Waters (NYSE:WAT) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $11.75-12.05 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $11.88. The company issued revenue guidance of +0-2% yr/yr to ~$2.96-3.02 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.98 billion. Waters also updated its Q2 guidance to $2.50-2.60 EPS.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT traded up $6.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $326.06. The stock had a trading volume of 991,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,540. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. Waters has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $363.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $815.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $298.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.