Veralto VLTO is set to report its first-quarter 2026 results on April 28, after the closing bell.
The company’s earnings surprise history has been impressive. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 6% on average.
Veralto Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Veralto Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Veralto Corporation Quote
Q1 Expectations for VLTO
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues in the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at $1.4 billion, indicating an increase of 5.3% year over year. The top line is likely to have increased due to growing demand for water quality and reliability, marking and coding, and increased government funding to address water infrastructure challenges to reduce carbon emissions.
The consensus estimate for Water Quality revenues and operating income is pegged at $839.40 million and $208.30 million, indicating a 5.7% and 5.2% year-over-year increase, respectively. The growth is likely to have been driven by the rising demand for VLTO’s innovative products and services through brands, including Hach, Trojan Technologies and ChemTreat, which provide analytical measurement instruments for testing water quality, identifying water challenges, optimizing customer water usage and promoting maximum reuse. Additionally, recent acquisitions such as AQUAFIDES are likely to have boosted this segment's growth in Europe.
The consensus estimate for Product Quality & Innovation revenues and operating income is pegged at $558.9 million and $156.20 million, indicating a 3.9% and 7.3% year-over-year increase, respectively. Overall segment growth is anticipated to have been aided by VLTO’s marking and coding, and packaging and color services tools with brands such as Videojet, Linx, Esko, X-Rite and Pantone, serving the major consumer-packaged goods (CPG), life sciences and pharmaceutical companies.
The recent acquisition of TraceGains, with its supply chain traceability and compliance expertise, is anticipated to have expanded Veralto Enterprise System's ability and VLTO’s market presence and improved its operating efficiency.
The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.02 per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 7.4%. We expect increasing collective operating income to have benefited the bottom line in the quarter.
What Our Model Says
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for VLTO this time around. A positive Earnings ESP combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
VLTO currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.29% and carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are a few stocks from the broader Business Services sector, which, according to our model, also have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.
Xylem Inc. XYL has an Earnings ESP of +0.86% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2026 results on April 28.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for XYL’s first-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $2.1 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 1.8%. For earnings, the consensus mark is pegged at $1.09 per share, implying a 5.8% increase from the year-ago quarter’s actual.
XYL beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four reported quarters, while matching once, with the average earnings surprise being 7.4%.
GFL Environmental Inc. GFL has an Earnings ESP of +20.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to declare its first-quarter 2026 results on April 29.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GFL’s first-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $1.19 billion, indicating 9.2% year-over-year growth. The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at 5 cents per share, implying a year-over-year increase of 183.3%.
GFL beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four reported quarters, while matching once and missing twice, delivering an average earnings surprise of 15.1%.
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Xylem Inc. (XYL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).