Fortive forecasts lower-than-expected 2025 profit on sluggish product demand

(Reuters) – Industrial products maker Fortive on Friday forecast annual profit and revenue below Wall Street estimates, anticipating sluggish demand for its products.

Shares of the Everett, Washington-based company, which makes industrial measurement equipment and software-enabled automation used in various industries, fell more than 6% in premarket trading following the results.

The company expects 2025 adjusted earnings in the range of $4 to $4.12 per share, below analysts’ average estimate of $4.14, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It projected annual revenue of about $6.23 billion to $6.35 billion, compared to estimates of $6.49 billion.

The company forecast adjusted earnings of 83 cents to 86 cents per share for the first quarter of 2025. Analysts on average expected 91 cents.

Fortive, which announced last September its plans to spin off its Precision Technologies segment, said on Friday it was planning to complete the divestiture as early as the third quarter of this year.

The company had previously expected to complete the spinoff by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Fortive reported adjusted profit of $1.17 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024, beating estimates of $1.12.

Its quarterly sales rose 2.3% to $1.62 billion from a year earlier, in line with estimates.

(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)