Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Key Takeaways Zebra Technologies generated $361 million in free cash flow in the first half of 2026, up 25.3%.ZBRA raised its 2026 free cash flow outlook to at least $1 billion from $900 million.Zebra Technologies plans roughly $700 million in 2026 share repurchases, including $150 million in H2. Zebra Technologies Corporation’s (ZBRA - Free Report) healthy free cash flow enables investments and substantial share repurchases. It generated $361 million of free cash flow in the first six months of 2026, up 25.3% year over year. In the first six months of 2026, Zebra Technologies generated net cash from operating activities of $387 million, up from $325 million in the year-ago period.

The company now expects full-year 2026 free cash flow of at least $1 billion, up from its prior expectation of at least $900 million. This cash generation supports continued investment, debt flexibility and shareholder returns.

Zebra Technologies has continued rewarding its shareholders. The company repurchased shares worth $568 million in the first six months of 2026. In February 2026, the company’s board of directors approved an additional share repurchase authorization of up to $1 billion. ZBRA expects to repurchase another $150 million of shares in the second half of 2026, bringing total full-year repurchases to roughly $700 million.

Among its peers, Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) generated $932 million in cash from continuing operating activities in the first nine months of 2026. HON’s free cash flow increased 15% year over year to $688 million in the third quarter, with free cash flow conversion of 95%. Honeywell now expects free cash flow of roughly $2.1 billion for the full year, up from the previous projection of $2 billion.

Avery Dennison Corporation (AVY - Free Report) generated net cash from operating activities of $843.5 million in the first nine months of 2026. AVY returned $481 million to its shareholders through share repurchases and dividends in the first nine months of 2026. Avery Dennison repurchased 1.5 million shares, with payments totaling $257 million.

ZBRA’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesZBRA’s shares have gained 42.9% in the past year, compared with the Zacks Manufacturing - Thermal Products industry’s rise of 40.1%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, Zebra Technologies has a forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, modestly below the industry average of 20.02. It carries a Value Score of C.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZBRA’s 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 33.5%. The EPS estimates for 2026 have been stable over the past 60 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Key Takeaways Zebra Technologies benefits from strong mobile computing, printing, machine vision and RFID demand.ZBRA's Q2 sales rose 25.9% in Connected Frontline and 13.5% in Asset Visibility & Automation.Free cash flow rose 25.3%, supporting investments and roughly $700 million in 2026 share repurchases. Zebra Technologies Corporation (ZBRA - Free Report) shares have popped 71.3% in the past six months, in line with the Zacks Manufacturing - Thermal Products industry’s rise while topping the S&P 500’s increase of 14.1%.

ZBRA is benefiting from broad demand across retail, manufacturing and healthcare, with mobile computing, printing, machine vision and RFID (radio frequency identification) supporting growth across both segments. Its integrated hardware, software and services portfolio is deepening customer adoption of automation and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled workflows, while Elo Touch and Photoneo expand its addressable opportunities. Healthy cash generation continues to support share repurchases and investment, while device upgrade cycles and growing software adoption strengthen the longer-term outlook.

Among its peers, Honeywell International Inc. (HON - Free Report) and Avery Dennison Corporation (AVY - Free Report) shares have declined 55.5% and 2.6%, respectively, over the same time frame.

ZBRA’s 6-month Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Technical indicators for ZBRA show bullish momentum. The ZBRA stock has been trading above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) since June 22, 2026. It is also currently trading above its 200-day SMA, suggesting a long-term uptrend. The 50-day SMA is also reading higher than the 200-day SMA, following a golden crossover on July 13, 2026, indicating a bullish trend.   

ZBRA Trades Above 50-Day SMA Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Let’s take a look at ZBRA’s fundamentals to analyze the stock better.

ZBRA Rides on Business and Demand StrengthZebra Technologies is witnessing growth across the healthcare, manufacturing and retail & e-commerce end markets. Higher sales of mobile computing solutions are driving the company’s Connected Frontline segment. Revenues from the segment increased 25.9% (up 7.5% organically) year over year in the second quarter of 2026.

Solid demand for printing solutions, machine vision, data capture and RFID products is boosting the Asset Visibility & Automation segment’s performance. In the second quarter of 2026, the segment’s sales increased 13.5% (up 11.4% on an organic basis) on a year-over-year basis.

