Waters (WAT) stock: Winston Score and insider trades

§Winston Score History

Waters Corporation makes scientific instruments that help researchers and companies analyze the chemical makeup of substances. Their main products are liquid chromatography systems and mass spectrometers, which are machines used to separate and identify molecules. Pharmaceutical companies are their biggest customers, but they also sell to food safety labs, environmental testing facilities, and government research agencies.

Waters earns most of its revenue by selling hardware instruments, along with recurring income from consumable supplies, software, and service contracts that keep those machines running. The company operates globally, with significant sales in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and generates roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. Its moat comes from the high switching costs of its specialized instruments and the long-term service relationships it builds with customers. The key growth driver is demand from pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing new drugs, though a slowdown in pharmaceutical spending or increased competition from rivals like Agilent and Thermo Fisher could pressure future results.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+113.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

Reported EPS Growth

-156.3% YoY

Quarterly reporting periods ended:

28 Jun 2025: $2.47

4 Jul 2026: $-1.39

Reported/statutory EPS, not adjusted or underlying earnings. One-off items can affect this figure. Provider rounding can affect the growth rate.

YoY Growth Rate

Reported EPS decreased year over year

R&D Spend

$195M/ year

↑ Rising (+7% vs prior year)

6.2% of revenue

Below sector average (18%)

R&D investment increasing — building for the future

Insider Activity

0.1%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$539M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue accelerating

Waters Corporation grew revenue 113% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

44.6%

Healthy — 44.6% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

-5.2%

Losing money on operations — -5.2%

Return on the money invested

ROCE

1.8%

Weak — 1.8% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+52.5%

Fast-growing sales (+52.5% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

-63.9%

Earnings shrinking (-63.9% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

4/8 quarters

Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

330%

Turns 330% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

8.5%

Modest free cash flow (8.5%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

0.33

Conservative — low debt load (0.33)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

2.67x

Tight — interest eats into profit (2.7x)

Interest coverage between 1 and 3. Profits cover interest, but with little room to spare.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

112.9x

Expensive — P/E 112.9

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

+102.9

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (112.9 → 9.9)

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

0.15%

Small dividend — 0.15% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

N/A

no trend

Data not available

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Waters Corporation

§How the score breaks down

Share count falling — buybacks

§Winston Score History

Politician Trades

Growth Profile

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Quality

Growth

Cash Flow

Stability

Valuation

Dividends