Scientific instruments company Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) will be reporting earnings tomorrow morning. Here’s what to look for.
Waters Corporation beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 1.9% last quarter, reporting revenues of $872.7 million, up 6.5% year on year. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter meeting analysts’ expectations.
Is Waters Corporation a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Waters Corporation’s revenue to grow 2.7% year on year to $654.1 million, a reversal from the 7% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $2.22 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Waters Corporation has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates three times over the last two years.
Looking at Waters Corporation’s peers in the research tools & consumables segment, some have already reported their Q1 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Mettler-Toledo’s revenues decreased 4.6% year on year, beating analysts’ expectations by 1%, and Danaher reported flat revenue, topping estimates by 2.7%. Mettler-Toledo traded up 4.3% following the results while Danaher was also up 6.2%.
Read our full analysis of Mettler-Toledo’s results here and Danaher’s results here.
There has been positive sentiment among investors in the research tools & consumables segment, with share prices up 4.9% on average over the last month. Waters Corporation is up 7.6% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $390.59 (compared to the current share price of $350.45).
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