The Company closed the third quarter with record sales of $2,323 million and record GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.12 and $1.09 respectively.
Sales were up 11% in US dollars and up 10% in local currencies compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Sales in the third quarter increased by 9% organically.
And sequentially, sales were up 17% in US dollars and 15% in local currencies and organically.
Breaking down sales into our two segments, the interconnect business, which comprised 96% of our sales was up 11% in US dollars and 10% in local currencies compared to the third quarter of last year.
Our cable business, which comprised 4% of our sales, was up 2% in US dollars and 5% in local currencies compared to the third quarter of last year.
Operating income was $476 million in the third quarter of 2020.
Operating margins were 20.5%, which was up a very strong 250 basis points sequentially and up 80 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2019.
From a segment standpoint, in the interconnect segment, margins were 22.4% in the third quarter of 2020, which increased from 21.7% in the third quarter of 2019 and 20% in the third quarter -- sorry, in the second quarter of 2020.
In the cable segment, margins were 10.7%, which increased from 10.2% in the third quarter of 2019 and 9.4% in the second quarter of 2020.
Interest expense for the quarter was $28 million, which was down from $30 million in the third quarter of last year.
The Company's GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2020, including excess tax benefit of $11 million associated with stock option exercises during the quarter, was 22.1% compared to 24.5% in the third quarter of 2019.
Excluding the excess tax benefit just mentioned, the Company's adjusted effective tax rate was 24.5% for both the third quarter of 2020 and 2019.
Adjusted net income of $336 million was 14% of sales in the third quarter of 2020, another confirmation of the strength of the Company's financial performance.
On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share increased by 22% to $1.12 in the third quarter of 2020 compared to $0.92 in the third quarter of 2019.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 15% to $1.09 in the third quarter of 2020 from $0.95 in the third quarter of 2019.
Orders for the quarter were $2,275 million, which was up 9% compared to the third quarter of 2019 and up 15% sequentially, resulting in a book-to-bill of 0.98 to 1.
Cash flow from operations was a strong $398 million in the third quarter or 119% of adjusted net income.
Our free cash flow was $330 million or 98% of adjusted net income.
From a working capital standpoint, inventory and accounts receivable and accounts payable were $1.4 billion, $1.9 billion and $1.1 billion respectively at the end of September.
And inventory days, days sales outstanding and payable days were 79, 72 and 61 days respectively.
During the third quarter, our cash flow from operations of $398 million, along with the proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $104 million, were used primarily to repurchase 1.9 million shares of the Company's stock for $202 million or an average price of $108, fund dividend payments of $75 million, fund net capital expenditures of $68 million, fund acquisitions of $50 million and fund net purchases of short-term investments of $9 million.
At September 30, cash and short-term investments were $1.5 billion, a majority of which is held outside of the US.
Total debt at September 30 was $3.8 billion with no maturities before the third quarter of 2021.
And net debt at September 30 was $2.4 billion.
Total cash on hand plus the remaining availability under our credit facilities was $4 billion at the end of the quarter.
And third quarter EBITDA was $568 million and our pro forma net leverage ratio was 1.2 times.
With respect to the third quarter, amid what has been clearly an unprecedented and volatile year, I'm truly proud that we at Amphenol achieved record sales and adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter, realizing levels significantly above our guidance that we issued just 90 days ago.
Sales reached $2,323 million, an increase from prior year of 11% in US dollars, 10% in local currencies and 9% organically.
We are particularly proud to have achieved a very robust 17% sequential growth from the second quarter, which was significantly higher than our original expectations.
As Craig mentioned, the Company booked $2,275 million in orders, and that represented a book-to-bill of 0.98 to 1.
Now, despite experiencing some continued operational challenges related to the pandemic, we generated excellent operating margins of 20.5% in the third quarter, and this was a full 250 basis point increase from our second quarter levels.
Just want to say that the Company's financial position remains extremely strong with our operating cash flow of $398 million, and that was particularly notable given the stronger-than-expected sequential growth from the second quarter.
And we continue to leverage that financial strength to return capital to our shareholders, both through our repurchase last quarter of 1.9 million shares of the Company's stock as well as the Board of Directors' approval of a 16% increase in our quarterly dividend that we are announcing today.
The military market represented 12% of our sales in the third quarter.
