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Waters
(NYSE:WAT)
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Rating:61Neutral
Price Target:
$460.00
▲(9.20% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:08/04/26
WAT scores as moderately attractive overall: the biggest offsetting forces are mixed financial performance (strong TTM growth and cash flow but notable margin/return deterioration and balance-sheet metric volatility) versus a very positive earnings outlook with raised guidance and cost-savings execution. Technicals are mildly supportive, while the high P/E leaves less room for error and meaningfully caps the score.
Positive Factors
Recurring revenue model
Waters combines higher-value instrument sales with recurring consumables, software, and service revenue. Once customers standardize methods on its platforms, ongoing purchases can deepen account relationships, improve revenue visibility, and support durable cash generation over multiple years.
Negative Factors
Profitability deterioration
The sharp decline in net margin shows that recent revenue growth has not translated proportionally into profitability. Lower EBIT and EBITDA margins may reflect higher costs or mix pressure, reducing earnings resilience and making future growth more dependent on successful cost control and operating improvement.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Recurring revenue model
Waters combines higher-value instrument sales with recurring consumables, software, and service revenue. Once customers standardize methods on its platforms, ongoing purchases can deepen account relationships, improve revenue visibility, and support durable cash generation over multiple years.
Read all positive factors
Waters Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Total Recurring Revenue
Measures the revenue from ongoing customer subscriptions or services, indicating the stability and predictability of the company’s income stream.
Measures the revenue from ongoing customer subscriptions or services, indicating the stability and predictability of the company’s income stream.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyWaters (WAT) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$42.62B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)690.81K
Price to Earnings (P/E)107.9
Beta (1Y)0.86
Revenue Growth52.47%
EPS Growth-63.86%
CountryUS
Employees7,900
SectorHealthcare
Sector Strength45
IndustryMedical - Diagnostics & Research
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)4.02
Shares Outstanding98,248,110
10 Day Avg. Volume825,096
30 Day Avg. Volume690,806
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio75.61
Price to Book (P/B)8.83
Price to Sales (P/S)7.14
P/FCF Ratio41.87
Enterprise Value/Market Cap0.99
Enterprise Value/Revenue9.08
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit17.88
Enterprise Value/Ebitda44.35
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$458.44Price Target Upside8.83% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering17
EPS Forecast (FY)14.58
Revenue Forecast (FY)$6.46B
Waters Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Waters Corporation is a global leader in specialized measurement, delivering analytical solutions across Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The company operates through two main divisions: Waters and TA. Under its Waters segment, it engineers, manufa...
How the Company Makes Money
Waters primarily makes money by selling analytical instrumentation and then generating recurring revenue from the installed base through consumables and services. Key revenue streams include: (1) Instrument sales: Revenue from capital equipment su...
Waters Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Aug 04, 2026
(Q2-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Nov 03, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveys a strongly positive operational and financial momentum: revenue beats, multiple high-impact product launches, accelerating performance in the acquired BD businesses (mid-single-digit growth and improving quarter-to-quarter), completed cost actions with significant run-rate savings, and raised full-year guidance. Offsetting risks are notable but manageable in the near term — acquisition accounting produced a GAAP loss, FX and China/DRG-related headwinds pressured some reported results, and integration-related cash outflows and contract remediation remain work in progress. Taken together, the highlights (organic growth outperformance, raised guidance, product-driven replacement opportunities, and meaningful cost synergies) materially outweigh the lowlights, though execution in China, reagent contract remediation and FX remain watch points.Positive Updates
Total Company Revenue and Organic Growth
Q2 reported revenue $1.645B; organic revenue $828M. Organic revenue grew 7% as reported and 9% in constant currency versus Q2 2025, exceeding the high end of currency guidance by ~100 bps.
Negative Updates
GAAP Loss and Acquisition Accounting Charges
GAAP diluted loss per share of $(1.39) in Q2 reflecting acquisition-related purchase accounting charges, including amortization of acquired intangibles and inventory step-up.
