Veralto Corp (VLTO)

Price$96.20Cached quoteAs of 2026-09-28 21:49 UTC

AI: Fair-priced

Price checkAt $99.82, Veralto looks fairly priced rather than clearly cheap or expensive.

The August 20, 2026 close was $99.82, implying about $24.8 billion of equity value using 248.4 million year-end 2025 shares. Against 2025 diluted earnings of $3.76, that is about 26.5 times earnings; against management’s 2026 adjusted earnings guide of $4.35-$4.43, it is roughly 22.5-22.9 times. 2025 free cash flow—cash left after operations and capital spending—was about $1.01 billion, so the price is about 24.5 times that cash. Those are quality-business multiples, but not obvious bargain levels.

Big pictureSteady growth and strong cash conversion support a premium, but expectations are already meaningful.

Revenue rose from $4.70 billion in 2021 to $5.50 billion in 2025, while operating income increased from $1.04 billion to $1.28 billion. Net income was less linear, falling through 2024 before rebounding 13% to $940 million in 2025. Operating cash flow reached $1.08 billion, and capital spending was only $63 million, leaving about $1.01 billion of free cash flow. Veralto also says roughly 60% of sales are recurring, which reduces cyclicality because water testing, treatment, coding, and related consumables support daily customer operations.

Business strengthCash generation, manageable leverage, and shrinking share count give owners useful downside support.

At July 3, 2026, Veralto reported $2.12 billion of cash and $3.38 billion of debt, or about $1.26 billion of net debt, modest beside annual operating profit above $1.2 billion. Capital allocation has become shareholder-friendly: the company repurchased about $434 million of stock in the first half of 2026, and supplied share data fell from 248.4 million at year-end to 245.6 million after the first quarter despite stock compensation. The main counterweight is acquisition spending and rising goodwill, which makes disciplined deal pricing increasingly important.

What could change the storyFaster organic growth would create upside, while weaker deal returns would expose the valuation.

The bull case is that Water Quality keeps compounding, recent acquisitions add recurring sales, and 2026 adjusted earnings reach the raised $4.35-$4.43 range while margins expand. The bear case is that investors are paying more than 22 times guided adjusted earnings just as debt and goodwill rise. A simple cash-flow valuation using 2025 free cash flow, 5% annual growth for ten years, a 3% long-run growth rate, and an 8% required return gives roughly $24.5 billion of equity value—near today’s market value. Higher required returns or failed acquisition synergies would lower that estimate materially.

AI: News

Cleanwater1 acquisitionVeralto agreed to buy a fast-growing water business, adding growth but raising deal-execution risk.

On August 19, 2026, Veralto agreed to acquire Cleanwater1 for $465 million, or about $452 million after estimated tax benefits. Cleanwater1 produced roughly $135 million of trailing sales, about 25% from aftermarket revenue, and had grown sales at a low-double-digit annual rate since 2023. The net price equals about 17 times adjusted operating cash earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Veralto shares rose 4.19% that day to $100.10, but timing alone does not prove the deal caused the move.

Guidance raisedSecond-quarter growth beat the earlier pace, and management raised its full-year earnings outlook.

On July 28, 2026, Veralto reported second-quarter sales of $1.474 billion, up 7.6%, with underlying sales growth of 4.2%. Net earnings were $241 million, operating cash flow was $340 million, and free cash flow was $328 million. Management raised 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $4.35-$4.43 per share and underlying sales growth guidance to 4.0%-4.5%. Shares closed at $98.83 on July 29, up only 0.37%; the mixed next-day trading means the market reaction cannot be cleanly attributed to the report.

New debt issuedA $725 million bond issue increased financial capacity, but also raised leverage before more acquisitions.

On May 27, 2026, Veralto priced $725 million of 4.85% senior notes due 2032. By July 3, total debt had risen to $3.38 billion from $2.67 billion at year-end 2025, while cash was $2.12 billion. The added funding gives Veralto flexibility for acquisitions, refinancing, and shareholder returns, but interest costs and deal discipline now matter more. This financing is especially relevant after the later Cleanwater1 agreement because additional acquisition spending can convert today’s moderate leverage into a larger valuation risk.

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Revenue

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

Net income

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

Free cash flow

2021

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2023

2024

2025

Total cash / debt

CashTotal debt

2021

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2024

2025

Financial statements

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Revenue	$5.50B	$5.19B	$5.02B	$4.87B	$4.70B
Gross profit	$3.30B	$3.10B	$2.90B	$2.76B	$2.71B
Gross margin	59.95%	59.79%	57.78%	56.67%	57.72%
Research & development	$266.0M	$253.0M	$225.0M	$217.0M	$244.0M
Operating expenses	$2.02B	$1.90B	$1.76B	$1.65B	$1.67B
Operating income	$1.28B	$1.21B	$1.14B	$1.11B	$1.04B
Operating margin	23.21%	23.26%	22.70%	22.83%	22.15%
EBITDA	$1.35B	$1.29B	$1.23B	$1.20B	$1.15B
EBITDA margin	24.62%	24.76%	24.44%	24.68%	24.40%
Net income	$940.0M	$833.0M	$839.0M	$845.0M	$861.0M
Net profit margin	17.08%	16.04%	16.71%	17.35%	18.32%
Basic EPSper basic share	$3.79	$3.37	$3.41	$3.43	$3.50
Diluted EPSper diluted share	$3.76	$3.34	$3.40	$3.43	$3.50

Review official source filings ↗

Owners

Reported shareholders

Reference date Jun 30, 2026

Reported holdings Number of shares

View holders

Top 20 reported holders of VLTO
Holder	Shares held
BlackRock, Inc.	22.65M
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	16.04M
T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.	13.71M
VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC	12.15M
STATE STREET CORP	11.13M
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS LP	8.19M
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC	7.39M
Invesco Ltd.	5.54M
Impax Asset Management Group plc	5.19M
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC	4.04M
ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN L.P.	3.74M
Amundi	3.53M
MORGAN STANLEY	3.46M
NORTHERN TRUST CORP	3.23M
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO	3.1M
Pictet Asset Management Holding SA	3.03M
UBS AM, a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC	2.87M
NORGES BANK	2.75M
Bank of New York Mellon Corp	2.65M
Rudius Management LP	2.57M

Bars compare reported share counts. A matching total for this share class and reporting period is unavailable, so percentages are not shown.

Source: SEC Form 13F ↗Updated Sep 29, 2026 · Quarterly data

Insider buys & sells

Jul 1, 2024–Jun 30, 2026

Buys0$0.00 disclosed value

Sells (SEC code S)59$15.16M disclosed value

Transaction	Insider	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Owned after
May 1, 2026Form 4	Skeete Bernard MChief Accounting Officer	SellCommon Stock	300	$88.21	$26.5K	4.8K
Feb 27, 2026Form 4	Kapity MelissaSVP, Water Quality	SellCommon Stock	7.1K	$96.60	$686.3K	10.2K
Feb 27, 2026Form 4	Kapity MelissaSVP, Water Quality	SellCommon Stock	2.6K	$96.60	$254.9K	10.2K
Feb 27, 2026Form 4	Kapity MelissaSVP, Water Quality	SellCommon Stock	5.1K	$96.60	$492.3K	10.2K
Dec 1, 2025Form 4	Bystrom MattiasSVP, PQI	SellCommon Stock	1.0K	$101.73	$101.7K	31.4K