2024-01-31 16:42:02 ET
Fortive Corp (FTV)
Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call
January 31, 2024 12:00 ET
Company Participants
Elena Rosman - Vice President of Investor Relations
James Lico - President & Chief Executive Officer
Charles McLaughlin - Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Steve Tusa - JPMorgan
Nigel Coe - Wolfe Research
Julian Mitchell - Barclays
Jeff Sprague - Vertical Research
Deane Dray - RBC Capital Markets
Andy Kaplowitz - Citigroup
Scott Davis - Melius Research
Robert Mason - Baird
Andrew Obin - Bank of America
Joseph Giordano - TD Cowen
Joseph O'Dea - Wells Fargo
Presentation
Operator
My name is Kristina and I will be your conference facilitator this afternoon. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Fortive Corporation's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Elena Rosman, Vice President of Investor Relations. Ms. Rosman, you may begin your conference.
Elena Rosman
Thank you, Kristina and thank you, everyone, for joining us on today's call. With us today are Jim Lico, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chuck McLaughlin, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We represent certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. Information required by Regulation G are available on the Investors section of our website at fortive.com. Our statements on period-to-period increases or decreases refer to the year-over-year comparisons unless otherwise specified.
During the call, we will make forward-looking statements, including statements regarding events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and the actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements that we make here today. Information regarding these risk factors is available in our SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 [ph]. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date that they are made and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim Lico.
James Lico
Thanks, Elena. Hello, everyone and thank you for joining us. I'll begin on Slide 3. Fortive delivered outstanding operating performance again in 2023 through our proven formula for value creation. Our transformed portfolio of businesses delivering consistent through-cycle performance reflecting a more durable company with mid-single-digit core growth in 2023 despite a mixed macro environment. Strong execution by our teams drove another year of record margins with adjusted gross margins now approaching 60% and adjusted operating margins nearing 26%.
Throughout 2023, we focused on unleashing the full power of FBS, reflected by record participation in KAIZEN events, including our largest ever CEO KAIZEN week. The results of these KAIZEN's were tremendous, including an average of 50% productivity and 50% lead time conversion improvements. Our industry-leading free cash flow generation funded accretive capital deployment, including our best year executing on bolt-on acquisitions, accelerating our growth strategy across all 3 of our segments. We also opportunistically bought back shares and increased our dividend, enhancing shareholder returns. In summary, we remain committed to our strategy and its success is evident given the consistency of our results which I'll highlight on Slide 4....
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Fortive Corp (FTV) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript