Stock · WAT · Healthcare
United States · Large Cap · listed since 1995 · Revenue 12 mo. $4.6B
Price as of 11/06/2026
Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The company operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and supports products, including chromatography columns, and other consumable products. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer goods, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. In addition, the company offers MS technology, which is used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. Its products are used by clinical, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. The company was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts.
Original text from the data provider
Summary
44.7 of 100
Mean of the six area values. Each area value is the mean of the stock's ranks among the companies in its sector. 50 is the middle of the sector, not a share of companies beaten.
Analysis
What the price requires
If free cash flow stays at €484.4M (2025), it supports €5.4B. The remaining €36.1B of the market value assume it grows 28.6% a year for 10 years and not at all afterwards.
Required FCF growth per year
28.6%
no growth afterwards
Price to operating cash flow 81.7×, above its usual range.
Middle half of 20 quarters: 27.7× to 31.5×, median 29.0×.
Measures only against its own past, not against what the company is worth. Price as of 11/06/2026.
with respect to the priced-in expectation
with respect to the priced-in expectation
Since the last quarter
Q1 → Q2 2026
2 more unchanged: Net debt, Return on equity
Derivation
Each area value is the average of its metrics' ranks within the sector (0 to 100, 50 is the middle). For metrics where lower is better, the rank is mirrored. The overall value is the average of the area values.
Price as of 11/06/2026.
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 25.09% | 11.52% | Rank 84 |
| Return on capital (Greenblatt) | 54.77% | 32.55% | Rank 72 |
| EBIT margin | 28.22% | 18.31% | Rank 80 |
| FCF margin | 17.05% | 14.12% | Rank 61 |
| Gross margin | 57.77% | 60.99% | Rank 46 |
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth, 1 year | 6.99% | 8.04% | Rank 45 |
| Earnings growth, 3 years per year | −2.83% | 5.44% | Rank 29 |
| Earnings growth, 5 years per year | 5.19% | 7.00% | Rank 42 |
| Sustainable growth (ROE × retained earnings) | 3.56% | 3.66% | Rank 47 |
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings yield | 2.35% | 2.90% | Rank 34 |
| FCF yield | 1.17% | 3.63% | Rank 14 |
| EV/saleslower is better | 14.90 | 4.03 | Rank 8 |
| EV/EBITlower is better | 52.79 | 21.73 | Rank 6 |
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share price, 1 year | 13.68% | 8.66% | Rank 57 |
| Share price, 6 months | 29.34% | 24.27% | Rank 64 |
| Share price, 3 months | 17.60% | 15.42% | Rank 56 |
| Distance from 52-week high | −4.68% | −7.35% | Rank 61 |
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accruals (Sloan)lower is better | 2.96% | 0.30% | Rank 28 |
| Change in share countlower is better | 0.26% | 0.00% | Rank 24 |
| Dividend streak in years | – | 10 | Rank 13 |
| Price reaction to results, market-adjusted | 4.05% | 0.05% | Rank 81 |
| Metric | Stock | Sector median | Position in sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity ratio | 50.45% | 48.40% | Rank 53 |
| Net debt/EBITDAlower is better | 0.89 | 1.11 | Rank 55 |
| Debt to equitylower is better | 0.58 | 0.48 | Rank 46 |
| Volatility, 1 yearlower is better | 35.52% | 31.42% | Rank 36 |
Ten years in figures
| Year | Revenue, $B | EBIT margin | FCF, $M | Shares | Net debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2.2 | 28.8% | 534.1 | 81.4M | $1.3B |
| 2017 | 2.3 | 28.7% | 607.2 | 80.6M | $1.4B |
| 2018 | 2.4 | 30.6% | 476.9 | 77.6M | $352.1M |
| 2019 | 2.4 | 29.4% | 479.3 | 68.2M | $1.3B |
| 2020 | 2.4 | 27.3% | 618.1 | 62.4M | $919.8M |
| 2021 | 2.8 | 29.5% | 579.0 | 62.0M | $1.0B |
| 2022 | 3.0 | 29.4% | 428.2 | 60.3M | $1.2B |
| 2023 | 3.0 | 27.7% | 442.2 | 59.3M | $2.0B |
| 2024 | 3.0 | 27.9% | 619.6 | 59.6M | $1.4B |
| 2025 | 3.2 | 28.2% | 539.8 | 59.7M | $903.3M |
3 of 7 StockScorer Score rules met · How the score is built
Waters Corporation mainly meets criteria in the Profitability category. Result from 18 strategies checked.
Waters Corporation is rated here with the StockScorer Score strategy, the flagship rule set. It compares return and cash-flow metrics with the median of the company's own sector and checks growth and price trend.
3 of 7 rules met
5 of 11 points
Detail data
Excerpt from 18 strategies checked. The full evaluation is visible after a free sign-up.
With a free account, you can see the match across all strategies checked in one complete overview.
Selected fundamental metrics for Waters Corporation.
| Metric | Stock | Sector |
|---|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 42.5 | 30.0 |
| P/B ratio | 10.7 | 4.8 |
| Return on equity (ROE) | 25.1% | 11.5% |
| Equity ratio | 50.5% | 48.4% |
| Debt-to-equity (D/E) | 0.58 | 0.48 |
| Dividend yield | 0.0% | 1.3% |
How comparable stocks in the same sector score in the StockScorer model.
| Symbol | Company | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| WAT | Waters Corporationthis page | |
| IQV | IQVIA Holdings Inc | Low4.5 |
| NTRA | Natera Inc | locked |
| IDXX | IDEXX Laboratories Inc | Medium5.5 |
| A | Agilent Technologies Inc | locked |
| ILMN | Illumina Inc | locked |
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