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The Moat Index

VERALTO CORPORATION

VLTO · Healthcare · $23.3B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · Wide moat ·

On the watchlist

83/ 100
Wide moat

The four filters

Pricing power97

Median gross margin 57.8% over 5y, very stable.

Returns on capital100

Median ROIC 26.5%, above the 9% hurdle in 100% of years.

Balance-sheet safety77

Net debt/EBITDA 0.5x, interest coverage 13x.

Capital discipline42

Owner earnings +1.1%/yr, share count n/a.

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
104% above value
Owner earnings (normalized)
$901.0M
Est. intrinsic value / share
$46.09
Recent price
$93.81
Discount to value
104% above value

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 1% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

6 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

VERALTO CORPORATION booked $5.5B of revenue in FY2025 in the Healthcare sector and kept 59.9% of it as gross profit — a high-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 17.1% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

It earned 27.3% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 26.5% across 4 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 100/100.

The balance sheet carried $2.7B of total debt in FY2025 against $955.0M of owner earnings — roughly 2.8 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 77/100.

Put together: Returns on Capital is the strongest of the four filters (100/100) and Capital Discipline the weakest (42/100), which is how VLTO lands at 83/100 — a Wide moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2020–FY2025 · 6 fiscal years, normalized from VLTO’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$5.5B FY2025
$0$2B$4B2020202220242025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods59.9% FY2025
0%25%50%2020202220242025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed27.3% FY2025
0%10%20%2020202220242025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out$955.0M FY2025
$0$500M$1B2020202220242025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in VLTO’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

1 logged reading since Jul 18, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale82.6 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 18, 2026

Score history begins Jul 18, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — VLTO has read Wide moat for every logged capture since Jul 18, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Track record

How VERALTO CORPORATION’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

As-of scores 2023–2025, one methodology version · reconstructed from filings on file each Dec 31 — never with hindsight

As-of Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored VLTO on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatAs-of Moat Score99126Indexed price · log scale (2024 = 100)2023202420252026

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the 1 year VLTO rated Wide-moat (2024), the median forward total return that followed — measured only after each year’s filings were public — was:

  • 1 year −2% vs the S&P 500’s 17% (price basis) · median over 1 year
  • 3 years None of the 1 year it rated Wide has a fully elapsed 3-year window with a benchmark to compare against yet.
  • 5 years None of the 1 year it rated Wide has a fully elapsed 5-year window with a benchmark to compare against yet.

These are medians computed from the data, not a claim about any one year. The company figures are total returns (dividends reinvested); the S&P 500 is the price-only ^GSPC index, which excludes dividends and so understates the index — the gap flatters the company. A quality rating is not a return forecast, and past returns don’t predict future ones. Educational only, not investment advice.

Healthcare context

#24 of 461 scored Healthcare companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #22HRMY HARMONY BIOSCIENCES HOLDINGS, INC.83.3Wide moat
  2. #23EMBC EMBECTA CORP.82.6Wide moat
  3. #25BMI BADGER METER, INC.82.1Wide moat
  4. #26USNA USANA HEALTH SCIENCES, INC.81.5Wide moat

Compare VLTO with its nearest peers →All Healthcare companies on the Index →

Common questions about VLTO

Does VERALTO CORPORATION have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores VERALTO CORPORATION (VLTO) 82.6 out of 100 — a Wide moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 97, returns on capital 100, balance-sheet safety 77, capital discipline 42.
Is VLTO stock trading below its intrinsic value?
Against a deliberately conservative owner-earnings model (9% discount rate, 1% assumed growth, capped at 4%), estimated intrinsic value is $46.09 per share versus a recent price of $93.81 — 104% above value. This is an educational estimate computed from primary SEC filings, not investment advice.
How has VLTO's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 1 reading since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 82.6 out of 100 (wide moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell VLTO. See the disclaimer.

VERALTO CORPORATION (VLTO) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett