You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: The Toro Company delivered record third quarter results.
We continue to benefit from robust demand in both our Professional and Residential segments and our operations team went above and beyond to execute even as global supply chain challenges affected availability.
Our employees together with our channel partners, kept a sharp focus on serving the needs of our customers.
As a result, total net sales for the third quarter were up 16% year-over-year.
Professional segment net sales increased 15%, marking the second quarter in a row of double-digit growth for this segment.
We saw continued strength in landscape contractor and golf markets worldwide.
Higher pre-season shipments of BOSS snow and ice management products, and strong demand for our rental and specialty construction equipment and Ventrac products.
Our lineup of innovative products, combined with strong business confidence fueled robust demand.
Residential segment net sales were up 23% and that comparison is on top of a 38% growth rate in the third quarter of last year.
Growth in the quarter was driven by strong retail demand for our zero-turn and walk power mowers.
Customers also continued to respond favorably to our all-season Flex-Force 60-volt product lineup, which offers power and durability with no compromise on performance.
The recent actions we've taken to introduce innovative new products, refresh marketing, and expand mass retail distribution continue to strengthen the Toro brand and drive positive results.
As noted last quarter, we expected supply chain constraints and inflationary pressures to escalate at a rate faster than could be fully offset in the near term, through pricing and other mitigating actions.
Despite these challenges, both segments delivered solid earnings growth in the third quarter, Professional earnings up 7.6% and Residential earnings up 10.5%.
I'll now touch on some of the key themes for the quarter.
First is the robust and broad-based demand, we continue to see across our markets worldwide.
This has been driven by consumer and business confidence as well as customer investment priorities focused on outdoor environments.
We continue to capitalize on these drivers with our commitment to investing in new product development, our best-in-class distribution, and our talented teams.
Second, the continued escalation of global supply chain and inflationary challenges.
This included component availability constraints as well as material freight and wage related cost headwinds.
Our operations team took extraordinary steps to enable us to source and produce as effectively as possible in this incredibly dynamic environment.
We also continue to execute on our productivity and synergy initiatives, demonstrated disciplined expense control and implemented market align pricing actions.
Regardless of how long these pressures persist, we remain focused on managing the factors within our control.
Third, in line with general economic trends we saw an increasingly challenging labor market, including wage pressures and workforce availability limitations in some of our manufacturing location.
Across the enterprise, we have talented and dedicated teams committed to serving our customers.
We're focused on having workforce and other resources in place to put ourselves in the best position to meet demand and deliver our products to the right places at the right time.
Our innovative product portfolio, outstanding team, and deep relationships with our channel partners and end customers set us apart and position us well for the long term growth.
We have the financial capacity to invest in the future and we continue to allocate capital to best drive value for all stakeholders.
This fiscal year, we've made strategic investments in key technologies, both organically and through acquisitions to advance our priority areas of alternative power, smart, connected, and autonomous.
Our healthy cash flow also has allowed us to return capital to shareholders while maintaining ample liquidity.
Looking ahead, we will continue to execute against our enterprise strategic priorities of accelerating profitable growth, driving productivity, and operational excellence and empowering people.
I'll discuss our outlook further following Renee's more detailed review of our financial results.
As Rick said, our record results for the third quarter were driven by robust demand in both our professional and residential segments.
Against the backdrop of increasing supply chain, inflation and labor pressures.
We grew net sales for the quarter by 16.2% to $976.8 million.
Reported earnings per share was $0.89 per diluted share, up from $0.82 last year and adjusted earnings per share was $0.92 per diluted share, up 12.2% from $0.82 in the prior year.
Both of our segments delivered record top and bottom line third quarter results.
Professional segment net sales were up 15.2% to $718.5 million.
This increase was driven by broad-based demand in landscape contractor, golf, snow and ice management, rental and specialty construction, and Ventrac products.
This was slightly offset by lower sales of underground construction equipment due to supply chain disruptions that impacted product availability.
Professional segment earnings for the third quarter were up 7.6% to $122.3 million.
And when expressed as a percent of net sales, decreased 120 basis points to 17%.
This decrease was largely due to higher material and freight cost, partially offset by net price realization and productivity improvements.
