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Waters Corporation key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Waters Corporation had return on equity of 29.3% and a net margin of 20.3%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMJul 2026
Net margin21.6%——25.0%23.6%21.7%23.0%24.1%0.9%24.5%24.6%22.1%24.9%23.8%21.7%21.6%20.3%3.6%
Return on equity38.1%——34.3%27.9%23.6%23.7%23.9%0.9%31.2%87.7%——162.3%77.6%42.8%29.3%1.9%
Return on assets16.9%——15.7%13.3%11.6%11.5%11.7%0.4%13.1%18.8%19.3%23.3%22.2%16.2%13.9%13.3%1.1%
Effective tax rate16.4%12.8%15.0%5.4%8.2%12.0%13.4%13.1%96.8%13.0%12.7%14.6%14.1%15.5%12.8%15.5%14.9%19.1%
R&D as % of revenue5.1%5.1%5.0%5.2%5.3%5.4%5.8%5.8%5.7%5.9%5.9%6.0%6.0%5.9%5.9%6.2%6.2%6.9%
SG&A as % of revenue28.1%27.1%26.5%25.9%25.9%25.8%24.3%23.6%23.6%22.2%22.2%23.4%22.5%22.1%24.9%23.3%26.2%26.8%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

3 of 7 checks passed · July 4, 2026
What it owns · $24.8bn
Short-term assets $4.5bnLonger-term assets $20.3bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $24.8bn
Short-term liabilities $2.4bnLonger-term liabilities $7.2bnShareholders' equity $15.2bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $4.5bn of assets due within a year against $2.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $4.5bn short-term assets against $7.2bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $539m of cash against $4.9bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 32% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 412% to 32% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $550m of operating cash flow against $4.9bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $330m against $149m of interest.

From Waters Corporation's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

78 /100

Strong moat

How hard Waters's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 20 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 23.2% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 20 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 59.0%, moving by 1.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 13 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 28.5%; its worst year was 7.1%.

  • Cash conversion 20 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 22.6% of revenue.

  • Discipline 10 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 20.1% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 1.6% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (83 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: ILMN vs WATMTD vs WATCRL vs WATAVTR vs WAT

More: Life Sciences Tools & Services stocks compared, Health Care sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Waters Corporation's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Waters Corporation.