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Waters

WAT NYSE Life Sciences Tools & Services Financials FY2016–FY2025

Waters' revenue rose 7.0% to $3.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 25.4%, down from 27.9% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $540 million, down 12.9%. It paid out $15 million in dividends and buybacks, 3% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.3%.

Last close · Oct 23, 2026

$453.67

0.4%
Value it Compare
Revenue Total sales reported in the income statement.
$3.2B
7.0% vs prior year
Operating margin Operating income as a share of revenue.
25.4%
2.6 pts
Net income Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
$643M
0.8%
Free cash flow Cash from operations minus capital spending.
$540M
12.9%
Return on capital After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
21.0%
1.4 pts
Market cap Last close times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate.
$44.6B
Oct 23 close
P/E Last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters.
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What Waters does

No business description yet.

Legal name
Waters Corporation
Fiscal year ends
December 31, 2025
Latest annual report
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Accession · CIK
0001193125-26-062604
0001000697

Revenue and margins

Waters had $3.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 7.0% on the year before.

Revenue
Revenue
Margins, % of revenue
Gross Operating Net FCF
Margins, % of revenue
Gross Operating Net FCF

Net income and earnings per share

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 5.9% a year. Loss periods are shown in red.

Net income
Net income
Diluted EPS
Diluted EPS

Returns on capital

After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.

Return on capital, equity and assets (annual)
Return on capital Return on equity Return on assets

Cash flow

Free cash flow was $540M in fiscal 2025, 17.1% of revenue. Cash from operations minus capital spending.

Free cash flow
Free cash flow
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations Capital spending
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations Capital spending

Dividends, buybacks and share count

Waters returned $14.7M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 3% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.3%.

Dividends and buybacks
Dividends Buybacks
Dividends and buybacks
Dividends Buybacks
Diluted shares outstanding (annual)

Value Waters yourself

Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets — the answer depends entirely on what you put in.

Discounted cash flow

Value per share

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Adds net cash of −$822M and divides by 59.7M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.

Earnings multiple

Value per share

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Reference multiples: today — · peers 37.6x · sector 28.1x.

Balance sheet

Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Waters can carry it.

Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Cash Debt
Fiscal year endFY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Cash and short-term investments $481M$481M$396M$325M$588M
Debt incl. finance leases $1.5B$1.6B$2.4B$1.6B$1.4B
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x1.1x2.0x1.3x0.8x
Debt / equity 4.1x3.1x2.1x0.9x0.6x
Interest coverage 18.3x17.9x8.3x9.2x11.5x
Current ratio 2.4x2.2x2.2x2.1x1.7x
Quick ratio 1.9x1.7x1.6x1.5x1.3x
Total assets $3.1B$3.3B$4.6B$4.6B$5.1B
Total liabilities $2.7B$2.8B$3.5B$2.7B$2.5B
Shareholders' equity $368M$505M$1.2B$1.8B$2.6B
Net debt (− = net cash) $1.0B$1.1B$2.0B$1.3B$822M

Insider trades

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. 'Plan' marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Bought, 12 months

$0.5M

2 insiders

Sold, 12 months

$1.4M

1 insider

Of sales under plans

0%

$0.0M

DateInsiderTradeSharesPriceValueFiling
Aug 6, 2026 Christopher A KueblerDirector Sold 3,626 $397.94 $1.4M Form 4
Mar 16, 2026 Wei JiangDirector Bought 500 $289.46 $0.1M Form 4
Mar 6, 2026 Richard H FearonDirector Bought 1,000 $306.34 $0.3M Form 4

Piotroski F-score

Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8–9 is strong, 0–2 weak.

TestFY23FY24FY25
Net income is positive ✓ ✓ ✓
Cash from operations is positive ✓ ✓ ✓
Return on assets rose ✕ ✕ ✓
Cash from operations exceeds net income ✕ ✓ ✓
Debt fell relative to assets ✕ ✓ ✓
Current ratio rose ✕ ✕ ✕
Share count didn't rise ✓ ✕ ✕
Gross margin rose ✓ ✕ ✕
Revenue rose relative to assets ✕ ✕ ✓
F-score 4 / 94 / 96 / 9
Accruals ratio 1.0%−2.7%−0.2%
Altman Z'' 9.3510.2010.00

Similar companies

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don't line up exactly.