Residential segment net sales for the third quarter were up 23% to $252.1 million.
This increase was primarily driven by strong retail demand for zero-turn and walk power mowers.
Residential segment earnings for the quarter were up 10.5% to $31.5 million and when expressed as a percent of net sales, down 140 basis points to 12.5%.
This decrease was primarily driven by the same factors as in the Professional segment.
Turning to our operating results for the quarter.
We reported gross margin of 33.9%, a decrease of 110 basis points compared to the same period in the prior year.
Adjusted gross margin was 33.9%, down 130 basis points on a comparative basis.
These decreases were largely due to the same factors that affected Professional and Residential earnings.
SG&A expense as a percent of net sales for the quarter increased 20 basis points to 21.4%.
This increase was primarily driven by more normalized spending compared to the third quarter of last year and a legal settlement in the third quarter this year.
Operating earnings as a percent of net sales for the third quarter decreased 130 basis points to 12.5%.
Adjusted operating earnings as a percent of net sales decreased 80 basis points to 13.1%.
Interest expense was down $1.3 million for the quarter to $7 million, driven by lower debt levels and decreased interest rate.
The reported effective tax rate for the third quarter was 18% and the adjusted effective tax rate was 19.3%.
Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow.
Accounts receivable totaled $301.2 million, down 2.2% from a year ago, primarily driven by channel mix.
Inventory was essentially flat to last year at $665.6 million.
However, finished goods were significantly lower, driven by strong retail demand while working process was higher.
This was a reflection of the supply chain variability and our efforts to procure higher levels of key components when available.
Accounts payable increased 53% from last year to $411.4 million.
This was primarily due to the timing of purchases as well as more normalized spending compared to last year.
Year-to-date free cash flow was $429 million with the conversion ratio of 123%.
This positive performance was largely the result of higher earnings and lower working capital, primarily driven by higher payables.
At the end of the quarter, our liquidity remained at $1.1 million.
This included cash and cash equivalents of $535 million and full availability under our $600 million revolving credit facility.
Our cash balances are elevated from pre-pandemic levels, largely driven by our desire to ensure adequate liquidity at the onset of pandemic.
And our cash was further strengthened by the accelerated demand we're experiencing along with the related working capital impacts.
Over the past nine months, we deployed the majority of cash generated year-to-date, including the funding of our Turflynx and Left Hand Robotics acquisition, an increase in our regular dividend with $85 million paid out so far this year, the resumption of share repurchases with $177 million through the third quarter and $100 million in debt pay down.
We also increased our capital expenditure budget reflecting our commitment to invest in key technologies and ensure we have the capacity to meet future demand.
We remain disciplined in our capital allocation strategy fueled by our strong balance sheet.
Our priorities have not changed and include reinvesting in our businesses to support sustainable long-term growth both organically and through acquisition, returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and maintaining our leverage goals to support financial flexibility.
As we enter the final quarter of our fiscal year, we're benefiting from strong demand momentum and our leadership position in the markets we serve.
At the same time customer demand continues to outpace supply and production.
We're not immune to the challenges facing companies worldwide and we remain focused on serving our customers, winning in our markets and managing the factors within our control.
We previously indicated that operational headwinds would be most pronounced in the third quarter.
As a result of collective work of our team to fulfill additional demand, we were able to deliver a stronger third quarter than we had anticipated.
This resulted in lower finished goods heading into the fourth quarter.
We remain focused on procuring materials, components and other resources to accelerate the pace of production in the face of supply chain, inflation, and labor pressures.
With this backdrop, we are updating our full year fiscal 2021 guidance.
We now expect net sales growth of about 17%, up from 12% to 15% previously.
We anticipate the Professional segment growth rate will be similar to the company average, with the Residential segment exceeding the company growth rate.
Looking at profitability, we now expect overall adjusted operating earnings as a percent of net sales for the full year to be similar to fiscal 2020.
We expect professional segment operating margins to be similar to last year.
And we expect Residential margins to be down compared to last year, but still well above historical levels.
This reflects our volume leverage and strong operational performance year-to-date offset by increasing supply chain, inflation, and labor pressures.
We continue to take actions to counteract these market dynamics.
