WATWATERS CORP /DE/

Laboratory Analytical Instruments

Revenue: $3.2B; 7.0% YoY
Operating margin: 25.4%; 9.2% YoY
EBITDA: $891M; 2.5% YoY
Market cap: $45.5B
Employees: 1,200; $3M revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 1.0×; $871M net debt
AI in 10-K: 3.7; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 0 of 13

Fixable underperformance 0 of 7

TSR below peersNo
0 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
102% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
2% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
2% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
38% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
88% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 0 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$3M · 92nd pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
3.7 per 10K words · 76th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
1.0× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedNo
$45.5B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 0 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$992K net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$2.8B	$3.0B	$3.0B	$3.0B	$3.2B	7.0%
Operating income	$822M	$873M	$818M	$826M	$803M	2.9%
Net income	$693M	$708M	$642M	$638M	$643M	0.8%
Operating cash flow	$747M	$612M	$603M	$762M	$653M	14%
Capex	—	—	$161M	$142M	$113M	21%
Stock-based comp	$30M	$43M	$37M	$45M	$54M	21%
Buybacks	$649M	$626M	$70M	$14M	$15M	8.3%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $451K · 2
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $1M · 1
Net: −$992K

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	—	—	154	69
FY2024	—	—	150	72
FY2023	—	—	133	76
FY2022	—	—	138	86
FY2021	—	—	151	127