Waters
Supplies analytical instruments, diagnostics, consumables, and service for regulated laboratory workflows.
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Profile
Sells analytical instruments, diagnostic systems, consumables, reagents, software, and service to regulated laboratories worldwide. Four divisions span chromatography and mass spectrometry, flow cytometry and single-cell analysis, infectious-disease diagnostics, and materials characterization, with recurring consumables and service tied to an installed instrument base.
Builds laboratory systems across four divisions: Analytical Sciences supplies liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, light-scattering instruments, precision chemistry consumables, informatics, and service; Biosciences adds flow cytometry, reagents, and single-cell multiomics. Advanced Diagnostics covers microbiology, molecular and point-of-care testing, while Materials Sciences provides thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry.
Serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical laboratories, hospitals, industrial and food-testing labs, universities, and public agencies worldwide. Revenue comes from instrument systems plus recurring consumables, reagents, software, support plans, parts, and field service, tying customer workflows to a broad installed base.
Operates in validation-sensitive research, quality-control, and clinical settings. Demand depends on customer capital and research budgets, government funding, diagnostic reimbursement, regulatory clearance, and continued integration of the acquired BD businesses.
Company facts
Key statistics
Year to date +8.5% · Average volume (30d) 859.4K
Analysts
Ratings
Target range
Latest analyst notes
| Date | Firm | Action | Prior rating | Rating | Prior target | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | Piper Sandler | Upgrade | Neutral | Overweight | $400 | $480 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Morgan Stanley | Target | $390 | $430 | ||
| Aug 5, 2026 | Deutsche Bank | Reiterate | Hold | $350 | $400 | |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Evercore ISI | Reiterate | Outperform | $410 | $420 | |
| Aug 5, 2026 | RBC Capital | Reiterate | Outperform | $435 | $475 |
Earnings
EPS
Revenue
History
| Report date | EPS est | EPS | Surprise | Revenue est | Revenue | Surprise | Next session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026Q2 FY26 | $3.01 | $3.05 | +1.3% | $1.62B | $1.65B | +1.4% | +5.69% |
| May 5, 2026Q1 FY26 | $2.31 | $2.70 | +16.9% | $1.20B | $1.27B | +5.3% | +2.04% |
| Feb 9, 2026Q4 FY25 | $4.51 | $4.53 | +0.4% | $928.3M | $932.4M | +0.4% | −0.34% |
| Nov 4, 2025Q3 FY25 | $3.21 | $3.40 | +5.9% | $781.0M | $799.9M | +2.4% | +1.26% |
Financial highlights
| 12 quarters | Q1 FY25 | Q2 FY25 | Q3 FY25 | Q4 FY25 | Q1 FY26 | Q2 FY26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $661.7M | $771.3M | $799.9M | $932.4M | $1.27B | $1.65B | |
| Gross profit | $385.0M | $449.9M | $472.1M | $557.4M | $595.0M | $734.0M | |
| Operating income | $151.7M | $188.2M | $192.1M | $310.6M | −$47.0M | −$86.0M | |
| Net income | $121.4M | $147.1M | $148.9M | $225.2M | −$72.0M | −$136.0M | |
| Diluted EPS | $2.03 | $2.47 | $2.50 | $3.77 | −$0.87 | −$1.39 | |
| Gross margin | 58.2% | 58.3% | 59.0% | 59.8% | 47.0% | 44.6% | |
| Operating margin | 22.9% | 24.4% | 24.0% | 33.3% | -3.7% | -5.2% |
Fiscal years (4-quarter sums)FY21 $2.79B · FY22 $2.97B · FY23 $2.96B · FY24 $2.96B · FY25 $3.17B
Revenue by product · Q4 FY25
Revenue by geography · Q2 FY26
Balance sheet, Jul 4, 2026Cash & short-term investments $539.0M · Total debt $5.25B · Total assets $24.75B · Shareholders' equity $15.20B
Dividends
No dividends on record.
Ownership
A 13F quarter can total more than the shares outstanding — sub-advisers file the same block twice, and a filer's own share count can be a quarter stale. No split is drawn from it.
Shares outstanding 74.79M · Float 74.70M · 99.9% free float
Top shareholders13F · 13D/G · Form 4
| Holder | Shares | % outstanding | Form | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock, Inc. | 8.48M | 11.34% | 13F | Aug 7, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management LLC | 6.42M | 8.58% | 13F | Aug 13, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management LLC | 4.74M | 6.34% | 13F | Aug 13, 2026 |
| Massachusetts Financial Services Co /MA/ | 4.63M | 6.18% | 13F | Aug 3, 2026 |
| State Street Corp | 4.38M | 5.86% | 13F | Aug 7, 2026 |
Insider tradesForm 4
| Date | Insider | Role | Shares | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Christopher A. Kuebler | director | −3,626 | $397.94 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Wei Jiang | director | +500 | $289.46 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Richard H. Fearon | director | +1,000 | $306.34 |
Peers
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
Broad LC/MS, diagnostics, and lab-services overlap
- Agilent Technologies
Direct LC, LC-MS, consumables, service, and diagnostics overlap
- Danaher
SCIEX, Phenomenex, Beckman, and Cepheid overlap across divisions
- Revvity
Diagnostics and life-science workflow overlap
- Bruker
Mass spectrometry, materials, NMR, and microbiology overlap
- Cytek
Focused flow-cytometry and cell-analysis overlap
CompareAfter-hours close
| Company | Price | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waters | $414.33 | −0.03% | $31.02B | 103.4 | 26.5 | 6.7 | +113.3% |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | $620.01 | −0.32% | $231.22B | 33.5 | 23.7 | 5.0 | +10.5% |
| Agilent Technologies | $153.84 | +0.02% | $43.45B | 30.3 | 23.8 | 5.9 | +8.1% |
| Danaher | $215.50 | −0.25% | $151.89B | 38.4 | 24.3 | 6.0 | +5.5% |
| Revvity | $127.20 | −1.25% | $14.37B | 61.3 | 22.9 | 4.9 | −1.3% |
| Bruker | $57.08 | +0.04% | $8.69B | — | 25.2 | 2.5 | +5.2% |
| Cytek | $4.68 | −0.21% | $604.4M | — | — | 2.9 | +5.6% |
| Median | 35.9 | 23.8 | 5.0 | +5.6% |