Based on current visibility, we now expect full-year adjusted earnings per share in the range of $3.53 to $3.57 per diluted share, up from our previous range of $3.45 to $3.55.
This higher earnings per share guidance reflects our strong year-to-date performance, the robust demand environment, and continued solid business execution while also taking into account the headwinds previously discussed.
All in, we remain well positioned to capitalize on this period of profitable growth as we continue to execute on our strategic long-term priorities.
The guidance Renee just discussed reflects continuing strong demand across our end markets as well as our current operational outlook.
Looking at global key demand drivers for the remainder of the fiscal year and into fiscal 2022, we are watching consumer and business confidence levels along with developments related to COVID-19, customer prioritization of investments to maintain and improve outdoor environments, a continuation of strong momentum in golf and government support and funding of infrastructure investments.
These end market factors should continue to drive strong demand in the fourth quarter and into next year.
Our biggest challenge remains our ability to produce, to meet retail demand across all of our markets given the current operating environment.
We believe constraints will begin to ease as we see improvements in key material and component availability, logistic channels and other COVID related factors.
Our operations team remains committed to doing everything reasonably possible to meet increased production requirements and grow market share in this challenging environment.
When operating constraints begin to ease, we expect to be in a better position to build field inventory from our current historically low levels.
We remain focused on driving productivity and synergies prudently managing expenses and implementing market based pricing actions as appropriate.
We are well positioned to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities with our strong cash flow, market leadership, investments in innovation and trusted relationships.
A few recent examples that highlight our commitment to innovation and relationships include for the second year in a row, a Partner of the Year Award from Tractor Supply Company, this time as omnichannel partner.
From Green Industry Pros, the selection of three of our products for their 2021 Editor's Choice Award citing innovation and utility has factors.
The three products include the Exmark 96-inch Lazer Z Diesel, the Toro Z Master 4000, and Z-Spray LTS spreader sprayer.
In August, two of our rental and specialty construction offerings received Editor's Choice Award from Rental magazine, including the Ditch Witch SK3000 full size stand-on skid steer, which offers the most power in its class and the Toro Swivel Mud Buggy with superior traction and maneuverability.
And finally, the International Sustainable Irrigation Expo recently recognized our Aqua-Traxx Azul micro-irrigation solution as new products of the year.
In addition to awards, our innovative products have been showcased at recent marquee events.
Earlier this summer, our Perrot Irrigation Systems helps keep the playing fields in top condition at many of the Euro Cup Championship sites.
In July, our irrigation and turf equipment supported Paul Larsen and his team at Royal St George's Golf Club as their expert work was on full display at the Open Championship.
And more recently, our turf and irrigation solutions helped Tokyo's Japan National Stadium and Kasumigaseki Country Club maintain pristine conditions for this summer's high-profile events.
Our mission to deliver superior innovation and customer care is deeply rooted in our purpose of helping our customers enrich the beauty, productivity and sustainability of the land.
This long-standing focus on sustainability extends to our communities where we have a strong legacy of giving back.
A few recent examples highlight this legacy.
First, close to our worldwide headquarters, we partnered with Better Futures, an organization that works to transform the lives of men post incarceration and supports Minnesota's environment.
Our donations of equipment and training resources helped further the organization's mission.
Second, on a national level, we've partnered with the American Rental Association Foundation on a new community impact project.
This initiative is improving communities across the US by rebuilding green spaces.
These are just a couple of examples of the many ways our company employees are giving back and promoting sustainability, supporting our customers, and communities as an important part of our culture and core to who we are as a company.
In closing, we are optimistic as we finished fiscal 2021 and head into 2022 while also acknowledging the continuing dynamic environment.
We believe our updated guidance appropriately reflects both the risks and the opportunities we face.
We have strong fundamentals and momentum across our businesses and are well positioned to capitalize on future growth.

user
compname reports q3 adjusted earnings per share of $0.92.
q3 adjusted earnings per share $0.92.
q3 earnings per share $0.89.
raises full-year fiscal 2021 net sales and *adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance.
sees fy 2021 adjusted earnings per share in range of $3.53 to $3.57 per diluted share.
expects fy 2021 net sales growth of about 17%, up from a range of 12% to 15% previously.

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