Read all updates
Q2-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Total Company Revenue and Organic Growth
Q2 reported revenue $1.645B; organic revenue $828M. Organic revenue grew 7% as reported and 9% in constant currency versus Q2 2025, exceeding the high end of currency guidance by ~100 bps.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Waters raised every component of its 2026 outlook: organic constant‑currency revenue is now guided to +7% to +9% (FX now a ~60 bps headwind, implying organic reported revenue of $3.370B–$3.431B), Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions are expected to generate ~$3.045B of reported revenue (a $10M raise, net of ~$15M FX headwind), and total company reported revenue is targeted at ~$6.415B–$6.476B based on current FX. Full‑year adjusted EBIT margin is expected at 28.2% (Amol noted a $20M overachievement from 2026 cost actions), net interest expense about $190M, tax rate ~15.5%, and adjusted EPS $14.45–$14.65 (up 10%–12% YoY, 12%–14% in CC). For Q3, organic constant‑currency growth is guided to 8%–10% (organic reported $850M–$867M), Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions revenue ≈ $895M, total reported revenue $1.745B–$1.762B, and adjusted EPS $3.95–$4.05 (≈16%–19% growth). Management said the midpoint implies a 3.6% Q2→Q3 quarter‑over‑quarter step‑up (and a 12.8% Q3→Q4 step‑up), both conservatively below recent seasonality, and that cost actions will contribute ~$25M of adjusted operating income in Q3 and ~$50M in Q4 (≈$75M combined in 2H), with ~$75M cumulative savings expected in 2026 and roughly $200M of expected run‑rate savings.Waters Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
62
Positive
Balance Sheet
48
Neutral
Cash Flow
56
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 4.64B | 3.17B | 2.96B | 2.96B | 2.97B | 2.79B |
| Gross Profit | 2.36B | 1.83B | 1.76B | 1.76B | 1.72B | 1.63B |
| EBITDA | 950.77M | 1.01B | 1.04B | 1.00B | 1.02B | 982.81M |
| Net Income | 166.14M | 642.63M | 637.83M | 642.23M | 707.75M | 692.84M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 24.75B | 5.08B | 4.55B | 4.63B | 3.28B | 3.09B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 539.00M | 587.83M | 325.36M | 395.97M | 481.39M | 569.28M |
| Total Debt | 5.25B | 1.49B | 1.70B | 2.44B | 1.66B | 1.60B |
| Total Liabilities | 9.56B | 2.52B | 2.73B | 3.48B | 2.78B | 2.73B |
| Stockholders Equity | 15.20B | 2.56B | 1.83B | 1.15B | 504.49M | 367.55M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 398.45M | 539.81M | 619.64M | 442.18M | 428.20M | 579.01M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 549.86M | 652.55M | 762.12M | 602.81M | 611.66M | 747.27M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 29.35M | -152.25M | -144.02M | -1.44B | -107.97M | -231.63M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -399.93M | -237.21M | -696.67M | 754.95M | -509.63M | -438.27M |
Waters Technical Analysis
Positive
421.26
Price Trends
415.90
Positive
391.52
Positive
364.95
Positive
Market Momentum
6.20
Positive
56.07
Neutral
33.63
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For WAT, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 421.26 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 429.15, above the 50-day MA of 415.90, and above the 200-day MA of 364.95, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 6.20 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 56.07 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 33.63 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for WAT.
Waters Risk Analysis
Waters disclosed 2 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Waters reported the most risks in the "Legal & Regulatory" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Waters Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (51)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
76 Outperform | $243.30B | 35.34 | 13.35% | 0.28% | 7.23% | 7.47% | |
75 Outperform | $48.08B | 33.50 | 20.47% | 0.60% | 8.60% | 19.07% | |
75 Outperform | $31.06B | 34.80 | -1199.91% | ― | 6.91% | 12.43% | |
72 Outperform | $154.52B | 38.92 | 7.66% | 0.69% | 4.56% | 19.34% | |
69 Neutral | $17.20B | 73.42 | 3.27% | 0.18% | 4.05% | -10.40% | |
61 Neutral | $42.62B | 107.90 | 1.88% | ― | 52.47% | -63.86% | |
51 Neutral | $7.86B | -0.30 | -43.30% | 2.27% | 22.53% | -2.21% |
* Healthcare Sector Average
WAT
Waters
433.77
97.44
28.97%
A
Agilent
170.54
33.34
24.30%
DHR
Danaher
219.81
16.17
7.94%
MTD
Mettler-Toledo
1,549.99
265.25
20.65%
RVTY
Revvity
154.18
63.45
69.93%
TMO
Thermo Fisher
658.02
135.28
25.88%
Waters Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Waters Announces Leadership Change in Analytical Sciences Division
Neutral
Aug 21, 2026
On August 17, 2026, Waters Corporation announced that Robert L. Carpio III had decided to resign from his role as Senior Vice President of the Waters Analytical Sciences Division to pursue other opportunities, relinquishing his duties effective Au...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.