Waters (NYSE:WAT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.50-2.60 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.76. The company issued revenue guidance of down 4.5-6.5% yr/yr to ~$692.8-707.6 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $729.41 million. Waters also updated its FY24 guidance to $11.75-12.05 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $298.67.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $319.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $333.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.25. Waters has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $815.50 million. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waters Company Profile

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.