ValeriusBeta - Not investment advice

Research · S&P 500 · Health Care

WAT · Waters Corporation

The numbers, the scorecard and what analysts say, with the source for each. Information, not advice.

Price · last 3 months · daily close

WAT price

Loading the price chart...

Daily closing prices via yfinance. Quotes are delayed. Past prices are not a guarantee of future results.

Value Scorecard · run 2026-10-18

13 value checks: 12 scored 1 to 5 where the data allows, plus moat evidence

37/55
moderate value score11 of 12 checks scored

11 of the 12 checks that carry a score were scored from the data available. 1 could not be scored (Margin of Safety) and was left out, so the score is out of 55 instead of 60. The label uses the same share of the available points as for a full scorecard. The moat is shown as evidence from the filings, without a score.

Earnings & returns

EPS Trend

2/5

Diluted EPS: $11.73 (2022), $10.84 (2023), $10.71 (2024), $10.76 (2025). It ended at or below 2022; the framework scores that as 2.

ROE Trend

5/5

ROE (net income / common equity): 140.3% (2022), 55.8% (2023), 34.9% (2024), 25.1% (2025). Median 45.4%, lowest 25.1%; the framework scores a median above 20% as 5.

ROIC

5/5

ROIC of 20.9%: operating income of $802.59M divided by $3.84B of capital (total assets $5.08B minus current liabilities $1.24B), fiscal year to Dec 31, 2025, as filed in the 10-K (SEC EDGAR). The framework scores above 20% as 5.

Profit Margins

2/5

Net margin of 3.6%; the framework scores 0-5% as 2; gross margin 56.3%, operating margin 9.4%.

Balance sheet & cash

Debt-to-Equity

4/5

Debt-to-equity of 0.36; the framework scores 0.3-0.8 as 4 (total debt $5.48B, total cash $539.00M).

Free Cash Flow

4/5

Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditure): $428.20M (2022), $442.18M (2023), $619.64M (2024), $539.81M (2025). It rose every year but one and ended above 2022; the framework scores that as 4.

Retained Earnings

5/5

Retained earnings, as filed in the 10-Ks (SEC EDGAR): $8.51B (2022), $9.15B (2023), $9.79B (2024), $10.43B (2025). It rose every year; the framework scores that as 5.

Valuation models

Graham IV

1/5

IV = EPS x (8.5 + 2g) x (4.4 / Y) = $3.95 x (8.5 + 2 x 0.0) x (4.4 / 4.5) = $32.83 (EPS CAGR -0.4% floored at 0%; the formula returns a negative value below -4.25% growth). Current price $436.95; price is 1231.0% above the model value.

DCF Value

1/5

Free cash flow per share is -$1.45; a two-stage DCF cannot be computed from negative free cash flow.

Margin of Safety

Not scored

Needs both a Graham value and a DCF value. Graham value $32.83 (price is 1231.0% above the model value); DCF value N/A (not comparable).

Price-to-Book

3/5

P/B of 2.82; the framework scores 1.5-3.0 as 3.

Business quality

Moat Evidence

Not scored

A moat (a brand, a network, switching costs, patents, scale, a licence) is not a number in the filings, so Valerius doesn’t score it. Below are the figures and the words moat analysis starts from, from the company’s own 10-K filings. The conclusion is yours.

Return on capital, each year

Above 15% in 9 of 10 years (2016-2025); lowest 14.0%, highest 36.0%.

2016: 15.1%, 2017: 14.0%, 2018: 22.6%, 2019: 36.0%, 2020: 31.7%, 2021: 34.0%, 2022: 35.0%, 2023: 21.3%, 2024: 22.0%, 2025: 20.9%

Gross margin, each year

Between 57.4% and 59.6% over 10 years (a range of 2.2 points).

2016: 58.9%, 2017: 59.0%, 2018: 59.0%, 2019: 58.0%, 2020: 57.4%, 2021: 58.5%, 2022: 58.0%, 2023: 59.6%, 2024: 59.4%, 2025: 59.3%

Competition, in the company’s own words · 10-K filed Feb 23, 2026

The analytical instrument systems, supplies and services market is highly competitive. The Company encounters competition from several worldwide suppliers and other companies in both domestic and foreign markets for each of its three primary technologies. The Company competes in its markets primarily on the basis of product performance, reliability, service and, to a lesser extent, price. Competitors continuously

The opening of the company’s “Competition” section in its 10-K, quoted word for word, not summarized or edited. It is the company’s own description, not Valerius’s view, and may include the company’s expectations. Open the filing.

Return on capital = operating income / (total assets − current liabilities), the ROIC row’s definition; 15% is the framework’s return threshold. Gross margin = gross profit / revenue. Both from each year’s 10-K via SEC EDGAR. Moat analysis commonly looks at whether returns and margins held up over many years. These figures don’t say whether the company has an advantage, what it is, or whether it will last.

Capital Allocation

5/5

Capital allocation, 2022-2025: dividends or buybacks paid in every year (pass); $724.55M paid out against $2.03B of free cash flow (pass); total debt $1.66B to $1.49B, down 10.4%, 1.4x EBITDA (pass: not up more than 10%); shares outstanding 0.06B to 0.06B, up 0.8% (pass). 4 of 4 tests passed; the framework scores that as 5.

Filings

Company notices to the SEC

Not scored

Three kinds of event the company reported to the SEC in the last 5 years, from its filings on SEC EDGAR.

Loading...

These are events the company reported to the SEC. An auditor change or a late filing can have many causes; each date links to the filing, where the company explains it. Valerius does not score these.

How the Graham and DCF values were calculated
  Graham Formula:
    IV = EPS x (8.5 + 2g) x (4.4 / Y)
    EPS = $3.95, g = 0.0%, Y = 4.5
    g floored at 0.0% (3-year EPS CAGR was -0.4%; below -4.25% the formula returns a negative value)
    IV = $32.83
    Current price $436.95 vs Graham value $32.83 — price is 1231.0% above the model value.

  DCF:
    FCF/share -$1.447 — a two-stage DCF cannot be computed from negative free cash flow.

Data from yfinance summary figures and financial statements, and from the company’s 10-K filings via SEC EDGAR; computed at a price of $436.95. Every score is calculated from the figures by the framework’s fixed rules, and the explanation beside it is generated from the same figures: Graham value, DCF value, margin of safety, ROIC, profit margins, debt-to-equity, price-to-book, EPS trend, ROE trend, free cash flow, retained earnings and capital allocation. No AI is involved in this scorecard. The moat is shown as evidence, without a score. Read each score with the figures beside it. A check that cannot be scored from the available data is shown as not scored and left out of the composite score. Intrinsic value calculations are model outputs based on stated assumptions, not predictions.

Recent headlines · third-party publishers · not investment advice

In the news

  • Loading headlines...

The 8 newest headlines whose title names the company, shown automatically and never chosen by Valerius. From third-party publishers via Yahoo Finance, linked to the source. Valerius doesn't write or endorse them. Not investment advice.