Fortive Corporation (FTV) — Fundamental Analysis & Key Financial Ratios

Kaplio's reading: Fortive Corporation

Updated on October 31, 2026 · accounts published on October 28, 2026

Reading of October 30, 2026: A profitable business with shrinking sales and modest returns on capital

Fortive trades at a 12-month P/E of 31.1×, its highest in a decade and 36% above its ten-year median, while revenue fell 18% over the last 12 months.

• Is Fortive expensive or cheap? Its 12-month P/E of 31.1× is the highest of the decade, 36% above its ten-year median of 22.8×, yet 3% below its sector median.
• How is the business doing? Revenue fell 18% and EPS 26% over the last 12 months, though the operating margin of 20% beats its 2014-2025 average of 18%.
• What to expect from the next earnings? Analysts expect 2026 EPS of $3.01, unchanged over 30 days, after a $0.77 beat on October 28, 2026.
• Does Fortive grow with real cash or by diluting shareholders? Share-based pay is 2.3% of revenue (fiscal 2025), but revenue per share fell 0.2% a year in 2022-2025, far below the 15% benchmark.

Is Fortive expensive or cheap?

Fortive trades at a P/E of 31.1× over the last 12 months, 36% above its ten-year median of 22.8× and at the top of a decade range that ran from 12.9× to 31.1×. It has not traded at a higher multiple of earnings at any point in the last ten years. Against peers the picture softens: the sector median P/E across 314 companies is 32.0×, so Fortive sits 3% below it. EV/EBITDA of 17.0× is 9% above its five-year average of 15.6×, inside the normal band. The shares are up 28% in 12 months, so the market is paying a decade-high multiple for shrinking earnings.

How is the business doing?

Over the last 12 months revenue fell 18% and EPS 26%. Profitability held up better: the operating margin of 20% is above both fiscal 2025 (18%) and the 2014-2025 average of 18%, and the net margin stands at 15%. Returns on capital are the weak spot. ROIC of 7.5% over the last 12 months is 0.7 points below the sector median of 8.2% across 457 companies, and it cleared 10% in only 2 of the last 10 fiscal years, with a low of 2.7% in 2019. ROE is 10.6%. Fortive protects its margins but struggles to earn high returns on the capital it invests.

What to expect from the next earnings?

Fortive reported on October 28, 2026 with EPS of $0.77 against $0.70 expected, a 9% beat, and it has topped EPS estimates in 7 of the last 8 quarters. Analysts have not moved: the 2026 EPS consensus stayed at $3.01 over the last 30 days among 10 analysts, and revenue estimates are equally flat. Of the 30 analysts covering the stock, 11 recommend buying, 17 holding and 2 selling, a cautious balance. With the P/E at a decade high, the next report needs to show that the decline in revenue and EPS is ending, since repeated beats have not lifted full-year estimates.

Does Fortive grow with real cash or by diluting shareholders?

In technology, generic ratios miss what matters: growth, pricing power and dilution from share-based pay, because a company can report profits while paying staff in new shares. Fortive passes the dilution test, with share-based pay at 2.3% of revenue in fiscal 2025, well under the 10% healthy ceiling. Pricing power looks solid, with a gross margin of 61% against a 35% hardware benchmark. Cash generation is borderline: free cash flow was 19% of revenue in fiscal 2025, against a 20% bar. Growth is where it fails. Revenue per share fell 0.2% a year over fiscal 2022-2025, far from a healthy 15%, and ROIC of 7.5% is half the 15% benchmark.

How this was prepared: the data comes from companies' official filings, collected by a professional provider, and from Kaplio's analysis engine (trailing-12-month ratios, 10 years of history and sector medians computed across US-listed companies). The text is written from that data alone, every figure is checked against it before publication, and it is reviewed when the company reports results. This is not investment advice.