Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) reported fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday that fell short of revenue expectations, sending shares modestly lower in premarket trading despite operational progress late in the year.
The contract research organization generated fourth-quarter revenue of $660.5 million, missing the analyst consensus forecast of $855 million and declining 5.2% from $697.0 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. Following the release, the company’s shares edged down 1.35% in pre-market trading.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.09, well below consensus estimates of $0.53. For the full year, Fortrea posted revenue of $2,723.4 million, representing a 1.0% increase from $2,696.4 million in 2024.
The company reported a fourth-quarter book-to-bill ratio of 1.14x, bringing the trailing 12-month figure to 1.02x, indicating steady order intake relative to revenue recognition.
Adjusted EBITDA totaled $54.0 million for the quarter, compared with $56.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Full-year adjusted EBITDA declined to $189.9 million from $202.5 million in the prior year.
“We finished 2025 with solid results for the fourth quarter, as the Fortrea team’s shared commitment to commercial, operational and financial excellence becomes embedded in our way of working,” said Anshul Thakral, CEO of Fortrea. “After a challenging first half of the year, we delivered a second half of strong book-to-bills.”
Looking ahead, Fortrea guided fiscal 2026 revenue to a range of $2,550 million to $2,650 million, with the midpoint of $2,600 million below the analyst consensus estimate of $2,730 million. The company expects full-year adjusted EBITDA between $190 million and $220 million.
As of December 31, 2025, Fortrea reported backlog of $7,728.0 million, alongside cash and cash equivalents of $174.6 million and gross debt totaling $1,066.3 million.