Sifting through countless of stocks in the Machinery industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in The Timken Company or Fortive Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation

The Timken Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered bearings and industrial motion products, and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Engineered Bearings and Industrial Motion. The Engineered Bearings segment provides various bearing products, including tapered, spherical, and cylindrical roller bearings; plain bearings, metal-polymer bearings, and rod end bearings; radial, angular, and precision ball bearings; thrust and specialty ball bearings; journal bearings; and housed or mounted bearings. This segment serves wind energy, agriculture, construction, food and beverage, metals and mining, automotive and truck, aerospace, rail, and other industries under the Timken, GGB, and Fafnir brands. The Industrial Motion segment offers a portfolio of engineered products, such as industrial drives, automatic lubrication systems, linear motion products and systems, chains, belts, couplings, filtration systems, seals, and industrial clutches and brakes, as well as industrial drivetrain and bearing repairing services. This segment serves a range of industries comprising solar energy, automation, construction, agriculture and turf, passenger rail, marine, aerospace, packaging and logistics, medical, and others under the Philadelphia Gear, Cone Drive, Rollon, Nadella, Groeneveld, BEKA, Diamond, Drives, Timken Belts, Spinea, Des-Case, Lagersmit, Lovejoy, CGI, and PT Tech brands. The Timken Company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio.

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through Intelligent Operating Solutions and Advanced Healthcare Solutions segments. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including maintenance, repair, measurement and condition monitoring, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries. This segment markets its products and services under the ACCRUENT, FLUKE, GORDIAN, INDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC, INTELEX, and SERVICECHANNEL brand names. The Advanced Healthcare Solutions segment provides critical workflow solutions comprising instrument sterilization, instrument tracking, biomedical test tools, radiation detection and safety monitoring, and end-to-end clinical productivity software and solutions under the ASP, CENSIS, FLUKE BIOMEDICAL, LANDAUER, and PROVATION brand names. Fortive Corporation was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Everett, Washington.

Latest Machinery and The Timken Company, Fortive Corporation Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, The Timken Company had a $9.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Machinery median of $3.9 million. The Timken Company’s stock is up 63.5% in 2026, down 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 83.96% in the past year.

Currently, The Timken Company’s price-earnings ratio is 31.3. The Timken Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.7 billion with a 6.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 8.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.157 per share for the current fiscal year. The Timken Company currently has a 1.0% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Fortive Corporation had a $17.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 85th percentile of all stocks. Fortive Corporation’s stock is up 7.2% in 2026, down 5% in the previous five trading days and up 19.26% in the past year.

Currently, Fortive Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 31.2. Fortive Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.3 billion with a 12.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.013 per share for the current fiscal year. Fortive Corporation currently has a 0.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
The Timken Company	TKR	D
Fortive Corporation	FTV	D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

The Timken Company has a Value Score of 34, which is Expensive. Fortive Corporation has a Value Score of 34, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither The Timken Company or Fortive Corporation has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if The Timken Company or Fortive Corporation is the better investment when it comes to value.

The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
The Timken Company	TKR	B
Fortive Corporation	FTV	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

The Timken Company has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. Fortive Corporation has a Growth Score of 46, which is Average.

The Growth Grade Winner: The Timken Company

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, The Timken Company has a more attractive growth grade than Fortive Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, The Timken Company could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
The Timken Company	TKR	A
Fortive Corporation	FTV	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

The Timken Company has a Momentum Score of 87, which is Very Strong. Fortive Corporation has a Momentum Score of 54, which is Average.

The Momentum Grade Winner: The Timken Company

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, The Timken Company is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Fortive Corporation. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, The Timken Company could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation Grades

In addition to Growth, Momentum and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, The Timken Company or Fortive Corporation Stock?

Overall, The Timken Company stock has a Value Score of 34, Growth Score of 73 and Momentum Score of 87.

Fortive Corporation stock has a Value Score of 34, Growth Score of 46 and Momentum Score of 54.

Comparing The Timken Company and Fortive Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.