Waters (WAT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers. The company operates through a global sales and service network, supporting customers across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets with regional offices, distribution partners and application support teams.

Founded in 1958, Waters has a history as a specialist in separation and analytical science and has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts, the company emphasizes innovation in instrumentation and informatics and pairs product sales with laboratory services and consumables to provide end-to-end analytical solutions. Waters’ ongoing focus is on enabling more precise, reliable and efficient analytical workflows for regulated and research environments worldwide.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $334.18 to $343.78
• 50-Day Range: $289.38 to $355.12
• 52-Week Range: $275.05 to $414.15
• Volume: 594,659 shs
• Average Volume: 1.12 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $33.35 billion
• P/E Ratio: 43.16
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $396.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Waters Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Waters scored higher than 85% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 101st out of 867 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: 3.7 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Waters has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.75, and is based on 3 strong buy ratings, 9 buy ratings, 8 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Waters has a consensus price target of $396.00, representing about 16.6% upside from its current price of $339.64.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Waters has been the subject of 9 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 13.86%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Waters are expected to grow by 13.86% in the coming year, from $14.50 to $16.51 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Waters is 43.16, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 39.09.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Waters is 43.16, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Medical sector average P/E ratio of about 20.88.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Waters has a PEG Ratio of 2.16. 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 2.18. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.50% 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 3.55, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Waters has recently decreased by 8.11%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

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.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.08

News Sentiment

Waters has a news sentiment score of 1.08. 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 higher news sentiment than the 0.47 average news sentiment score of Medical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 4 news articles for Waters this week, compared to 11 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 9 people have searched for WAT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -36% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

2 people have added Waters to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Insider Trading: Acquiring Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Waters insiders have bought more of their company's stock than they have sold. Specifically, they have bought $144,730.00 in company stock and sold $0.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.31% 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.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 5/05/2026
• Today: 5/26/2026
• Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference 2026: 6/03/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/03/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

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: 7,900
• Year Founded: 1958

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Waters: $396.00
• High Price Target: $480.00
• Low Price Target: $345.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +16.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.75
• Research Coverage: 20 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $7.87
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 43.16
• Forward P/E Ratio: 23.42
• P/E Growth: 2.16
• Net Income: $642.63 million
• Net Margins: 11.91%
• Pretax Margin: 13.89%
• Return on Equity: 15.60%
• Return on Assets: 8.90%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.32
• Current Ratio: 1.79
• Quick Ratio: 1.13

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.17 billion
• Price / Sales: 10.54
• Cash Flow: $16.50 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 20.59
• Book Value: $155.74 per share
• Price / Book: 2.18

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 98,190,000
• Free Float: 97,882,000
• Market Cap: $33.35 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.14