Fortrea Holdings Inc. (FTRE)
🔔 Watch stock
symbol.quality_heading
We found at least one documented issue that threatens the company itself — regardless of how the stock is currently valued.
No going-concern qualification, covenants met, an almost break-even first quarter of 2026 and a $7.8 billion order book — but an Altman Z of 0.78, four distress flags, equity below the remaining goodwill and the 2028/2030 debt wall make the stock a bet on proof: the order book first has to turn back into reliable profit before the refinancing comes due. Whoever buys in after plus 93 percent in three months pays for half the comeback in advance. The decision is yours.
symbol.quality_note
On June 30, 2023, the lab-diagnostics group Labcorp sent its clinical-trials business to the stock exchange as Fortrea — with 30 years of Covance history, 14,300 employees and a dowry of $1.64 billion in debt plus goodwill from old acquisitions. Two and a half years later the stock sits in our going-concern warning scanner. We read the annual report (10-K) for 2025 and the quarterly report (10-Q) as of March 31, 2026: $797.9 million of goodwill written off, a $986.2 million annual loss, loosened credit covenants, $300 million of receivables sold, one customer at 18.1 percent of revenue — and at the same time an order book above $7.8 billion and a nearly break-even first quarter of 2026. Not investment advice — just the question of what a fine pedigree is worth when the debts ride along in the moving boxes.
Read the analysis
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of July 15, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at FTRE since then.
Later $1 a month per stock — signing up is free, and you'll be the first to know when it launches.
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 1 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Trading Day
Key levels of the most recently completed trading day — not a live quote.
52-Week Range
Current price 19.20 $ — 90% of the range above the low.
Lowest and highest closing price over the last 52 weeks. The marker shows where the current price sits within that range: close to the high speaks for strength, close to the low for weakness.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 08/03/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
This stock currently pays no dividend.
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
Uses AIFortrea ist ein Auftragsforschungs-Konzern (CRO), dessen Umsatz aus klinischen Studien-Dienstleistungen stammt — nicht aus KI-Produkten. Die Filings belegen aber durchgängig operativen KI-Einsatz: Der Geschäftsbericht für 2025 beschreibt selbst entwickelte und im Einsatz befindliche KI-/ML-Werkzeuge für Tempo, Effizienz, Qualität und Patientensicherheit in der klinischen Forschung, ein eigenes Strategie-Kapitel („Selective Investment in Technology, Data and Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Speed and Simplification“) sowie KI-gestützte Analytik für Studiendesign, Standort- und Patientenauswahl; der Geschäftsbericht für 2024 dokumentiert produktiven KI-Einsatz in der Klinik-Belegungsplanung. Eine KI-Umsatzquelle weisen die Filings nicht aus — daher „Nutzt KI“, nicht „Verkauft KI“.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We have developed and are deploying AI and ML tools intended to improve speed, efficiency, quality and patient safety in clinical research, and we continue to evaluate additional uses of AI where appropriate and beneficial."
Wir haben KI- und ML-Werkzeuge entwickelt und setzen sie ein, um Geschwindigkeit, Effizienz, Qualität und Patientensicherheit in der klinischen Forschung zu verbessern, und wir prüfen laufend weitere KI-Einsatzfelder, wo dies sinnvoll und nützlich ist.
„Fortrea takes a focused, digital-led approach to technology, investing selectively in platforms, data assets, AI, ML, other advanced technologies, workflow automation and orchestration that accelerate trial execution and drive quality and simplification across clinical development."
Fortrea verfolgt einen fokussierten, digital geführten Technologie-Ansatz und investiert gezielt in Plattformen, Datenbestände, KI, ML, weitere fortgeschrittene Technologien sowie Workflow-Automatisierung und -Orchestrierung, die die Studiendurchführung beschleunigen und Qualität und Vereinfachung in der gesamten klinischen Entwicklung vorantreiben.
„Fortrea integrates its in-house datasets, those from strategic data partners and a broad range of additional third parties, using proprietary analytics and AI-enabled tools to guide protocol design, optimize study feasibility, identify diverse sites and patients, and accelerate study delivery."
Fortrea führt eigene Datenbestände, die strategischer Datenpartner und einer breiten Palette weiterer Dritter zusammen und nutzt proprietäre Analytik und KI-gestützte Werkzeuge, um das Studienprotokoll-Design zu steuern, die Machbarkeit von Studien zu optimieren, vielfältige Prüfzentren und Patienten zu identifizieren und die Studiendurchführung zu beschleunigen.
„We have integrated technology and artificial intelligence successfully within our clinic scheduling process to optimize the utilization of bedspace and have implemented bedside data capture technology to improve the speed and accuracy of data collection."
Wir haben Technologie und künstliche Intelligenz erfolgreich in unseren Klinik-Planungsprozess integriert, um die Auslastung der Bettenkapazität zu optimieren, und haben Technik zur Datenerfassung am Krankenbett eingeführt, um Geschwindigkeit und Genauigkeit der Datenerhebung zu verbessern.
