Veralto Corporation (VLTO)

Stocks were volatile last week, with tech stocks pummeled, dragging down the Nasdaq, and then a big pop on Friday. This week features the delayed January jobs report as well as key inflation data. And, of course, the earnings flood continues. After all was said and done last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.5%, the S&P 500 was down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq was down 1.8%. So far this year, the Dow has gained 4.2%, the S&P 500 is up 1.3%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.91%. On the earnings calendar, Apollo Global Management and Becton, Dickinson report on Monday; Coca-Cola and CVS Health on Tuesday; Cisco Systems, McDonald's, and Hilton on Wednesday; Applied Materials, Arista Networks, Anheuser-Busch, and Airbnb on Thursday; and Moderna on Friday. Some 54% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and overall earnings are up 13.5% from last quarter. Information Technology, up 31%, and Industrials, up 16%, are leading the pack. At the bottom are Consumer Discretionary, down 0.1%, and Healthcare, up a mere 0.6%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. On the economic calendar, three big reports will be released this week. Retail sales for December come out on Tuesday, the January jobs report Wednesday, and the Consumer Price Index for January on Friday. The new jobs data will be compared with growth of 50,000 jobs last month and an unemployment rate of 4.4%. Turning to other data, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast calls for 4.2% growth in the fourth quarter, unchanged from last week. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast forecasts a 2.4% rate for January and 2.3% for February, which compares to the December print of 2.7%. Mortgage rates ticked up one basis point last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.11%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices went up two cents last week and are at an average of $2.87 per gallon for regular gas. The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is on March 18, and odds are at 23% for a 25-basis-point cut at that meeting, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, meetings will be held on April 29 and June 17. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 6% year to date, while the leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 9%. U.S. growth stocks are down 4% year to date looking at ETF IWF, while value stocks (IWD) are higher by 6%. In other asset classes for the year to date AGG bonds are flat, gold is up 14%, crude oil is up 10%, and Bitcoin is down 21%. The U.S. dollar is down 0.6%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index settled on Friday at about 18, down from a high of 26 in late November. Turning to sector performance, the list from first to worst so far in 2026 is Energy (+19%), Consumer Staples (+13%), Materials (+13%), Industrials (+11%), Real Estate (+3%), Healthcare (+2%), Utilities (+1.5%), Financials (-0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-1%), Information Technology (-1.9%), and Communication Services (-2%). By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 1.3% year to date.

Veralto Corp., formerly part of Danaher Corp., is a global leader in water and product quality. The company is organized into two segments: Water Quality and Product Quality and Innovation. Major brands in the portfolio include the water measurement instruments company Hach; chemical reagent company ChemTreat; coding systems companies Videojet and Linx; packaging workflow solutions company Esko; color instrumentation company X-rite and color standards company Pantone. Based in Massachusetts, the company has 17,000 employees. The VLTO shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Veralto is a diversified industrial firm organized into two segments: water quality, product quality, and innovation. The water quality segment offers water analytics and water treatment solutions, while the product quality and innovation segment offers coding, packaging, and color solutions for consumer packaged goods and pharmaceuticals. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, the company has around 17,000 employees. Veralto generated approximately $5.5 billion in revenue in 2025.

Veralto Corp., formerly part of Danaher Corp., is a global leader in water and product quality. The company is organized into two segments: Water Quality and Product Quality and Innovation. Major brands in the portfolio include the water measurement instruments company Hach; chemical reagent company ChemTreat; coding systems companies Videojet and Linx; packaging workflow solutions company Esko; color instrumentation company X-rite and color standards company Pantone. Based in Massachusetts, the company has 17,000 employees. The VLTO shares are a component of the S&P 500.