Charles River Laboratories vs Waters
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The short version
- Charles River Laboratories is the larger business, with $4.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.2B for Waters.
- Waters grew revenue faster (7.0%, against −0.9%).
- Waters kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.4% operating margin, against 0.6%).
- Waters turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.1% FCF margin, against 12.9%).
- Waters earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (21.0%, against 0.4%).
| Latest fiscal year | CRL · FY25 | WAT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $16.6B | $44.6B |
| Revenue | $4.0B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $518M | $540M |
| Net income | −$144M | $643M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.9% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.6% | 6.0% |
| Share count change | −4.0% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 59.3% |
| Operating margin | 0.6% | 25.4% |
| Net margin | −3.6% | 20.3% |
| FCF margin | 12.9% | 17.1% |
| Return on capital | 0.4% | 21.0% |
| Return on equity | −4.4% | 29.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | $822M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.5x | 0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $361M | $14.7M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CRL $1.7B
WAT $2.2B
FY17
CRL $1.9B
WAT $2.3B
FY18
CRL $2.3B
WAT $2.4B
FY19
CRL $2.6B
WAT $2.4B
FY20
CRL $2.9B
WAT $2.4B
FY21
CRL $3.5B
WAT $2.8B
FY22
CRL $4.0B
WAT $3.0B
FY23
CRL $4.1B
WAT $3.0B
FY24
CRL $4.1B
WAT $3.0B
FY25
CRL $4.0B
WAT $3.2B
CRL
WAT
Operating margin
FY16
CRL 14.1%
WAT 28.8%
FY17
CRL 15.5%
WAT 28.7%
FY18
CRL 14.6%
WAT 30.6%
FY19
CRL 13.4%
WAT 29.4%
FY20
CRL 14.8%
WAT 27.3%
FY21
CRL 16.7%
WAT 29.5%
FY22
CRL 16.4%
WAT 29.4%
FY23
CRL 15.0%
WAT 27.7%
FY24
CRL 5.6%
WAT 27.9%
FY25
CRL 0.6%
WAT 25.4%
CRL
WAT
Free cash flow
FY16
CRL $262M
WAT $610M
FY17
CRL $236M
WAT $663M
FY18
CRL $301M
WAT $570M
FY19
CRL $340M
WAT $603M
FY20
CRL $380M
WAT $738M
FY21
CRL $532M
WAT $711M
FY22
CRL $295M
WAT $566M
FY23
CRL $365M
WAT $442M
FY24
CRL $502M
WAT $620M
FY25
CRL $518M
WAT $540M
CRL
WAT
Return on capital
FY16
CRL 10.1%
WAT 43.9%
FY17
CRL 7.5%
WAT 30.7%
FY18
CRL 11.4%
WAT 70.7%
FY19
CRL 9.8%
WAT 58.5%
FY20
CRL 9.9%
WAT 48.3%
FY21
CRL 11.1%
WAT 55.3%
FY22
CRL 9.9%
WAT 49.0%
FY23
CRL 8.9%
WAT 30.2%
FY24
CRL 2.0%
WAT 22.4%
FY25
CRL 0.4%
WAT 21.0%
CRL
WAT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.