New York, Feb 17, 2026, 16:01 EST — After-hours
- Masimo shares jumped, closing in on Danaher’s $180 a share cash bid.
- Danaher shares dropped as investors digested the company’s unusual move further into medtech
- Attention shifts now to financing specifics, the path to deal sign-off, and Masimo’s results due out Feb. 26.
Masimo (MASI) surged roughly 34% Tuesday, finishing at $174.87, after Danaher (DHR) said it would acquire the patient-monitoring company for $180 per share, all cash. Danaher slipped about 3.4% to $205.26 in late trading. The deal, valued at $9.9 billion, is on track to close in the second half of 2026. (Reuters)
Why now? Danaher’s moving to expand its growth drivers, tapping into hospital monitoring—a shift from its usual lab and drug-development toolkit. Investors like to see fresh revenue streams, especially when research budgets get choppy. Still, if a deal comes off as a strategic sidestep, markets don’t hesitate to mark it down.
Look at the tape: Masimo is still trading a few bucks under the offer price. That gap tends to signal the market is factoring in time value, plus the possibility the deal could hit a snag or stall out.
A “premium” refers to the amount a buyer puts on top of the most recent traded price. Danaher expects the acquisition to be “accretive”—so, after the deal wraps up and expenses shake out, the company anticipates a bump in earnings per share.
“We are excited to welcome the Masimo team to Danaher,” CEO Rainer Blair said. Masimo will operate as its own unit under Danaher’s Diagnostics division, the company said, with an expected adjusted earnings-per-share boost of $0.15 to $0.20 in the first full year post-close—growing to around $0.70 by year five. Danaher also pointed to more than $125 million in yearly cost synergies and over $50 million in annual revenue synergies by year five. The acquisition will be funded with cash and debt, the company added. (Danaher Corporation Investors)
Katie Szyman, Masimo’s CEO, described the company as the “global leader in patient monitoring.” Board chair Michelle Brennan pointed to the deal, saying it offers “certain and premium value” for shareholders. Masimo said both companies’ boards have signed off on the transaction. The company plans to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on Feb. 26, but won’t be holding an earnings call due to the pending deal. (Business Wire)
Masimo’s bread and butter is non-invasive monitoring—think pulse oximetry sensors checking blood-oxygen levels, plus the hospital systems that connect it all. Danaher’s move drops them into a space where both scale and manufacturing consistency are critical, but hospital budgets tend to move at a crawl.
The deal isn’t done yet—regulators still have to sign off, and Masimo shareholders haven’t weighed in. Danaher backers, for their part, are looking for details on both the debt burden and integration expenses. If approval drags out or those touted synergies begin to look shaky, the spread between Masimo’s market price and the $180 bid could easily get wider.
Next up for investors: the financing plan, proxy filings ahead of the shareholder vote, and Masimo’s Feb. 26 results—those should give a clearer picture of the business before the deal proceeds.
