At a glance
Waters Corporation is worth $44.17B, about 42 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 7.0% to $3.17B in fiscal 2025, with 20.3% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 6.0% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $1.37B buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +28.6% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +5.2% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 25.3% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 26.3% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 4 months and 25 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Waters makes instruments that separate, identify and measure what is in a sample. Its core products are liquid chromatography (LC) systems, which split a sample into its chemical parts, and mass spectrometry (MS) systems, which identify and measure those parts. Labs often pair the two using Waters software. Its TA Instruments line makes instruments that test how materials such as polymers, metals and pharmaceuticals behave under heat or physical force. Customers include drugmakers, clinical and environmental labs, food-safety testers, universities and government agencies.
Much of the revenue keeps coming in after the first sale. Of $3.17 billion in revenue for 2025, Waters instrument systems made up 34.8%, service 34.1% and chemistry consumables 19.9%. Consumables are supplies such as chromatography columns that labs replace regularly. TA instruments added 7.7% and TA service 3.4%. The US and Europe each supplied about 30%, other Asian countries 19%, China 13.8% and the rest of the Americas 6.2%.
On February 9, 2026, Waters completed its $16.8 billion purchase of Becton, Dickinson's Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses. That price includes assumed debt. The deal added flow cytometry (instruments and reagents that analyze individual cells), tests for infectious diseases and cancers, and products for collecting specimens. Waters has reorganized into four segments: Analytical Sciences, Biosciences, Advanced Diagnostics and Materials Sciences. The 2025 figures above come from before the deal.
Price history
The interactive chart needs JavaScript.
WAT +28.6% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Waters Instrument Systems | $1.10B | 34.8% |
| Waters Service | $1.08B | 34.1% |
| Chemistry Consumables | $631.5M | 19.9% |
| Ta Instrument Systems | $243.8M | 7.7% |
| Ta Service | $108.0M | 3.4% |
By geography
| US | $965.8M | 30.5% |
| Europe | $963.4M | 30.4% |
| Asia Other | $602.9M | 19% |
| CN | $437.5M | 13.8% |
| Americas Other | $195.7M | 6.2% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jul 4, 2026), revenue was $1.65B, up 113.4% from a year earlier, and net income was $-136.0M (-192.5%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $3.17B (+7.0% year over year; +6.0% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 20.3% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +6.0% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 25.4% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 17.1% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 25.1% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 12.7% good |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-4.55B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $2.37B | $521.6M | — |
| FY2021 | $2.79B | $692.8M | — |
| FY2022 | $2.97B | $707.8M | — |
| FY2023 | $2.96B | $642.2M | $442.2M |
| FY2024 | $2.96B | $637.8M | $619.6M |
| FY2025 | $3.17B | $642.6M | $539.8M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $44.17B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 41.8 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Waters’s market value went from $10.83B at the end of 2016 to $44.17B on Nov 2, 2026, about 4.1 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 95%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $44.17B | +95.3% |
| 2025 | $22.61B | +2.7% |
| 2024 | $22.03B | +13.2% |
| 2023 | $19.47B | -4.4% |
| 2022 | $20.35B | -10.5% |
| 2021 | $22.74B | +48.1% |
| 2020 | $15.35B | +2.0% |
| 2019 | $15.06B | +5.4% |
| 2018 | $14.29B | -7.0% |
| 2017 | $15.36B | +41.9% |
| 2016 | $10.83B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAT price data to Nov 2, 2026 | +18.4% | +28.6% | +22.4% | +5.2% | +12.7% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +18.4% |
| 2025 | +2.4% |
| 2024 | +12.7% |
| 2023 | -3.9% |
| 2022 | -8.1% |
| 2021 | +50.6% |
| 2020 | +5.9% |
| 2019 | +23.9% |
| 2018 | -2.4% |
| 2017 | +43.8% |
| 2016 | -0.1% |
| 2015 | +19.4% |
| 2014 | +12.7% |
| 2013 | +14.8% |
| 2012 | +17.6% |
| 2011 | -4.7% |
| 2010 | +25.4% |
| 2009 | +69.1% |
| 2008 | -53.6% |
| 2007 | +61.5% |
| 2006 | +29.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 52.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 60.7%, back to its old high 23.4 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 25.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 25.3%, back to its old high 3.7 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 25.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 26.3%, back to its old high 25.1 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 2 open-market purchases ($451K) and 1 sales ($1.4M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Christopher A Kuebler Director | sell | $1.4M |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Richard H Fearon Director | buy | $306K |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Wei Jiang Director | buy | $145K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 7.8% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 7.49% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Fundsmith LLP | 4.4% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| AllianceBernstein L.P. | 3.5% | Sep 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in WAT
| PHO Invesco Water Resources ETF | 6.55% |
| FCTE SMI 3Fourteen Full-Cycle Trend ETF | 4.71% |
| FIW First Trust Water ETF | 3.84% |
| PIO Invesco Global Water ETF | 3.78% |
| TMFM Motley Fool Mid-Cap Growth ETF | 3.45% |
| IVEG iShares Emergent Food and AgTech Multisector ETF | 3.39% |
| FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund | 3.17% |
| IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF | 2.4% |
What could go wrong
- Folding in the BD businesses. Waters must merge the BD businesses it acquired in February 2026, including replacing services BD used to provide. Delays, restructuring costs or disruption could hurt results and the hoped-for savings.
