Danaher Corporation DHR
Danaher trades at $215.11 (as of 2026-08-24) at a trailing P/E of 38.09x — a 39% premium to the peer median of 27.36x — despite EPS declining for a third consecutive year to $5.04 in FY2025 from $9.64 in FY2022 and operating margin compressing from 28.29% to 20.91% over that span. Revenue growth turned modestly positive at 2.9% in FY2025 and smart money improved to a score of 0.0727 as of Q2 2026 with institutional buyers including BNY Mellon acquiring 932,220 shares, but CEO Rainer Blair sold shares on 2026-08-21 at approximately $218 per share ahead of the October 2026 leadership transition.
The stock's rally above its 50-day MA ($196.12) and 200-day MA ($202.98) with RSI at 63.17 prices in a recovery that has not yet produced an earnings inflection, leaving risk/reward balanced at current levels.
What could go wrong
- Valuation premium unsustainable. At 38.09x trailing P/E — a 39% premium to the peer median of 27.36x and 38% premium on EV/EBITDA — any disappointment in the earnings recovery narrative could trigger multiple compression.
- CEO transition execution risk. CEO Rainer Blair sold shares on 2026-08-21 at approximately $218 per share ahead of the October 2026 leadership transition, adding uncertainty at a time when operating income has compressed from $8.05B in FY2021 to $5.14B in FY2025.
- Margin deterioration continues. Operating margin fell from 28.29% in FY2022 to 20.91% in FY2025; if the trend persists, the valuation premium becomes increasingly difficult to justify.
- Revenue recovery stalls. FY2025 revenue growth of 2.9% is modest; if growth reverts to flat or negative as seen in FY2023 and FY2024, the case for re-rating weakens.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: peer_relative (as of 2026-08-24) · fundamentals annual (FY2025 and FY2022) · derived_metrics (FY2022 and FY2025) · derived_metrics FY2025. Orin's read on DHR; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-23 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All DHR filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Capital Management | $7.9B | 0.2% of fund |
| Fmr | $5.6B | 0.2% of fund |
| State Street | $5.4B | 0.2% of fund |
| Wellington Management Group Llp | $3.1B | 0.5% of fund |
| Geode Capital Management | $2.7B | 0.1% of fund |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $2.7B | 0.1% of fund |
144 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 203 Form 4 filings, net $19.5M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 3 sales— the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about DHR
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Start 3 free days →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 39.2× | 35.8× | 26.4× |
| EV/EBITDA | 24.9× | 24.5× | — |
| P/S | 6.21× | 7.03× | — |
| P/B | 3.0× | 3.4× | — |
Its P/E sits 60th percentile of its own last 5 years (+0.43σ from its own mean).
13.1%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $5.3B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$224
$195 – $250 · +2% against today's price
- 30 buy or overweight
- 12 hold
- 1 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DHRDanaher Corporation | $156B | 39.2× | 24.9× | 58.5% | 15.9% | 8% |
| AMGNAmgen Inc. | $219B | 25.0× | 15.9× | 72.7% | 22.9% | 89% |
| BSXBoston Scientific Corporation | $66B | 18.0× | 13.8× | 71.2% | 17.5% | 15% |
| GILDGilead Sciences, Inc. | $188B | — | 331.4× | 79.6% | -10.6% | -16% |
| ISRGIntuitive Surgical, Inc. | $141B | 45.0× | 30.6× | 66.7% | 28.4% | 18% |
| MCKMcKesson Corporation | $103B | 23.5× | 15.3× | 3.6% | 1.1% | -194% |
| MDTMedtronic plc | $114B | 21.8× | 14.9× | 66.7% | 13.9% | 11% |
| PFEPfizer Inc. | $161B | 37.2× | 17.6× | 71.3% | 6.8% | 5% |
| SYKStryker Corporation | $105B | 28.1× | 18.6× | 65.2% | 14.4% | 16% |
| TMOThermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | $246B | 35.7× | 26.0× | 41.0% | 15.1% | 13% |
The median is of the 8 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 47.7% above it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Discounted cash flow
| Model | Fair value | Against | Computed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard DCF | $220 | $185.26 · +19% | 2026-06-10 |
| Levered DCF | $180 | $185.26 · −3% | 2026-06-10 |
The vendor’s intrinsic-value models. Treat them as a low-growth anchor — for a fast grower the market routinely pays well above a DCF. These were computed against the price in the “against” column, not today’s.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.