Reasons Why Investors Should Consider Investing in IDEX Stock

IDEX Corporation IEX is well-poised to benefit from strength across its business, acquisitions, focus on improving the product line and operational excellence. The company remains focused on investing in growth opportunities and solidifying its long-term market position.

IEX has a market capitalization of $16.4 billion and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Let’s delve into the factors that have been aiding the firm for a while now.

Business Strength: IDEX is benefiting from healthy demand across data center, semiconductor, space and defense markets within the Health & Science Technologies (HST) segment. In second-quarter 2026, the HST segment’s organic sales rose 12% and organic orders increased 47%, extending backlog visibility into 2027.

Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT) segment recorded a 1% increase in organic sales, while orders climbed 11%, supported by solid demand across the municipal water and mining markets. The company also lifted its 2026 organic sales growth forecast to 5-6% from the previous 3-4% range, citing a stronger HST order backlog and improving demand trends in its industrial operations. 

Acquisition Benefits: The company continues to add assets that expand capabilities and geographic reach. In second-quarter 2026, acquisitions added 1% to consolidated sales growth and 2% to HST sales growth, reflecting Micro-LAM, acquired in July 2025. The Micro-LAM buyout boosted IEX’s proficiency in materials science domain and expanded its optics technologies offerings within the HST segment. It also strengthened its presence across aerospace, defense and optics industries.

Price Performance of IEX

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In the past year, IDEX has gained 39.2% compared with the industry’s 0.4% growth.

Shareholder-Friendly Policies: It remains committed to rewarding its shareholders through dividend payouts and share buybacks. In the first six months of 2026, IDEX paid out dividends worth $106.7 million and repurchased shares worth $153.4 million. In September 2025, the company’s board increased the share repurchase authorization to $1 billion. Exiting the second quarter, IDEX had a remaining balance of $774.7 million under its share repurchase program.

Earnings Estimates: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IEX’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.83 per share, indicating an increase of 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. The consensus estimate for 2027 earnings is pegged at $9.64 per share, indicating an increase of 9.2% from the previous year.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked companies from the same space are discussed below.

Generac Holdings GNRC currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Generac Holdings surpassed the consensus estimate twice and missed in the other two of the trailing four quarters. GNRC delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 13.7%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Generac Holdings’ 2026 earnings has increased 8.6%.

Helios Technologies HLIO currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. Helios Technologies’ earnings topped the consensus estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. The average earnings surprise was 13.1%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HLIO’s 2026 earnings has increased 10.4%.

RBC Bearings Incorporated RBC presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. RBC Bearings’ earnings topped the consensus estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. The average earnings surprise was 8.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RBC’s fiscal 2027 (ending March 2027) earnings has increased 4.9% over the past 60 days.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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