- A much bigger debt load. Waters took on about $4.0 billion of debt in the deal. As of July 4, 2026, debt totaled $5.1 billion versus $539 million of cash and investments. That could limit flexibility and raise borrowing costs.
- Deal terms restrict some corporate actions. The BD deal was a Reverse Morris Trust, a way of combining with a business that another company spins off to its shareholders. Its terms limit some corporate actions that could otherwise benefit Waters.
- Diagnostics depend on healthcare payment rules. The BD deal brought diagnostic tests, so Waters is more exposed to how insurers and governments pay for healthcare. Changes in reimbursement, coverage or cost-cutting could reduce demand and prices for its products.
- Cuts to research and government funding. Drugmakers, universities and government agencies are key customers. If their research budgets or public funding shrink, they may order fewer instruments. Waters instrument systems alone were 34.8% of 2025 revenue.
- Most sales come from outside the US. The US supplied only 30.5% of 2025 revenue, and China 13.8%. Political events, wars, economic conditions, regulatory changes and currency swings abroad could hurt sales and profits.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation; Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
- Major agreement signed; Acquisition or sale of assets completed; New debt or financial obligation; Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
For income and retirement investors
Waters pays no dividend and paid none from 2021 through 2025. An investor who needs income from it would have to cash in shares, and all of the return comes from price changes. The company has returned cash through buybacks, which means repurchasing its own shares. It spent about $1.37 billion on them over those five years. But buybacks fell from $649 million in 2021 to $15 million in 2025. The share count rose 61% between October 29, 2021, and August 7, 2026, largely because Waters issued about 38.5 million shares for the BD deal.
The stock has fallen hard in market downturns. It dropped 60.7% in the 2008 financial crisis and needed about 23 months after the March 2009 low to recover. It lost 25.3% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about four months. It fell 26.3% in 2022 and took about 25 months to regain its peak. A single stock like Waters carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
Does Waters pay a dividend?
No. Waters does not pay a dividend and paid none from 2021 through 2025. It returned cash through share buybacks instead, spending about $1.37 billion over those five years, although buybacks shrank to about $15 million in 2025. With no dividend, an investor who wants income from the stock would have to cash in shares. The stock may suit investors focused on long-term growth more than those who depend on dividend income.
How does Waters make money?
Waters makes money from lab instruments, mainly liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry systems, and from the service and supplies that follow. In 2025, Waters instrument systems brought in 34.8% of its $3.17 billion revenue, service 34.1% and chemistry consumables such as chromatography columns 19.9%. TA Instruments, its materials-testing line, added 7.7% from instruments and 3.4% from service. Since February 2026 it also offers flow cytometry and diagnostics products acquired from Becton, Dickinson.
What did Waters acquire from Becton Dickinson?
Waters acquired the Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD). The deal closed on February 9, 2026, for $16.8 billion including assumed debt. It added flow cytometry tools, which analyze individual cells, along with tests for infectious diseases and cancers and products for collecting specimens. BD shareholders received about 39.2% of the combined company, and existing Waters holders kept about 60.8%. Waters took on about $4.0 billion of new debt. Total debt was about $5.1 billion as of July 4, 2026.
Is Waters profitable?
Yes for its last full year, though its latest reported quarter showed a loss. For 2025, Waters earned $642.6 million on revenue of $3.17 billion, a net margin (profit as a share of revenue) of 20.3%. Its operating margin, which leaves out interest and taxes, was 25.4%. In the quarter ended July 4, 2026, with the BD businesses included, revenue rose 113.4% from a year earlier to $1.65 billion. But Waters reported a net loss of $136 million.
How has Waters stock performed over the long term?
It has been strong over one and 10 years but modest over five. As of October 28, 2026, the share price had risen 37.8% over one year. Over 10 years it gained about 13.1% a year, a total gain of 241%. Over five years it gained about 5.7% a year. The stock has also fallen hard at times, including a 60.7% drop in the 2008 financial crisis. These are price returns, and Waters paid no dividends from 2021 through 2025.