Waters (NYSE:WAT) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $3.90-4.10 for the period, compared to the consensus 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WAT shares. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WAT traded down $1.45 on Monday, reaching $385.76. 454,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 429,392. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $342.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Waters has a 12 month low of $241.95 and a 12 month high of $391.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.