Waters (NYSE:WAT) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $11.75-12.05 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $11.88. The company issued revenue guidance of +0-2% yr/yr to ~$2.96-3.02 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.98 billion. Waters also updated its Q2 guidance to $2.50-2.60 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $306.70.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock traded up $10.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $346.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,014. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $363.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.11. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Waters

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.