Waters Corp (WAT) stock analysis
Waters Corp (WAT) clears 2 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 2 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 1 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $455.59 it trades 497.6% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -497.6%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns −0.1% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Waters do?
Waters makes laboratory instruments for liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, plus software and supplies, used by pharmaceutical, food-safety and research labs.
What stands out about Waters?
- The share price implies more than 40% yearly growth. At $455.59, free cash flow per share would have to grow faster than 40% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF to match the price. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 3 of the 8 value filters. It fails Trailing P/E < 25 (270.53), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (52.13) and Price/Sales < 7 (9.68); the other 2 pass and 3 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: revenue growth. At 52.5% (peer median 6.9%) it ranks 1st of 11 among life sciences tools & services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: P/E ratio. At 270.5× (peer median 43.4×) it ranks 10th of 10 among life sciences tools & services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Owners are being diluted. Its net shareholder yield is −0.1%: more stock is issued than is bought back or paid out. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
How has Waters' share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Waters undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) -497.6%
- P/E vs. its own history 270.5x · at/above its priciest point Real range: 29.2x–35.3x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 4.00/5 30 analysts this month: 9 strong buy, 12 buy, 9 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 3.94 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 10.00 · Safe zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.37 · accruals −0.2% of assets · 105% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 1.7% of revenue · share count +0.4% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) −0.1% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.0% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 0.1%, as a share of today's market cap. Stock comp outruns what comes back in cash. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 35%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $13.36 per $1 of new profit · Capital-hungry Operating profit $676M → $816M, capital needed $1.4B → $3.2B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 25% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 52.1† · Well above fair P/E 270.5× ÷ 5.2% a year of growth behind it (5-year EPS growth: Finnhub reported no PEG, so this one is estimated). 442nd lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 1 of 4 · misses capital-light, cash back, price Capital-light growth: not cleared (profit grew 1.2×, under 2×); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: not cleared (0.0% a year net); Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 52.1, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 3 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 2 of 6 measures above the median Compared with the 10 other life sciences tools & services stocks this site tracks: 2 in the top third, 4 in the bottom third.
How does Waters compare with its peers?
2 of 6 measures sit above the median of the 10 other life sciences tools & services stocks tracked here, 2 in the top third and 4 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 43.4× 270.5× ✕10th of 10
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 2.5% 1.0% ✕11th of 11
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 13% 2% ✕10th of 11
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 15.0% 3.6% ✕10th of 11
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 6.9% 52.5% ✓1st of 11
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.54 0.33 ✓3rd of 11
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and WAT doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: WAT and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, and earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry. Where it comes up short: WAT isn't clearing the return-on-equity bar he'd want to see right now, carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, runs thinner pretax margins than he'd like to see, hasn't grown earnings per share fast enough over five years to impress him, is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now, and trades rich relative to owner earnings, the real cash the business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✕
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✕
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✕
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✕
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and WAT falls short of his bar. In its favor: WAT isn't over-leveraged for a company of its type. Where it comes up short: WAT doesn't pay much of a dividend, which is the main reason to own a slow grower in the first place, isn't even growing at the modest pace he'd expect from a slow grower, is priced too rich for how little growth is actually left in the business, and trades expensive relative to the cash it actually generates.
- Dividend yield > 2.5% ✕
- EPS growth 0%-10% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✓
- P/E < 20 ✕
- Price/FCF < 25 ✕
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Waters pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $44.9B
- Trailing P/E < 25 270.53
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 52.13 †
- Price/Book < 8 2.96
- Price/Sales < 7 9.68
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% n/a
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Waters' margin of safety?
-482% on 2026-10-07 → -498% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Waters in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Waters?
3,404,650 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Waters? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case -253%
- Short interest under 5% of float 3.5%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 3/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +60% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 0.79 → 0.37
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Waters shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from WAT's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Waters' 10-year financials show?
From WAT's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Waters
What kind of company is Waters?
Waters makes laboratory instruments for liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, plus software and supplies, used by pharmaceutical, food-safety and research labs. This site groups it with Life Sciences Tools & Services stocks.
Is Waters trading above or below its DCF value?
At $455.59, WAT trades 497.6% above this site's neutral DCF value of $76.24 per share, a margin of safety of −497.6%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Waters pass?
WAT passes 2 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($44.9B) and Price/Book < 8 (2.96). It misses Trailing P/E < 25 (270.53), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (52.13) and Price/Sales < 7 (9.68). EPS Growth YoY > -5%, vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Where is Waters trading compared with its 52-week range?
At $455.59, WAT trades 60.0% above its 52-week low of $283.32 and 0.4% below its 52-week high of $457.47.
When does Waters report earnings next?
Waters's next earnings report is expected on November 3, 2026 before the market opens, with analysts expecting earnings of $4.04 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 3 times, by an average of +4.9%.
Does Waters raise any of Munger's inversion flags?
WAT fails 3 of the 5 tests in this site's Munger-style inversion check, so it raises 3 flags: Margin of safety, even in the bull case (-253%); Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters (3/6 passed); and Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum (+60% off 52wk low). It passes Short interest under 5% of float and Debt/equity stable since 2016. Munger's habit was to invert the question and look for reasons to hesitate. These flags are data-driven prompts, not a verdict, and they cannot judge management, competitive position or accounting risk.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Waters's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 23, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Waters Corp analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Waters Corp (WAT) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.