Zebra Technologies has been advancing digital capabilities, optimizing the supply chain, expanding its data analytics capability and focusing on marketing activities to better engage with customers. Driven by these initiatives and solid demand for its products, the company expects third-quarter 2026 net sales to increase in the band of 17-20% from the prior-year level. The company expects its 2026 revenues to grow 14-16% from the year-ago level.

Accretive Acquisitions Broaden the Addressable MarketZebra Technologies has steadily strengthened its business through acquisitions. In the second quarter of 2026, acquisitions and dispositions contributed 8.7 percentage points to total sales growth. In September 2025, Zebra Technologies completed the acquisition of Elo Touch Solutions, Inc. (Elo). The inclusion of Elo’s expertise in consumer-facing workflow, augmented by its suite of kiosks, edge computing, payment and touchscreen solutions, expands its addressable market by about $8 billion. The transaction expanded Zebra Technologies' reach across retail, healthcare, industrial and hospitality markets. In the second quarter of 2026, Elo delivered growth above management’s expectations, while joint selling efforts expanded the commercial pipeline and generated early customer wins.

In February 2025, Zebra Technologies acquired Photoneo, a market leader in the 3D machine vision solutions industry. The buyout enabled the company to combine Photoneo’s 3D machine vision solutions with its advanced sensors, vendor-agnostic software and AI-based image processing capabilities. This acquisition enhanced Zebra Technologies' portfolio of 3D machine vision solutions and addresses several challenges in high-value applications.

Cash Generation Backs ZBRA’s Shareholder-Friendly ActionsZBRA generated $361 million of free cash flow in the first six months of 2026, up 25.3% year over year. The company now expects full-year 2026 free cash flow of at least $1 billion, up from its prior expectation of at least $900 million. This cash generation supports continued investment, debt flexibility and shareholder returns.

Zebra Technologies has continued rewarding its shareholders. The company repurchased shares worth $568 million in the first six months of 2026. In February 2026, the company’s board of directors approved an additional share repurchase authorization of up to $1 billion. ZBRA expects to repurchase another $150 million of shares in the second half of 2026, bringing total full-year repurchases to roughly $700 million.

What ZBRA’s Earnings Estimates IndicateThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZBRA’s 2026 earnings has been stable over the past 60 days.  The consensus estimate for third-quarter 2026 earnings has also remained unchanged over the same time frame.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings is currently pegged at $21.14, suggesting year-over-year growth of 33.5%. Earnings are expected to register roughly 26.3% growth in the third quarter.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

A Look at ZBRA’s ValuationZBRA has a forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22X, in line with the industry average. It is trading at a discount to Honeywell and at a premium to Avery Dennison. Zebra Technologies has a Value Score of C, while Honeywell and Avery Dennison have a Value Score of B each.

ZBRA’s P/E F12M Vs. Industry, HON and AVY Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Final Thoughts: Buy ZBRA SharesZebra Technologies remains well-positioned for growth, supported by broad demand for mobile computing, printing, machine vision and RFID across key end markets. Acquisitions such as Elo Touch and Photoneo are expanding its addressable market and strengthening automation and AI capabilities. Strong free cash flow enables investments and substantial share repurchases, while bullish technical momentum and healthy earnings growth expectations reinforce the outlook. With a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), ZBRA remains an attractive buy for investors seeking continued growth and long-term upside.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Zebra Technologies (ZBRA - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $6.35 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.35 per share. This compares to earnings of $3.61 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +45.98%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this producer of printers for bar codes, plastic cards and, radio-frequency identification tags would post earnings of $4.21 per share when it actually produced earnings of $4.75, delivering a surprise of +12.83%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

Zebra, which belongs to the Zacks Manufacturing - Thermal Products industry, posted revenues of $1.56 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.90%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.29 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Zebra shares have added about 20.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 11%.

What's Next for Zebra?While Zebra has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Zebra was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $4.55 on $1.49 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $18.57 on $6.05 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Manufacturing - Thermal Products is currently in the top 42% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

One other stock from the broader Zacks Industrial Products sector, Deere (DE - Free Report) , is yet to report results for the quarter ended July 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 20.

This agricultural equipment manufacturer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $4.85 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +2.1%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.5% higher over the last 30 days to the current level.

Deere's revenues are expected to be $10.8 billion, up 4.3% from the year-ago quarter.