logo
IDEX Corporation (IEX): Among Billionaire Ken Fisher's Industrial Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential

IDEX Corporation (IEX): Among Billionaire Ken Fisher's Industrial Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential

Yahoo01-05-2025
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) stands against other billionaire Ken Fisher's industrial stock picks with huge upside potential.
The economy strongly influences industrial stocks, which have fallen during recent downturns. However, 2025 looks like a key year for this sector, with these companies working in manufacturing, shipping, and aerospace, and investors are now focusing on businesses that adapt quickly to global shifts. The industrial sector grew 26% in 2024, showing strength despite high inflation and weak global demand. Going into 2025, these stocks are getting more attention thanks to new growth drivers and better economic conditions.
Even with possible higher tariffs under Trump's trade policies, the outlook remains positive. President Trump has proposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from countries like South Korea, Vietnam, and Canada. These tariffs might raise costs and also boost U.S. infrastructure and manufacturing spending; as Canada's Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said,
'Canadian steel and aluminum support key industries in the U.S., from defense, shipbuilding, and auto. We will continue to stand up for Canada, our workers, and our industries.'
All in all, this trade shift could help American industrial companies, especially those bringing supply chains back home.
Moreover, lower interest rates should help the sector by increasing construction and housing projects in 2025. On the other hand, falling mortgage rates will attract more homebuyers, creating demand for building materials and equipment. Ken Fisher said, 'Investors are ignoring some of these positive developments,' pointing to an overlooked chance in housing-related businesses.
Aerospace is also making a comeback through airlines' need to replace aging planes, driving demand for maintenance and parts, which demonstrates significant progress in aerospace-based companies. Meanwhile, only 25% of the $1.9 trillion in planned North American infrastructure projects have started construction, suggesting big growth ahead for equipment providers and construction companies.
In 2025, industrial stocks look promising due to clean technology and automation advancements. As reported in Deloitte's 2025 Manufacturing Industry Outlook, over $31 billion went into clean-tech manufacturing facilities in 2024, showing a move toward sustainability. With decreasing interest rates and high demand for environmentally friendly tech, these investments are highly probable to drive growth in the industry. Ken Fisher noted made the following comment about the current situation:
'The fear is bigger than the problem can be. Single-period stock market comparisons are always iffy, but it may well be this goes something like the 1998 stock market correction leading to a 26% annual return.'
His view suggests a more positive review of the industrial sector, predicting it will grow despite tariff concerns. With investments in automation, clean tech, and domestic production, these stocks have strong long-term potential even with short-term challenges.
To compile this list, we reviewed Ken Fisher's SEC Q4 2024 13F filings. We picked 10 stocks with the highest upside potential from their current levels as of time of writing this article. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on their highest analyst upside potential while also outlining hedge fund sentiment regarding these stocks, as per Insider Monkey's database of Q4 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A worker in a laboratory coat checking a Positive Displacement Pump.
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34
Upside Potential: 27.97%
IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) delivers key industrial solutions in fluid management, life sciences, and safety tech. It works through three main segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies, Health & Science Technologies, and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products. The company serves vital markets like life sciences, semiconductors, chemical processing, firefighting, and aerospace with pumps, valves, and specialty systems. IDEX ranks among the top industrial tech stocks for investors, and Ken Fisher currently owns about $2,891,859 in company shares.
In the Q4 ended December 31, 2024, IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) showed $863 million in revenue, up 9% from last year, with organic sales growing 3%. Meanwhile, orders jumped 8%, helping boost quarterly adjusted EBITDA margin by 60 basis points to 26.4%. Yet 2024's full-year revenue stayed flat at $3.3 billion, with organic sales dropping 2%, and adjusted earnings per share fell 4% to $7.89. The company generated strong free cash flow of $603 million, converting 101% of adjusted net income.
Furthermore, the Health & Science Technologies segment led Q4 order activity, shipping $40 million in project work, while the company's Fire & Safety/Diversified Products hit record quarterly sales. Management highlighted integration across five collaborative groups, making up over half of the total revenue. Despite tough market conditions, strong blanket orders from Q4 should boost 2025 volume. The semiconductor market is also expected to improve in the second half of next year.
For 2025, IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) expects 1-3% organic growth with adjusted earnings between $8.10 and $8.45 per share—a 3-7% increase over 2024. The first quarter will likely see a 3-4% organic decline due to tough comparisons with last year. However, management expects a $0.43 earnings boost from platform improvements. The company plans $21-25 million in restructuring costs, with revenue and earnings weighted toward the year's second half.
IDEX continues focusing on strategic acquisitions, with its recent Mott acquisition doing better than expected. With a solid balance sheet and 2.2x gross leverage ratio, IDEX Corporation (NYSE:IEX) keeps looking for good deals—80% of its recent acquisitions were proprietary deals.
Overall, IEX ranks 6th on our list of billionaire Ken Fisher's industrial stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential of IEX, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IEX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Johnson Controls (JCI) Q2 Earnings Report Preview: What To Look For
Johnson Controls (JCI) Q2 Earnings Report Preview: What To Look For

