Free Trial

Waters (WAT) Competitors

Waters logo
$335.58 +0.71 (+0.21%)
Closing price 10/17/2025 03:59 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$334.68 -0.90 (-0.27%)
As of 10/17/2025 04:53 PM Eastern
Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.

WAT vs. BRKR, TECH, A, DHR, IQV, MTD, RVTY, TMO, ILMN, and CRL

Should you be buying Waters stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Waters include Bruker (BRKR), Bio-Techne (TECH), Agilent Technologies (A), Danaher (DHR), IQVIA (IQV), Mettler-Toledo International (MTD), Revvity (RVTY), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Illumina (ILMN), and Charles River Laboratories International (CRL).

Waters vs. Its Competitors

Waters (NYSE:WAT) and Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) are both life sciences tools & services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Waters has a net margin of 21.71% compared to Bruker's net margin of 2.31%. Waters' return on equity of 38.60% beat Bruker's return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Waters21.71% 38.60% 15.87%
Bruker 2.31%17.89%5.38%

Waters has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bruker. Waters is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bruker, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Waters$2.96B6.75$637.83M$11.0930.26
Bruker$3.37B1.67$113.10M$0.5271.12

Waters presently has a consensus target price of $376.80, indicating a potential upside of 12.28%. Bruker has a consensus target price of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.91%. Given Bruker's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bruker is more favorable than Waters.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Waters
0 Sell rating(s)
9 Hold rating(s)
6 Buy rating(s)
2 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.59
Bruker
1 Sell rating(s)
5 Hold rating(s)
5 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.36

94.0% of Waters shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Bruker shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Waters shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.3% of Bruker shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

In the previous week, Waters had 17 more articles in the media than Bruker. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for Waters and 19 mentions for Bruker. Waters' average media sentiment score of 0.30 beat Bruker's score of 0.14 indicating that Waters is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment
Waters
12 Very Positive mention(s)
4 Positive mention(s)
12 Neutral mention(s)
4 Negative mention(s)
4 Very Negative mention(s)
Neutral
Bruker
7 Very Positive mention(s)
1 Positive mention(s)
2 Neutral mention(s)
1 Negative mention(s)
0 Very Negative mention(s)
Neutral

Waters has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bruker has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Waters beats Bruker on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

Get Waters News Delivered to You Automatically

Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for WAT and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.

Subscribe Now
By entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy.

New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WAT and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip Chart

Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart

WAT vs. The Competition

MetricWatersMED INSTRUMENTS IndustryMedical SectorNYSE Exchange
Market Cap$19.92B$7.09B$6.15B$21.82B
Dividend YieldN/A1.16%5.72%3.62%
P/E Ratio30.2619.5664.2329.79
Price / Sales6.7527.79612.7860.43
Price / Cash22.1222.3225.8218.06
Price / Book10.905.1512.224.59
Net Income$637.83M$179.79M$3.33B$1.01B
7 Day Performance1.16%0.20%1.17%1.31%
1 Month Performance11.33%1.97%6.85%-0.93%
1 Year Performance-3.69%1.75%58.93%9.51%

Waters Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
WAT
Waters
4.3951 of 5 stars
$335.58
+0.2%
$376.80
+12.3%
-3.7%$19.92B$2.96B30.267,600
BRKR
Bruker
4.9303 of 5 stars
$36.23
+2.7%
$51.00
+40.8%
-40.8%$5.50B$3.44B69.6711,396News Coverage
Positive News
Analyst Revision
TECH
Bio-Techne
4.7267 of 5 stars
$59.65
+1.7%
$70.17
+17.6%
-13.2%$9.29B$1.22B129.683,100News Coverage
Analyst Forecast
Analyst Revision
A
Agilent Technologies
4.6364 of 5 stars
$138.43
+1.3%
$148.69
+7.4%
+2.3%$39.24B$6.79B32.4917,900News Coverage
Positive News
Analyst Forecast
Analyst Revision
DHR
Danaher
4.9651 of 5 stars
$205.36
+1.4%
$244.60
+19.1%
-23.8%$147.05B$24.01B43.6963,000Trending News
Upcoming Earnings
Analyst Forecast
Analyst Revision
IQV
IQVIA
4.7558 of 5 stars
$203.95
+2.9%
$236.45
+15.9%
-13.6%$34.67B$15.70B29.5288,000Positive News
MTD
Mettler-Toledo International
4.225 of 5 stars
$1,289.13
+1.2%
$1,336.50
+3.7%
-1.7%$26.56B$3.87B32.6417,300Positive News
RVTY
Revvity
3.8165 of 5 stars
$91.13
+3.2%
$117.93
+29.4%
-21.8%$10.58B$2.76B38.6111,000News Coverage
Analyst Forecast
TMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific
4.7913 of 5 stars
$524.80
flat
$593.43
+13.1%
-10.4%$198.17B$42.88B30.35125,000Trending News
Upcoming Earnings
Analyst Forecast
Analyst Revision
ILMN
Illumina
4.8285 of 5 stars
$95.03
+1.2%
$123.56
+30.0%
-34.6%$14.61B$4.28B12.039,030Analyst Revision
CRL
Charles River Laboratories International
4.4456 of 5 stars
$170.85
+2.3%
$179.93
+5.3%
-9.8%$8.41B$4.03B-128.4620,100Analyst Upgrade
Analyst Revision

Related Companies and Tools


This page (NYSE:WAT) was last updated on 10/19/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
From Our Partners