Forensic Analysis · Industrial & Scientific Instruments · as of Nov 8, 2026
Fortive Corp (FTV)
A forensic read on Fortive Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
2.9
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
7.0%
ROE
1.9%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Fortive Corp earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.9, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
5.2%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 5.2% in the latest fiscal year and steady across FY2023–FY2025, inside a 1.3-point range. After-tax operating profit was $517M in FY2023 and $637M in FY2025, with operating income at 14.7% of revenue in FY2023, 17.6% in FY2024 and 17.3% in FY2025. The capital base behind it went from $13.2B in FY2023 to $12.2B in FY2025 (-8%), while the revenue it carried went from $3.9B to $4.2B.
174% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $1.7B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 174% of free cash flow. That is $724M (74%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $438M over FY2025, while total debt fell $501M — $438M of the $724M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $72M from shares issued; net cash used in investing activities of $135M; net cash used in financing activities of $1.4B. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $117M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 186%.
-13%
FY2024→FY2025
Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~13% in FY2025 (from FY2024). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$4.16B
Revenue Growth YoY+1.9%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+3.1%
Net Margin13.9%
Free Cash Flow$978.1M
Return on Equity7.0%
Debt / Equity0.50x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Fortive Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?