MULTIPLY A BY B GIVING temp MOVE temp TO C MOVE temp TO D
where temp is an intermediate result provided by the implementer.
The Enterprise COBOL Programming Guide describes the use and definition of intermediate results. One such definition says that an intermediate result will have at most 30-digits (31-digits with ARITH(EXTEND)).
So, in the example above, if A, B, C, and D are all defined as PIC S9(18), A will be multiplied by B, yielding a 36-digit result, which will be moved to the 30-digit (or 31-digit) intermediate result, temp. Then temp will be moved to C and D.