Waters (NYSE:WAT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.50-2.60 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.76. The company issued revenue guidance of down 4.5-6.5% yr/yr to ~$692.8-707.6 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $729.41 million. Waters also updated its FY24 guidance to $11.75-12.05 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on Waters from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $306.70.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT traded down $2.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $323.80. The company had a trading volume of 398,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,886. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $310.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. Waters has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.