Fortive (NYSE:FTV) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Fortive (NYSE:FTV) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The technology company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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%

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

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 22nd were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 22nd. Fortive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Fortive from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Fortive from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fortive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.00.

Fortive announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 4th that allows the company to buyback 20,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Peter C. Underwood sold 47,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $2,891,941.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 87,780 shares in the company, valued at $5,337,901.80. This represents a 35.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTV. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Fortive by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,733 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortive by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,514 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortive by 246.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fortive by 7.8% during the third quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fortive by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.