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Investing.com - Barclays downgraded Fortive (NYSE:FTV) from Overweight to Equalweight on Thursday, while reducing its price target to $54.00 from $58.00, citing concerns about the company’s second-half performance outlook. The industrial technology company, currently trading at $48.73 and near its 52-week low of $46.34, has seen its stock decline about 14% year-to-date. According to InvestingPro data, 13 analysts have recently revised their earnings expectations downward for the upcoming period.
The downgrade follows Fortive’s second-quarter guidance update, which Barclays believes indicates a challenging ramp-up required to achieve the midpoint of the company’s projected range. The investment bank noted that recent reports from Fortive’s industry peers have not provided evidence suggesting the guidance is conservative or more achievable. Despite these challenges, the $16.49 billion market cap company maintains impressive gross profit margins of nearly 60%.
Barclays specifically highlighted concerns about Fortive’s implied fourth-quarter sequential increase, which appears high compared to the rest of the year. The firm noted that the third quarter is showing little quarter-over-quarter improvement, unlike in 2024 when the fourth quarter represented approximately one-third of the year’s earnings.
Based on this assessment, Barclays now estimates Fortive’s earnings per share for 2025 will land at the bottom of management’s guidance range. This more cautious outlook prompted the rating downgrade and the 6.9% reduction in price target.
The rating change reflects Barclays’ shift from a positive stance on Fortive to a neutral position, indicating reduced confidence in the industrial technology company’s near-term growth trajectory amid challenging market conditions.
In other recent news, Fortive Corporation reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2025, with an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.58, slightly missing the forecasted $0.59. The company achieved revenue of $1.02 billion, which met expectations. Despite the minor EPS miss, the earnings report reflected investor concern over the shortfall. Additionally, Truist Securities downgraded Fortive from Buy to Hold, citing growth concerns. The downgrade followed Fortive’s spin-off of PT and the installation of new management. Truist also lowered its price target for Fortive from $60.00 to $55.00. These developments indicate a period of transition for Fortive, with analysts closely monitoring its growth trajectory.
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