Sales in this market increased by 6% from prior year, driven in particular by growth in military vehicles, naval, space, communications and airframe applications.
Sequentially, our sales increased by a strong 30% as we recovered from the impact of production restrictions that hit certain of our facilities related to government measures implemented in the second quarter to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commercial aerospace market represented 2% of our sales in the third quarter.
Sales were down by 40%, a very significant level, as the commercial aircraft market once again experienced unprecedented declines in demand for new aircraft due to the pandemic-related disruptions to the global travel industry.
Sequentially, our sales were a bit better than expected, rising 4% from the second quarter.
Accordingly, we expect an approximately 20% sequential reduction in our sales to this market in the fourth quarter.
And for the full year 2020, we expect a roughly 35% decline from prior year due to the unprecedented demand disruptions that our customers are experiencing.
The industrial market represented 22% of our sales in the quarter.
And our sales to the industrial market exceeded our expectations, increasing by 21% in US dollars and 18% organically, a very strong performance.
Although we had expected sales to be modestly lower than the second quarter, we actually realized 11% sequential growth here in the third quarter, a very strong performance.
The automotive market represented 17% of our sales in the third quarter.
Our team's outstanding execution led to an increase in sales from prior year by 4% in US dollars and 1% organically, well ahead of our expectations.
Sequentially, our sales increased by truly significant 78% from the second quarter as our team was able to execute quickly on a recovery in demand from automotive customers in all regions.
The mobile devices market represented 16% of our sales in the quarter.
And our sales to mobile device customers increased by a stronger-than-expected 25% from prior year, driven in particular by increased sales of products incorporated into laptops, tablets and wearables, and this was offset in part by slightly lower year-over-year sales to smartphones.
Sequentially, our sales increased by a much stronger-than-expected 37%.
The mobile networks market represented 6% of our sales in the quarter.
And sales decreased as we had expected from prior year by 19% in US dollars and 21% organically, driven by lower sales to wireless operators, as well as some continued impact from the US government restrictions on certain Chinese entities that we have previously discussed.
Looking into the fourth quarter, we expect a further seasonal sales reduction of approximately 25% related to both OEMs and service providers.
The information technology and data communications market represented 21% of our sales in the quarter.
Sales in the third quarter were once again much better than we had anticipated, rising from prior year by a very strong 24% in US dollars and 21% organically.
Sequentially, sales were down by less-than-expected 10% from our extremely strong second quarter.
The broadband market represented 4% of our sales in the quarter.
Sales increased by 5% from prior year, driven by stronger demand for home installation-related equipment from broadband operators.
On a sequential basis, sales increased by a stronger-than-expected 13% as our customers continued to upgrade their networks in support of the increased demand for high-speed data.
Assuming no new material disruptions from the pandemic, as well as constant exchange rates, for the 4th quarter, we expect sales in the range of $2,160 million to $2,200 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.98 to $1.00.
This represents both sales and adjusted diluted earnings per share growth versus prior year of flat to up 2%.
Our fourth quarter guidance also represents an expectation for full-year sales of $8,333 million to $8,373 million and full year adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.59 to $3.61.
This outlook represents sales growth versus prior year of 1% to 2% and an adjusted diluted earnings per share decline of 3% to 4%.

Summary:
The Company closed the third quarter with record sales of $2,323 million and record GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.12 and $1.09 respectively.
From a segment standpoint, in the interconnect segment, margins were 22.4% in the third quarter of 2020, which increased from 21.7% in the third quarter of 2019 and 20% in the third quarter -- sorry, in the second quarter of 2020.
On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share increased by 22% to $1.12 in the third quarter of 2020 compared to $0.92 in the third quarter of 2019.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 15% to $1.09 in the third quarter of 2020 from $0.95 in the third quarter of 2019.
And we continue to leverage that financial strength to return capital to our shareholders, both through our repurchase last quarter of 1.9 million shares of the Company's stock as well as the Board of Directors' approval of a 16% increase in our quarterly dividend that we are announcing today.
Assuming no new material disruptions from the pandemic, as well as constant exchange rates, for the 4th quarter, we expect sales in the range of $2,160 million to $2,200 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.98 to $1.00.
Our fourth quarter guidance also represents an expectation for full-year sales of $8,333 million to $8,373 million and full year adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.59 to $3.61.