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Johnson Controls (JCI) Q2 Earnings Report Preview: What To Look For

Building operations company Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) will be announcing earnings results this Tuesday morning. Here's what you need to know. Johnson Controls beat analysts' revenue expectations by 0.7% last quarter, reporting revenues of $5.68 billion, up 1.4% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' adjusted operating income estimates and a solid beat of analysts' organic revenue estimates. Is Johnson Controls a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free. This quarter, analysts are expecting Johnson Controls's revenue to grow 1.9% year on year to $6.01 billion, in line with the 2.1% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.01 per share. The majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Johnson Controls has missed Wall Street's revenue estimates six times over the last two years. Looking at Johnson Controls's peers in the building products segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Insteel delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 23.4%, beating analysts' expectations by 2.2%, and AZZ reported revenues up 2.1%, falling short of estimates by 3.2%. Insteel traded down 5.8% following the results while AZZ was up 5.2%. Read our full analysis of Insteel's results here and AZZ's results here. There has been positive sentiment among investors in the building products segment, with share prices up 6.8% on average over the last month. Johnson Controls is up 5.1% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $109.70 (compared to the current share price of $111). Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we've identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link. StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.

Armstrong World (AWI) Reports Earnings Tomorrow: What To Expect
Armstrong World (AWI) Reports Earnings Tomorrow: What To Expect

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Armstrong World (AWI) Reports Earnings Tomorrow: What To Expect

Ceiling and wall solutions company Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI) will be reporting earnings this Tuesday before market hours. Here's what to expect. Armstrong World beat analysts' revenue expectations by 3.4% last quarter, reporting revenues of $382.7 million, up 17.3% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts' adjusted operating income estimates and an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates. Is Armstrong World a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free. This quarter, analysts are expecting Armstrong World's revenue to grow 10.5% year on year to $403.6 million, slowing from the 12.2% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.78 per share. The majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Armstrong World has only missed Wall Street's revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 1.9% on average. Looking at Armstrong World's peers in the building products segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Valmont delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 1%, beating analysts' expectations by 1.7%, and Sherwin-Williams reported flat revenue, in line with consensus estimates. Valmont traded up 7.9% following the results while Sherwin-Williams's stock price was unchanged. Read our full analysis of Valmont's results here and Sherwin-Williams's results here. There has been positive sentiment among investors in the building products segment, with share prices up 6.8% on average over the last month. Armstrong World is up 4.7% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $170.56 (compared to the current share price of $170). Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we've identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link. StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

What To Expect From Polaris's (PII) Q2 Earnings
What To Expect From Polaris's (PII) Q2 Earnings

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

What To Expect From Polaris's (PII) Q2 Earnings

Off-Road and powersports vehicle corporation Polaris (NYSE:PII) will be reporting results this Tuesday before the bell. Here's what you need to know. Polaris beat analysts' revenue expectations by 1% last quarter, reporting revenues of $1.56 billion, down 11.4% year on year. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts' expectations. Is Polaris a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free. This quarter, analysts are expecting Polaris's revenue to decline 13.5% year on year to $1.72 billion, a further deceleration from the 11.2% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted loss is expected to come in at -$0.02 per share. The majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Polaris has missed Wall Street's revenue estimates twice over the last two years. Looking at Polaris's peers in the consumer discretionary segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Brunswick posted flat year-on-year revenue, beating analysts' expectations by 16.4%, and Hasbro reported a revenue decline of 1.5%, topping estimates by 11.2%. Brunswick traded down 6% following the results while Hasbro was also down 3.3%. Read our full analysis of Brunswick's results here and Hasbro's results here. There has been positive sentiment among investors in the consumer discretionary segment, with share prices up 10.3% on average over the last month. Polaris is up 23.6% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $39.82 (compared to the current share price of $50.24). When a company has more cash than it knows what to do with, buying back its own shares can make a lot of sense–as long as the price is right. Luckily, we've found one, a low-priced stock that is gushing free cash flow AND buying back shares. Click here to claim your Special Free Report on a fallen angel growth story that is already recovering from a setback. StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store