Health Care · Life Sciences Tools & Services · US stock · price as of 22 Oct 2026
Key indicators
Price
$455.59
52-week range
$282.77 – $464.94
Market cap
$44.7B
P/E (trailing)
–
EV / EBITDA
149.5×
Free-cash-flow yield
–
Dividend yield
–
Revenue (last 12 months)
$4.6B
Revenue growth (3y a year)
2.1%
Operating margin
7.1%
Return on invested capital
1.3%
Net debt / EBITDA
14.9×
Fair value
Fair value (average of valid models)$494.75 middle half of models $409 – $545
Versus priceFair+9% to fair value
P/B multiple
$535.57
P/S multiple
$408.96
EV/EBITDA multiple
$355.10
EV/EBIT multiple
$346.51
EV/revenue multiple
$418.17
10-year DCF, EBITDA exit
$693.66
5-year DCF, EBITDA exit
$646.83
10-year DCF, revenue exit
$503.08
5-year DCF, revenue exit
$544.91
Model uncertainty
Medium
X-Ray Score
33/ 100 · Medium confidence · ahead of 10% of sector peers
Valuation45
Growth29
Profitability32
Financial health22
Dividends–
Five-year price chart navy: price · brown: 200-day average · blue band: fair value range
Executive summary
Waters makes analytical instruments and software that laboratories use to separate, identify and measure chemical and biological substances. Its products centre on liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, and it also offers thermal analysis equipment through TA Instruments. Customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, industrial and food testing laboratories, environmental agencies and academic researchers. It also supplies consumables, columns and service plans for its installed systems.
Instruments and recurring consumables, software and service contracts generated revenue of $4.6 billion over the last twelve months. Revenue has grown at 2.1% a year across the last three years. The operating margin is 7.1%, the business earns 1% on the capital invested in it, and net debt is 14.9 times EBITDA. No dividend is paid.
StocksXray gives Waters Corp an X-Ray Score of 33 out of 100 (medium confidence), ahead of 10% of the S&P 500 stocks in its sector. Its strongest lens is valuation (45) and its weakest is financial health (22).
Our fair value (the average of the valid models) is $494.75 (range $408.96 to $544.91). At $455.59 the stock trades 8% below that value, so the label is "Fair" with medium model uncertainty. Fair value is a range, not a price target.
XStocksXray
Waters Corp (WAT)
Valuation history multiples at each fiscal year-end price; the last column uses today's price and the last twelve months
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
FY2025
Now
Price
$372.60
$342.58
$329.23
$370.98
$379.83
$455.59
Market cap
$23.1B
$20.7B
$19.5B
$22.1B
$22.7B
$44.7B
P/E
33.4×
29.2×
30.4×
34.6×
35.3×
–
EV / revenue
8.6×
7.3×
7.3×
7.9×
7.4×
10.6×
EV / EBITDA
29.3×
24.9×
26.3×
28.3×
29.3×
149.5×
Price / free cash flow
30.9×
33.8×
44.1×
35.7×
42.0×
–
Free-cash-flow yield
3.2%
3.0%
2.3%
2.8%
2.4%
–
Price / book
62.9×
41.0×
17.0×
12.1×
8.9×
2.9×
Dividend yield
–
–
–
–
–
–
Fundamentals checklist ● 1 Good · ● 2 Average · ● 9 Bad · each check graded against the sector
Risk models
Altman Z score3.7×Average
Piotroski F-Score4 of 9Bad
Growth
EPS growth (3y)−2.8%Bad
Revenue growth (3y)2.1%Bad
Growth consistency70%Bad
Balance sheet
Current ratio1.9×Good
Net debt / EBITDA14.9×Bad
Interest cover2.2×Bad
Valuation
Fair value vs price1.1×Average
EBIT / EV yield0.7%Bad
Profitability
Return on invested capital1.3%Bad
Operating margin7.1%Bad
XStocksXray
Waters Corp (WAT)
Financials US$ millions, from SEC filings; last column is the last twelve months
Income statement
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
LTM
Revenue
2,786
2,972
2,956
2,958
3,165
4,644
Gross profit
1,629
1,724
1,761
1,758
1,876
–
Operating income
822
873
818
826
803
330
Net income
693
708
642
638
643
–
Diluted EPS ($)
11.17
11.73
10.84
10.71
10.76
–
Free cash flow
747
612
442
620
540
–
Gross margin
58.5%
58.0%
59.6%
59.4%
59.3%
–
Operating margin
29.5%
29.4%
27.7%
27.9%
25.4%
7.1%
Net margin
24.9%
23.8%
21.7%
21.6%
20.3%
–
Balance sheet
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
FY25
LTM
Total assets
3,095
3,281
4,627
4,554
5,077
24,751
Cash
501
481
395
325
588
539
Total debt
1,514
1,575
2,356
1,626
1,407
5,086
Equity
368
504
1,150
1,829
2,562
15,195
Dividend per share ($)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Revenue and net income US$ billions: navy revenue, teal net income
Every number comes from SEC filings, end-of-day prices and the StocksXray models described on the methodology page. The X-Ray Score ranks each metric against the company's own sector. Fair value is the average of up to 15 valuation models, most of them anchored to the company's own multiples, so it stays near the price and should be read as a range, not a point. Analyst ratings, price targets and earnings-call summaries are not part of this report. Educational research, not financial advice; read the disclaimer.
