IDEX Corporation (IEX): Among 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.
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