Waters (NYSE:WAT) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $3.90-4.10 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $4.09. The company issued revenue guidance of +3.3-5.3% yr/yr to ~$846.5-862.9, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $854.35 million. Waters also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 11.670-11.870 EPS.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $322.57 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Waters has a 12 month low of $234.04 and a 12 month high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.58.

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.