CompanyMarket capGrowthOp. marginFCF marginROICP/EF-score
Waters WAT $44.6B 7.0% 25.4% 17.1% 21.0% — 6
Bio-Rad Laboratories BIO $9.9B 0.7% 1.8% 14.5% 0.5% 46.3x 5 Compare →
Medpace MEDP $19.0B 20.0% 21.1% 27.0% — 37.2x 4 Compare →
Charles River Laboratories CRL $16.6B −0.9% 0.6% 12.9% 0.4% — 4 Compare →
Mettler Toledo MTD $33.7B 4.0% — 21.1% 50.5% 37.6x 7 Compare →

10 years of figures

US$ millions unless stated. Hover a ratio's name for its definition.

Download CSV
Fiscal yearFY16FY17FY18FY19FY20FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Income statement
Revenue $2.2B $2.3B $2.4B $2.4B $2.4B $2.8B $3.0B $3.0B $3.0B $3.2B
Gross profit $1.3B $1.4B $1.4B $1.4B $1.4B $1.6B $1.7B $1.8B $1.8B $1.9B
Research and development $125M $133M $143M $143M $141M $168M $176M $175M $183M $196M
Operating income $625M $662M $740M $709M $646M $822M $873M $818M $826M $803M
Interest expense $44.9M $56.8M $48.6M $48.7M $49.1M $44.9M $48.8M $98.9M $89.7M $69.5M
Pretax income $600M $641M $682M $678M $611M $806M $838M $736M $755M $755M
Income tax $78.6M $621M $88.4M $86.0M $89.3M $113M $130M $94.0M $117M $112M
Net income $522M $20.3M $594M $592M $522M $693M $708M $642M $638M $643M
Diluted EPS $6.41 $0.25 $7.65 $8.69 $8.36 $11.17 $11.73 $10.84 $10.71 $10.76
Diluted shares 0.08B 0.08B 0.08B 0.07B 0.06B 0.06B 0.06B 0.06B 0.06B 0.06B
Cash flow
Cash from operations $643M $698M $604M $643M $791M $747M $612M $603M $762M $653M
Capital expenditure $33.0M $35.0M $34.0M $40.0M $53.0M $36.0M $46.0M $161M $143M $113M
Free cash flow $610M $663M $570M $603M $738M $711M $566M $442M $620M $540M
Depreciation and amortization $51.7M $61.4M $58.0M $53.8M $126M $132M $130M $166M $192M $206M
Stock-based compensation $41.0M $39.4M $37.5M $38.6M $36.9M $29.9M $42.6M $36.9M $44.7M $54.1M
Acquisitions $5.6M $0.0M $31.5M $0.0M $80.5M $0.0M $0.0M $1.3B $0.0M $35.1M
Share buybacks $326M $333M $1.3B $2.5B $196M $649M $626M $70.3M $13.5M $14.7M
Dividends paid $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M
Dividends and buybacks $326M $333M $1.3B $2.5B $196M $649M $626M $70.3M $13.5M $14.7M
Balance sheet
Cash and short-term investments $2.8B $3.4B $1.7B $337M $443M $481M $481M $396M $325M $588M
Total debt $1.8B $2.0B $1.2B $1.7B $1.4B $1.5B $1.6B $2.4B $1.6B $1.4B
Finance lease liabilities $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M
Current assets $3.6B $4.3B $2.7B $1.3B $1.4B $1.6B $1.8B $1.8B $1.7B $2.1B
Current liabilities $520M $606M $449M $591M $805M $681M $786M $790M $790M $1.2B
