Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. Fortive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. Fortive’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortive updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.950-3.050 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Fortive’s conference call:

• Fortive raised its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $2.95–$3.05 and increased expected core revenue growth to approximately 4%, up from 2%–3% previously.
• Q2 delivered strong results, including 6.7% core revenue growth, 12% adjusted EBITDA growth, 28% adjusted EPS growth, and 29.5% adjusted EBITDA margins. Free cash flow was approximately $270 million, with trailing-12-month free cash flow exceeding $1 billion.
• Demand remained robust at Fluke, particularly in data centers, defense, APAC, and Latin America, while new products such as CertiFiber Max and AI-enabled software are contributing to growth. Healthcare consumables, services, and software also grew broadly, and capital equipment returned to growth.
• Fortive repurchased roughly $200 million of shares in Q2, bringing repurchases since the New Fortive launch to approximately 38 million shares, or 11% of shares outstanding. The company also acquired a majority stake in UV Smart to expand ASP’s disinfection portfolio.
• Gross margins declined about 100–110 basis points in both segments due primarily to unfavorable product mix and strategic growth investments. Management expects Q3 margins to be slightly below Q2 levels, while Q4 revenue and core growth will face a headwind from four fewer selling days.

Fortive Trading Down 7.9%

FTV stock traded down $5.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.04. 3,186,746 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,401,681. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Fortive has a 1-year low of $46.34 and a 1-year high of $64.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.37%.

Fortive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase 20,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total transaction of $2,891,941.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,337,901.80. This represents a 35.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortive

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Fortive by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,811 shares in the last quarter. Laurion Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Fortive during the fourth quarter worth $350,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortive in the fourth quarter valued at $274,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortive by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,829 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTV. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Fortive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Fortive from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Fortive Company Profile

Fortive Corporation (NYSE: FTV) is a diversified industrial technology company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company was created through a spin‑off from Danaher Corporation in 2016 and has since focused on building a portfolio of professional instrumentation and industrial technology businesses. In 2020 Fortive completed a further portfolio separation with the spin‑off of Vontier, concentrating Fortive’s activities on higher‑margin instrumentation, software and services.

Fortive’s operations center on professional test and measurement, sensing and monitoring, software‑enabled solutions, and lifecycle services that support industrial and commercial customers.