| Snowflake Score | |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 1/6 |
| Future Growth | 2/6 |
| Past Performance | 4/6 |
| Financial Health | 3/6 |
| Dividends | 0/6 |
WAT Overview
Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
Waters Competitors
Price History & Performance
| Historical stock prices | |
|---|---|
| Current Share Price | US$402.11 |
| 52 Week High | US$187.31 |
| 52 Week Low | US$428.22 |
| Beta | 0.80 |
| 1 Month Change | -0.04% |
| 3 Month Change | 19.05% |
| 1 Year Change | 112.04% |
| 3 Year Change | 105.83% |
| 5 Year Change | 157.20% |
| Change since IPO | 10,534.31% |
Recent News & Updates
Waters (NYSE:WAT) Could Easily Take On More Debt
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of...
Waters Back On The Right Path, But The Valuation Is Well Down The Road
Waters' new CEO has the company on a much better path and addressing the strategic and execution deficiencies that have led to share loss, missed opportunities, and relative underperformance. New product introductions should restore momentum in QA/QC, as well as provide leverage to growth opportunities in areas like proteomics. Circling back with established customers to drive a refresh of the installed instrument base and improved consumables attach rates is a low-risk opportunity to generate sales and margin leverage. The new plan at Waters should generate above-peer revenue and FCF growth, but the stock already more than anticipates those improvements.
Shareholder Returns
| WAT | US Life Sciences | US Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7D | 0.6% | 3.2% | -0.5% |
| 1Y | 112.0% | 59.6% | 37.5% |
Return vs Industry: WAT exceeded the US Life Sciences industry which returned 58.3% over the past year.
Return vs Market: WAT exceeded the US Market which returned 36.2% over the past year.
Price Volatility
| WAT volatility | |
|---|---|
| WAT Beta | 0.80 |
| Industry Beta | 0.97 |
| Market Beta | 1 |
Stable Share Price: WAT is less volatile than 75% of US stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 3% a week.
Volatility Over Time: WAT's weekly volatility (3%) has been stable over the past year.
About the Company
| Founded | Employees | CEO | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 7,400 | Udit Batra | https://www.waters.com |
Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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.
Waters Fundamentals Summary
| WAT fundamental statistics | |
|---|---|
| Market Cap | US$24.27b |
| Earnings (TTM) | US$660.50m |
| Revenue (TTM) | US$2.67b |
37.4x
P/E Ratio9.2x
P/S RatioIs WAT overvalued?
See Fair Value and valuation analysisEarnings & Revenue
| WAT income statement (TTM) | |
|---|---|
| Revenue | US$2.67b |
| Cost of Revenue | US$1.12b |
| Gross Profit | US$1.55b |
| Expenses | US$892.82m |
| Earnings | US$660.50m |
Last Reported Earnings
Jul 03, 2021
Next Earnings Date
n/a
| Earnings per share (EPS) | 10.65 |
| Gross Margin | 58.16% |
| Net Profit Margin | 24.73% |
| Debt/Equity Ratio | 606.0% |
How did WAT perform over the long term?
See historical performance and comparisonValuation
Is Waters undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
37.36x
Price to Earnings (PE) ratio
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Below Fair Value: WAT ($402.11) is trading above our estimate of fair value ($291.67)
Significantly Below Fair Value: WAT is trading above our estimate of fair value.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: WAT is good value based on its PE Ratio (37.4x) compared to the US Life Sciences industry average (52.2x).
PE vs Market: WAT is poor value based on its PE Ratio (37.4x) compared to the US market (17.7x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
PEG Ratio: WAT is poor value based on its PEG Ratio (7.1x)
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: WAT is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (92x) compared to the US Life Sciences industry average (6.1x).
Future Growth
How is Waters forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 13 analysts?
5.2%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: WAT's forecast earnings growth (5.2% per year) is above the savings rate (2%).
Earnings vs Market: WAT's earnings (5.2% per year) are forecast to grow slower than the US market (14.9% per year).
High Growth Earnings: WAT's earnings are forecast to grow, but not significantly.
Revenue vs Market: WAT's revenue (5.5% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the US market (9.8% per year).
High Growth Revenue: WAT's revenue (5.5% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: WAT's Return on Equity is forecast to be very high in 3 years time (90%).
Past Performance
How has Waters performed over the past 5 years?
9.0%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: WAT has high quality earnings.
Growing Profit Margin: WAT's current net profit margins (24.7%) are higher than last year (22.6%).
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: WAT's earnings have grown by 9% per year over the past 5 years.
Accelerating Growth: WAT's earnings growth over the past year (28.4%) exceeds its 5-year average (9% per year).
Earnings vs Industry: WAT earnings growth over the past year (28.4%) underperformed the Life Sciences industry 56.9%.
Return on Equity
High ROE: Whilst WAT's Return on Equity (246.2%) is outstanding, this metric is skewed due to their high level of debt.
Financial Health
How is Waters's financial position?
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: WAT's short term assets ($1.6B) exceed its short term liabilities ($681.0M).
Long Term Liabilities: WAT's short term assets ($1.6B) do not cover its long term liabilities ($2.2B).
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: WAT's debt to equity ratio (606%) is considered high.
Reducing Debt: WAT's debt to equity ratio has increased from 81.7% to 606% over the past 5 years.
Debt Coverage: WAT's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (49.3%).
Interest Coverage: WAT's interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (28.5x coverage).
Balance Sheet
Dividend
What is Waters's current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
Dividend Yield vs Market
Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate WAT's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
High Dividend: Unable to evaluate WAT's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if WAT's dividends per share have been stable in the past.
Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if WAT's dividend payments have been increasing.
Current Payout to Shareholders
Dividend Coverage: Insufficient data to calculate payout ratio to determine if its dividend payments are covered by earnings.
Future Payout to Shareholders
Future Dividend Coverage: No need to calculate the sustainability of WAT's dividend in 3 years as they are not forecast to pay a notable one for the US market.
Next Steps
Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
1.5yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Udit Batra (50 yo)
1
Tenure
US$6,282,747
Compensation
Dr. Udit Batra, PhD, serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director at Waters Corporation since September 1, 2020. Dr. Batra served as Chief Executive Officer of Life Science business of Merck a...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Udit's total compensation ($USD6.28M) is below average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD11.36M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Insufficient data to compare Udit's compensation with company performance.
Leadership Team
Experienced Management: WAT's management team is not considered experienced ( 1.5 years average tenure), which suggests a new team.
Board Members
Experienced Board: WAT's board of directors are considered experienced (3 years average tenure).
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: WAT insiders have only sold shares in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
Waters Corporation's employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: Waters Corporation
- Ticker: WAT
- Exchange: NYSE
- Founded: 1958
- Industry: Life Sciences Tools and Services
- Sector: Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
- Market Cap: US$24.274b
- Shares outstanding: 61.36m
- Website: https://www.waters.com
Number of Employees
Location
- Waters Corporation
- 34 Maple Street
- Milford
- Massachusetts
- 1757
- United States
Listings
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2021/09/23 22:54 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2021/09/23 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2021/07/03 |
| Annual Earnings | 2020/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.