Waters (NYSE:WAT) Releases Q2 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.50-2.60 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Waters Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of WAT traded up $11.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $335.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 178,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,623. Waters has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $363.80. 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 cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $332.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.85.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.57 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waters will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.