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-05 · 10-Q 2025-11-05 · 10-Q 2025-08-06 · 10-Q 2025-05-12 · 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-K 2025-03-03
Rated on July 14, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Analysts & Price Target
The price target sits 5.1% above the current price.
- Consensus
- Hold
- Analyst Ratings
- 12
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 0.85 | 0.76 – 1.00 | 2,663 | 96.6% | 11 |
| 12/31/2027 | 1.14 | 0.88 – 1.96 | 2,744 | 35.1% | 12 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Next Reporting Date
Expected date of the next quarterly or annual figures. Dates do shift occasionally — only the invitation issued by the company is binding.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | -0.68 | – | 697 | -10.10 | -8.80 | 17 | 20 |
| 2025: Q1 | -6.30 | – | 651 | -1.60 | -86.40 | -124 | -127 |
| 2025: Q2 | -4.14 | – | 710 | 7.20 | -52.80 | 22 | 14 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.17 | – | 701 | 3.90 | -2.30 | 87 | 80 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.28 | – | 661 | -5.20 | -4.90 | 129 | 122 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.26 | – | 637 | -2.30 | -3.70 | -17 | -25 |
| 2026: Q2 | -0.14 | 96.60 | 678 | -4.50 | -1.90 | 29 | 29 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Annual Figures
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2,580 | -314 | -359 | -4.06 | 201 | – | – |
| 2021 | 3,058 | 114 | 98 | 1.11 | 170 | 3,261 | 4,369 |
| 2022 | 2,837 | 187 | 186 | 2.11 | 83 | 3,343 | 4,288 |
| 2023 | 2,843 | 32 | -25 | -0.28 | 168 | 1,714 | 4,333 |
| 2024 | 2,696 | -162 | -329 | -3.67 | 263 | 1,362 | 3,579 |
| 2025 | 2,723 | -31 | -986 | -10.81 | 114 | 564 | 2,716 |
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
An established, global CRO business with more than 30 years of history, about 14,300 employees and an order backlog of $7.8 billion (March 31, 2026) — revenue stayed remarkably stable from 2023 through 2025 at $2.7 to $2.8 billion. The report's own caveat: the backlog is not a reliable revenue indicator, and most contracts can be terminated on 30 to 90 days' notice.
The cost-cutting works: administrative expenses minus 18.6 percent (2025) and minus 17.5 percent (Q1 2026), an operating loss of only $3.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 after $520.1 million in the prior-year quarter; a new CEO since August 2025. The threshold to operating profit is reachable — it is not yet proven.
A $797.9 million goodwill impairment in 2025 (trigger: the company's own share-price slide to $4.94), a net loss of $986.2 million, equity halved from $1,362.4 to $563.5 million — and the remaining goodwill ($960.0 million) exceeds total equity. The report itself warns of possible further impairments.
About $1,066.3 million in principal debt as the spin-off dowry, $91.4 million of interest in 2025 against an operating loss even before the impairment; credit covenants loosened on February 28, 2025 "for additional flexibility"; maturities of $387.5 million (2028) and $649.0 million (2030) against $147.5 million of cash — in addition, $300 million of receivables are sold (with a rating trigger since February 2026).
A single customer accounted for 18.1 percent of 2025 revenue, the top 20 for 69 percent with a rising trend; revenue fell 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2026. On top of that, a shareholder class action has been running since June 2025 (motion to dismiss January 2026), and the board has installed a poison pill with a 10 percent threshold.
Fortrea is not an empty warning-scanner ghost but a genuine global contract research company with stable revenue, a bulging order book and measurable cost progress. But the filings show what the ex-parent Labcorp packed for its daughter: a debt dowry of originally $1.64 billion whose covenants already had to be loosened, and an acquisition goodwill of which almost $800 million was written off in 2025 — triggered by the company's own share-price crash. Add one customer at 18.1 percent of revenue, $300 million of sold receivables and an ongoing class action. Not investment advice.
- Scanner membership ("Going Concern (Distress Proxy)", plus the P/S, price-to-cash-flow and price-to-free-cash-flow rankings) verified live on the platform on July 14, 2026; metrics data as of July 8, 2026.
- The 2025 net loss (−$986.2 million) contains $797.9 million of non-cash goodwill impairment; without it, an operating loss of about $75 million would have remained. The 2024 loss (−$328.5 million) contains −$57.0 million from the discontinued Enabling Services business.
- Price and valuation figures dated July 8, 2026 (about $17.70, about 93 million shares); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument.
About the Company
Fortrea Holdings Inc., ein Auftragsforschungsinstitut, bietet weltweit Lösungen für die Entwicklung von biopharmazeutischen Produkten und Medizinprodukten für Pharma-, Biotechnologie- und Medizinproduktekunden an.
| Employees | 14,000 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Durham, NC |
| Address | 8 Moore Drive, 27709 Durham, United States |
| Phone | 877 495 0816 |
| Website | fortrea.com |
| IPO Date | 3. Jul 2023 |
| ISIN | US34965K1079 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Anshul Thakral | CEO & Director | 1978 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Insider Transactions
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20. Jul 2026 | Smith David Ross | Director | Other | 6,598 | 0.00 | – |
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
View all insider transactions →Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 31, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.