Bio-Rad Laboratories vs Waters
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Bio-Rad Laboratories and Waters side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Waters is the larger business, with $3.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.6B for Bio-Rad Laboratories.
- Waters grew revenue faster (7.0%, against 0.7%).
- Waters kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.4% operating margin, against 1.8%).
- Waters turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.1% FCF margin, against 14.5%).
- Waters earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (21.0%, against 0.5%).
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Bio-Rad Laboratories
BIO
3/11
Net marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Waters
WAT
8/11
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-score
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | BIO FY25 | WAT FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $10.0B | $44.8B |
| Revenue | $2.6B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $375M | $540M |
| Net income | $760M | $643M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.7% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 0.3% | 6.0% |
| Share count change | −3.3% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 51.9% | 59.3% |
| Operating margin | 1.8% | 25.4% |
| Net margin | 29.4% | 20.3% |
| FCF margin | 14.5% | 17.1% |
| Return on capital | 0.5% | 21.0% |
| Return on equity | 10.8% | 29.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$329M | $822M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.6x | 0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $296M | $14.7M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 46.6x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.