent cybersecurity and critical infrastructure is also leading customers to accelerate retrofit and upgrade programs. The LNG funnel grew $350 million to $2.2 billion, and we see resilient momentum across the Americas and the Middle East, reinforcing the demand trajectory we outlined at our investor day last November. In the third quarter, Emerson won approximately $400 million from the funnel. 80% came from our growth verticals, and I want to highlight a few key wins. First, Emerson was selected to retrofit control systems for a 2.1 gigawatt power plant for CFE, Mexico's largest power producer and national utility. Emerson will deploy its industry-leading ovation control system, which was selected for our proven ability to execute complex retrofits within accelerated timelines. This modernization will enhance plant reliability and support CFE in meeting Mexico's growing power generation demand. Next, Emerson was chosen by China Nuclear Power Engineering Company, the design firm for the new Waolong-1 pressurized water reactor in Guangdong province, which will add 2.4 gigawatts to China's nuclear installed base. Emerson will supply pressurizer pilot-operated safety valves, One of the most critical valve applications to ensure overpressure protection of the primary circuit. We were selected based upon our strong application expertise, nuclear qualifications, and our local presence and support. Lastly, Emerson will provide NI semiconductor test systems for a leading semiconductor manufacturer based in Taiwan. Emerson's solution improves test accuracy and consistency.
