Waters Q1 revenue and adjusted EPS beat estimates, raises FY outlook

Waters

05/05/2026 11:15

Overview

US life sciences analytical tech firm's Q1 revenue grew, beating analyst expectations

Adjusted EPS for Q1 rose 20% yr/yr, beating analyst expectations

Company raised full-year guidance for organic constant currency revenue growth and adjusted EPS

Outlook

Waters raises full-year 2026 organic constant currency revenue growth guidance to 6.5%-8.0%

Company expects full-year 2026 adjusted EPS of $14.40-$14.60

Waters sees Q2 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.95-$3.05

Result Drivers

ACQUISITION IMPACT - Revenue and growth benefited from the addition of Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses, which generated $520 mln in Q1 and outperformed guidance due to commercial execution and operational improvements

ORGANIC GROWTH - Organic revenue grew 13% as reported, led by high-single-digit instrument growth and mid-teens chemistry growth in the Analytical Sciences Division

MARGIN PERFORMANCE - Adjusted EPS grew 20% yr/yr, driven by better-than-expected revenue and margin performance

Company press release: ID:nPnRz6lCa

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 Sales
Beat
$1.27 bln
$1.20 bln (18 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$2.70
$2.34 (19 Analysts)
Q1 EPS
-$0.87


Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 14 "strong buy" or "buy", 11 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the advanced medical equipment & technology peer group is "buy"

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Waters Corp is $400.00, about 32.5% above its May 4 closing price of $301.88

The stock recently traded at 20 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 26 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)