Waters (WAT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) is a leading provider of analytical instrumentation and software designed to support scientific research and quality control in laboratories around the world. The company specializes in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), mass spectrometry (MS), and related detectors, consumables and accessories. Waters’ integrated solutions enable scientists to separate, identify and quantify chemical compounds with high accuracy and sensitivity, addressing a wide range of analytical challenges.

Waters’ product portfolio includes chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, detectors, autosamplers, columns and advanced software platforms for data acquisition, processing and reporting. These offerings are complemented by method development support, application training and instrument service, helping customers in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food safety, environmental, chemical, energy and academic research sectors to optimize workflows, ensure compliance and accelerate time to insight.

Founded in 1958 by James L. Waters and headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts, Waters has grown into a global organization with operations in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The company maintains manufacturing facilities, research centers and sales offices in key markets to support local customer needs and foster collaboration with regulatory bodies and research institutions worldwide.

Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Udit Batra, Waters continues to invest in research and development, sustainability initiatives and digital innovation. By combining cutting-edge instrumentation with cloud-enabled software and data analytics, the company aims to advance scientific discovery, enhance laboratory productivity and address the evolving challenges of health, safety and the environment.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $299.17 to $309.30
• 50-Day Range: $277.75 to $356.36
• 52-Week Range: $275.05 to $423.56
• Volume: 504,612 shs
• Average Volume: 559,928 shs
• Market Capitalization: $18.23 billion
• P/E Ratio: 27.62
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $378.73
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Waters Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Waters scored higher than 91% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 104th out of 932 stocks in the medical sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Waters has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.47, and is based on 5 buy ratings, 9 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Waters has a consensus price target of $378.73, representing about 23.7% upside from its current price of $306.28.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Waters has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 9.56%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Waters are expected to grow by 9.56% in the coming year, from $12.86 to $14.09 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Waters is 27.62, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 277.92.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Waters is 27.62, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 76.08.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Waters has a PEG Ratio of 2.79. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Waters has a P/B Ratio of 9.94. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.04% of the float of Waters has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Waters has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Waters has recently increased by 0.84%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Waters does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Waters does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.5 / 5
• Environmental Score: -1.55

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.04% of the float of Waters has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Waters has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.2, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Waters has recently increased by 0.84%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.48

News Sentiment

Waters has a news sentiment score of 0.48. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.72 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 40 news articles for Waters this week, compared to 47 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 1 people have searched for WAT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -75% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 2 people have added Waters to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -33% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Waters insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.63% of the stock of Waters is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

94.01% of the stock of Waters is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WAT Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WAT shares performed this year?

Waters' stock was trading at $370.98 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, WAT stock has decreased by 17.4% and is now trading at $306.28.

How were Waters' earnings last quarter?

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) released its earnings results on Monday, August, 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does Waters have any subsidiaries?

Waters subsidiaries include Andrew Alliance S.A, Andrew Alliance, Rubotherm, MPE Orbur Group Ltd. (UK), ElectroForce, Blue Reference Inc., Baehr Thermoanalyse GmbH, and others.

Who are Waters' major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Waters include Vanguard Group Inc. (12.45%), Alliancebernstein L.P. (6.76%), State Street Corp (4.50%) and Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA (3.13%). Insiders that own company stock include Edward Conard, Christopher A Kuebler, Mark P Vergnano, Linda Baddour and Richard H Fearon.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Waters?

Shares of WAT stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Waters own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Waters investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Humana (HUM), Waste Connections (WCN), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), The RMR Group (RMR), AU Optronics (AUOTY) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/04/2025
• Today: 9/06/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/07/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Medical
• Industry: MED INSTRUMENTS
• Sub-Industry: Life Sciences Tools & Services
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WAT
• CIK: 1000697
• Web: www.waters.com
• Phone: (508) 478-2000
• Fax: 508-872-1990
• Employees: 7,600
• Year Founded: 1958

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Waters: $378.73
• High Price Target: $465.00
• Low Price Target: $315.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +23.7%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.47
• Research Coverage: 15 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $11.09
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 27.62
• Forward P/E Ratio: 23.82
• P/E Growth: 2.79
• Net Income: $637.83 million
• Net Margins: 21.71%
• Pretax Margin: 25.97%
• Return on Equity: 38.60%
• Return on Assets: 15.87%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.55
• Current Ratio: 1.75
• Quick Ratio: 1.22

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.05 billion
• Price / Sales: 5.99
• Cash Flow: $15.45 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 19.82
• Book Value: $30.80 per share
• Price / Book: 9.94

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 59,524,000
• Free Float: 59,149,000
• Market Cap: $18.23 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.07