Fortive
Fortive's revenue rose 1.9% to $4.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 17.3%, down from 17.6% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $978 million, down 32.1%. It paid out $1.7 billion in dividends and buybacks, 174% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 5.2%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share fell 4.1% a year and net income 4.4% a year, while buybacks cut the share count by 4%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Fortive yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Fortive's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Fortive's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $978M, net cash of −$2.8B at December 31, 2025 and 335 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Fortive: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -10.6% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 9% for a business of moderate risk (Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $60.78
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
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- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Fortive's earnings per share of $1.67 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.7×, the middle of Fortive's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Industrials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 10%, 9% and 8%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $60.78
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Fortive's P/E at the last close
- 36.4×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| FortiveFTV | $60.78 | $1.67 | 36.4× |
| Lincoln ElectricLECO | $258.65 | $10.02 | 25.8× |
| Valmont IndustriesVMI | $428.52 | $25.62 | 16.7× |
| Mueller IndustriesMLI | $54.37 | $3.43 | 15.9× |
| PentairPNR | $55.22 | $4.09 | 13.5× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 819 | 709 | 1,889 | 813 | 376 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 3,959 | 3,251 | 3,646 | 3,707 | 3,206 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 3,140 | 2,542 | 1,757 | 2,894 | 2,830 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 2.6x | 1.8x | 1.8x | 2.5x | 2.4x |
| Debt to equity | 0.4x | 0.3x | 0.3x | 0.4x | 0.5x |
| Interest coverage | 7.9x | 10.0x | 4.7x | 4.7x | 6.0x |
| Current ratio | 0.7x | 0.9x | 2.0x | 1.2x | 0.7x |
| Quick ratio | 0.5x | 0.7x | 1.8x | 1.0x | 0.6x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought Fortive shares on the open market, and 3 insiders sold $6.9 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2026 | Peter C UnderwoodSVP - Chief Legal Officer | Sold | 8,662 | $61.59 | $533,493 | Form 4 |
| May 4, 2026 | Peter C UnderwoodSVP - Chief Legal Officer | Sold | 47,557 | $60.81 | $2.9 million | Form 4 |
| Feb 18, 2026 | Kate MitchellDirector | Sold | 7,131 | $58.34 | $416,023 | Form 4 |
| Nov 10, 2025 | Peter C UnderwoodSVP - Chief Legal Officer | Sold | 58,133 | $51.28 | $3.0 million | Form 4 |
| Oct 31, 2025 | Stacey A. WalkerSVP - Chief People Officer | Sold | 2,192 | $50.35 | $110,367 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | 7 of 9 | 6 of 9 | 5 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −3.0% | −4.1% | −3.5% |
Compare
Put Fortive side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortive | FY25 | 1.9% | 17.3% | 23.5% | 5.7% | 2.4x | 5 | |
| Pentair | FY25 | 2.3% | 20.5% | 17.9% | 14.0% | 1.6x | 9 | Compare |
| Mueller Industries | FY25 | 10.9% | 22.9% | 16.4% | 40.3% | −1.4x | 6 | Compare |
| Valmont Industries | FY25 | 0.7% | 10.1% | 7.6% | 17.9% | 1.2x | 7 | Compare |
| Lincoln Electric | FY25 | 5.6% | 17.0% | 12.6% | 24.5% | 1.0x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 5,378 | 5,756 | 6,453 | 4,564 | 4,634 | 5,255 | 5,826 | 3,914 | 4,081 | 4,159 |
| Revenue growth | −13.0% | 7.0% | 12.1% | −29.3% | 1.5% | 13.4% | 10.9% | −32.8% | 4.3% | 1.9% |
| Gross profit | 2,686 | 2,921 | 2,186 | 2,483 | 2,608 | 3,007 | 3,363 | 2,477 | 2,619 | 2,641 |
| Research and development | 351 | 369 | 278 | 320 | 321 | 355 | 402 | 237 | 251 | 259 |
| Operating income | 1,062 | 1,143 | 645 | 444 | 539 | 813 | 987 | 574 | 716 | 720 |
| Net income | 872 | 1,044 | 2,914 | 739 | 1,613 | 608 | 755 | 866 | 833 | 579 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 2.51 | 2.96 | 8.21 | 1.97 | 4.49 | 1.63 | 2.10 | 2.43 | 2.36 | 1.73 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 347 | 353 | 351 | 340 | 359 | 352 | 361 | 356 | 353 | 335 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 1,137 | 1,176 | 1,344 | 1,271 | 1,437 | 961 | 1,303 | 1,354 | 1,527 | 1,083 |
| Capital expenditure | 110 | 111 | 70 | 74 | 76 | 50 | 96 | 79 | 86 | 105 |
| Free cash flow | 1,027 | 1,065 | 1,274 | 1,197 | 1,361 | 911 | 1,207 | 1,275 | 1,441 | 978 |
| Dividends paid | 48 | 97 | 97 | 94 | 94 | 98 | 100 | 102 | 111 | 92 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 443 | 273 | 890 | 1,610 |
| Acquisitions | 190 | 1,557 | 2,779 | 3,940 | 40 | 2,570 | 13 | 96 | 4 | 26 |
| Stock-based compensation | 41 | 44 | 41 | 52 | 63 | 77 | 94 | 94 | 90 | 117 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 803 | 962 | 1,178 | 1,205 | 1,825 | 819 | 709 | 1,889 | 813 | 376 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 3,358 | 4,056 | 3,430 | 6,326 | 4,230 | 3,959 | 3,251 | 3,646 | 3,707 | 3,206 |
| Total assets | 8,190 | 10,501 | 12,906 | 17,439 | 16,052 | 16,466 | 15,891 | 16,912 | 17,016 | 11,738 |
| Total liabilities | 5,499 | 6,692 | 6,293 | 10,039 | 7,079 | 6,948 | 6,202 | 6,586 | 6,820 | 5,277 |
| Shareholders' equity | 2,688 | 3,790 | 6,596 | 7,387 | 8,964 | 9,512 | 9,683 | 10,319 | 10,189 | 6,453 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 49.9% | 50.8% | 33.9% | 54.4% | 56.3% | 57.2% | 57.7% | 63.3% | 64.2% | 63.5% |
| Operating margin | 19.7% | 19.9% | 10.0% | 9.7% | 11.6% | 15.5% | 16.9% | 14.7% | 17.6% | 17.3% |
| Net margin | 16.2% | 18.1% | 45.2% | 16.2% | 34.8% | 11.6% | 13.0% | 22.1% | 20.4% | 13.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 19.1% | 18.5% | 19.8% | 26.2% | 29.4% | 17.3% | 20.7% | 32.6% | 35.3% | 23.5% |
| Return on capital | 14.9% | 15.5% | 7.1% | 3.3% | 4.3% | 6.1% | 6.9% | 4.5% | 5.4% | 5.7% |
| Return on equity | 22.2% | 32.2% | 56.1% | 10.6% | 19.7% | 6.6% | 7.9% | 8.7% | 8.1% | 7.0% |
| Return on assets | 11.3% | 11.2% | 24.9% | 4.9% | 9.6% | 3.7% | 4.7% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 4.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 2.1x | 2.4x | 2.8x | 6.5x | 2.6x | 2.6x | 1.8x | 1.8x | 2.5x | 2.4x |