WAT
Waters Corporation
WAT's fundamentals are mixed, but it looks expensive: trading at 198x earnings, about seven times its usual 30x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
WAT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Unavailable | |
| Under pressure |
WAT's revenue is currently strong, and its profitability is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its cash flow.
WAT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 25x | $59.10 | -87% |
| Forward | 29x | $462 | — |
| Fair | 30x | $69.21 | -85% |
| Expensive | 36x | $83.13 | -82% |
| Current | 198x | $462 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WAT's PE is in its expensive range at 198x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
WAT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WAT, but weaker profitability.
WAT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $15.99 | +586% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.33 | -79% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.01 | -64% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.87 | -29% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.77 | +0.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.88 | +3.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.09 | +10% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.02 | +8.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.71 | -1.3% |
WAT's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $2.33 over the past year, against $11.75 in late 2022.
WAT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.8B | +121% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +113% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.3B | +91% |
| Q4 2025 | $932.4M | +6.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $799.9M | +8% |
| Q2 2025 | $771.3M | +8.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $661.7M | +3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $872.7M | +6.5% |
WAT's revenue has grown year over year for nine quarters in a row: $1.8B last quarter, up 121% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.2% | -17 points |
| Q2 2026 | -5.2% | -30 points |
| Q1 2026 | -3.7% | -27 points |
| Q4 2025 | 29% | -4.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | -4.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -2.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 23% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 33% | +1.3 points |
WAT's operating margin was 7.2% last quarter, down 17 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
WAT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $54M | -71% |
| Q2 2026 | $153M | +272% |
| Q1 2026 | -$42M | -116% |
| Q3 2025 | $187.3M | -8.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $41.1M | -25% |
| Q1 2025 | $259.6M | -1.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $240.1M | +4.4% |
| Q3 2024 | $204.6M | +30% |
WAT still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2020 peak: $352M over the past year.
WAT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +66% | +39.2M shares |
| 1 year | +66% | +39.3M shares |
| 3 years | +67% | +39.7M shares |
| 5 years | +58% | +36.4M shares |
| Available history | +54% | +34.7M shares |
WAT has 99M diluted shares, up 66% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1M |
| Q2 2026 | $2M |
| Q1 2026 | $12M |
| Q4 2025 | $144,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $214,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $375,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $13.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $66,000 |
WAT has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
WAT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 4.6x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.5x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
WAT's net debt is about 3.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
WAT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 71.2 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 79.0 | Neutral |
WAT's weekly RSI is 71 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 79 (neutral).
WAT PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | WAT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 198x | 26x | 667% above |
| PE % | 100 | 29 | 71 pts above |
WAT is trading at 198x earnings, a 667% premium to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x.
WAT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $445.7 | 3.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $416.3 | 11% above |
| 50 week MA | $375.3 | 23% above |
| 100 week MA | $361.7 | 28% above |
| 200 week MA | $336.3 | 37% above |
WAT is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 37% above its 200-week average.
WAT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $233.8 | $247.1 | +5.7% |
| 2021 | $247.1 | $361.7 | +46% |
| 2022 | $361.7 | $346.7 | -4.2% |
| 2023 | $346.7 | $329.2 | -5% |
| 2024 | $329.2 | $374.6 | +14% |
| 2025 | $374.6 | $386.1 | +3.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $386.1 | $462.2 | +20% |
WAT has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 20% so far in 2026.