Inventory $263M $270M $292M $321M $304M $356M $456M $516M $477M $572M
Property and equipment, net $337M $349M $343M $417M $494M $548M $582M $639M $651M $642M
Total assets $4.7B $5.3B $3.7B $2.6B $2.8B $3.1B $3.3B $4.6B $4.6B $5.1B
Total liabilities $2.4B $3.1B $2.2B $2.8B $2.6B $2.7B $2.8B $3.5B $2.7B $2.5B
Shareholders' equity $2.3B $2.2B $1.6B −$216M $232M $368M $505M $1.2B $1.8B $2.6B
Margins
Gross margin 58.9% 59.0% 59.0% 58.0% 57.4% 58.5% 58.0% 59.6% 59.4% 59.3%
Operating margin 28.8% 28.7% 30.6% 29.4% 27.3% 29.5% 29.4% 27.7% 27.9% 25.4%
EBITDA margin 31.2% 31.3% 33.0% 31.7% 32.6% 34.2% 33.8% 33.3% 34.4% 31.9%
Net margin 24.1% 0.9% 24.5% 24.6% 22.1% 24.9% 23.8% 21.7% 21.6% 20.3%
FCF margin 28.1% 28.7% 23.6% 25.1% 31.2% 25.5% 19.0% 15.0% 21.0% 17.1%
Returns
Return on capital 43.9% 30.7% 70.7% 58.5% 48.3% 55.3% 49.0% 30.2% 22.4% 21.0%
Return on capital employed 15.9% 15.0% 18.5% 27.0% 32.3% 36.9% 35.6% 25.8% 21.7% 21.1%
Return on equity 23.9% 0.9% 31.2% 87.7% — 231.1% 162.3% 77.6% 42.8% 29.3%
Return on assets 11.7% 0.4% 13.1% 18.9% 19.3% 23.4% 22.2% 16.2% 13.9% 13.4%
Growth
Revenue growth 6.1% 6.5% 4.8% −0.6% −1.7% 17.8% 6.7% −0.5% 0.1% 7.0%
Net income growth 11.2% −96.1% 2,823.5% −0.3% −11.9% 32.8% 2.2% −9.3% −0.7% 0.8%
EPS growth 13.5% −96.1% 2,960.0% 13.6% −3.8% 33.6% 5.0% −7.6% −1.2% 0.5%
FCF growth 13.3% 8.6% −13.9% 5.7% 22.3% −3.6% −20.5% −21.8% 40.1% −12.9%
Share count change −2.0% −1.0% −3.7% −12.2% −8.4% −0.6% −2.7% −1.8% 0.5% 0.3%
Financial health
Net debt / EBITDA −1.5x −1.9x −0.7x 1.8x 1.2x 1.1x 1.1x 2.0x 1.3x 0.8x
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.9x 0.7x — 5.9x 4.1x 3.1x 2.1x 0.9x 0.6x
Interest coverage 13.9x 11.7x 15.2x 14.6x 13.2x 18.3x 17.9x 8.3x 9.2x 11.5x
Current ratio 7.0x 7.0x 5.9x 2.2x 1.7x 2.4x 2.2x 2.2x 2.1x 1.7x
Quick ratio 6.5x 6.6x 5.3x 1.7x 1.4x 1.9x 1.7x 1.6x 1.5x 1.3x
Capital allocation
Capex / revenue 1.5% 1.5% 1.4% 1.7% 2.2% 1.3% 1.6% 5.4% 4.8% 3.6%
Stock comp / revenue 1.9% 1.7% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6% 1.1% 1.4% 1.3% 1.5% 1.7%
Payouts / FCF 53.4% 50.2% 230.5% 409.4% 26.6% 91.2% 110.7% 15.9% 2.2% 2.7%
Quality scores
Piotroski F-score 7.0 7.0 6.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 6.0
Altman Z'' 10.1 9.4 11.2 12.0 11.2 12.2 12.4 9.4 10.2 10.0
Accruals ratio −2.7% −13.6% −0.2% −1.6% −10.0% −1.8% 3.0% 1.0% −2.7% −0.2%

Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0001000697). Data updated October 9, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.

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