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Fortive Corporation (FTV)

Technology Balanced

Fortive is a behind-the-scenes industrial technology company that makes the precision tools, software, and sensors used to keep factories and labs running smoothly.

$59.21

Is Fortive Corporation a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Fortive is a behind-the-scenes industrial technology company that makes the precision tools, software, and sensors used to keep factories and labs running smoothly.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price+11.5%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range+25% past year
$59.21
Low $46.34High $64.56
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Fortive Corporation
$1,115+12%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$18.05B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
3.07M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$57.61 – $59.41
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$46.34 – $64.56
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
31.0
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
0.4%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.98
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.98
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +3% past week · ▲ +25% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Becoming a dominant player in industrial software

The bear case

Technological obsolescence of core hardware

What does Fortive Corporation do?

Fortive operates like the 'plumbing' of the modern industrial world, providing essential equipment for testing, measuring, and monitoring complex systems. Sales of these high-tech tools and software subscriptions to businesses in sectors like healthcare and manufacturing keep the lights on. What really matters here is whether they can turn their high profit margins into actual earnings growth, since recent figures show a dip in profits despite steady revenue.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on income and momentum, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 49Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 53Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 37Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 55Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 63
Quick checks
What's strong
  • High gross margins suggest strong pricing power
  • Essential role in critical industrial and healthcare infrastructure
  • Steady revenue growth indicates a stable customer base
What to watch
  • Economic slowdowns often lead to reduced industrial spending
  • Competition from other technology and engineering firms
  • Integration risks from acquiring other businesses

What do Fortive Corporation's numbers mean?

P/E
36.4
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's current profit; a higher number suggests investors expect significant growth in the future.
Gross margin
63.3%
This tells us that for every pound of sales, the company keeps over 63 pence after paying for the direct costs of making their products.
Revenue growth
7.7%
This is the percentage increase in the total money coming in from sales compared to the same time last year.
Dividend yield
0.4%
This is the annual cash payout to shareholders as a percentage of the share price, which is currently quite small.

How much money does Fortive Corporation make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$280.62M$561.25M$841.88M$1.12BQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
63.2%
Net margin
12.4%
Return on equity
7.3%

Does Fortive Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - Fortive Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 0.4% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

When does Fortive Corporation report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Fortive Corporation is next scheduled to report on about 2026-10-28 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-07-29$0.71$0.74Beat +5%
2026-04-30$0.64$0.70Beat +9%
2026-02-04$0.84$0.90Beat +7%
2025-10-29$0.57$0.68Beat +19%
2025-07-30$0.59$0.58Missed -2%
2025-05-01$0.85$0.85In line

Across the last 6 quarters here, Fortive Corporation came in ahead of what analysts expected 4 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

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What are the scenarios for Fortive Corporation?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$66$59$48today · $59▲ Bull · $64• Base · $59▼ Bear · $55in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Stronger demand for industrial automation tools
Base
-2% to +2%Steady performance in line with current trends
Bear
-5% to -10%Slower manufacturing activity impacting sales

What are the pros and cons of Fortive Corporation?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • High gross margins suggest strong pricing power
  • Essential role in critical industrial and healthcare infrastructure
  • Steady revenue growth indicates a stable customer base
The catch3
  • Recent earnings growth has been negative
  • Low dividend yield may not appeal to income-focused investors
  • High current P/E ratio suggests high expectations from the market
Key risks3
  • Economic slowdowns often lead to reduced industrial spending
  • Competition from other technology and engineering firms
  • Integration risks from acquiring other businesses
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.