Waters Corporation (WAT) earnings on August 4, 2026

Before the market opens Q2 2026

More Waters Corporation earnings

Prior outlook: Optimistic Outcome: Accurate

Waters beat profit and sales estimates and raised its full-year forecast. The stock climbed nearly 5% after touching a high of over 7%.

WAT price around the earnings

396.08

Change: +5.7%

2026-08-04, 20:00 UTC

Start of the measured window End of the measured window
361.04 374.03 387.02 400.01 374.74
Price series around the eventClosing price per minute from before the event to the end of the measured window.
August 4, 2026
  • Price: green if it ends above the starting price; red if it ends below
  • Start of the measured window
  • End of the measured window
  • Market open
  • Starting price
Price series around the event

Prior thesis

Prior outlook: Optimistic Outcome: Accurate

Thesis published
Results released

Strong expectations, scenario optimistic

Analysts are optimistic because the company has beaten earnings expectations in recent quarters and experts have raised their price targets. The main driver is the strong setup, even though the stock price has been drifting down lately.

Context analyzed before publication

Summary
Strong expectations, scenario optimistic
Playbook
The stock has been consolidating after a recent drop, but the overall trend strength is positive. Analyst upgrades and a strong recent earnings record suggest the market may be underpricing the stock.
Trend
Analyst confidence rising over the week

Analysts

Drivers

  • Analysts Positive

    Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital have raised their price targets to $425 and $435, respectively, signaling confidence.

Evidence

Analyst moves in the last 60 days
6
  • Strong buy: 3
  • Buy: 13
  • Hold: 8
  • Sell: 0
  • Strong sell: 0
Strong buy
3
Buy
13
Hold
8
Sell
0
Strong sell
0
  • July 14, 2026 · Goldman Sachs: Maintains rating (Buy → Buy)
  • July 9, 2026 · Morgan Stanley: Maintains rating (Equal-Weight → Equal-Weight)
  • July 9, 2026 · RBC Capital: Initiates coverage (Outperform)
  • July 8, 2026 · Guggenheim: Reiterates rating (Buy → Buy)
  • July 6, 2026 · Evercore ISI Group: Maintains rating (Outperform → Outperform)
  • June 11, 2026 · Piper Sandler: Initiates coverage (Neutral)

News and sentiment

Evidence

Sentiment
Sentiment
Constructive
Mention volume
High
Normalized volume
99%
News
Sources (5)

Technicals

Drivers

  • Technical Positive

    The 14-day trend strength is positive (+4.82%), showing recent upward price movement.

Evidence

Price when the context was analyzed
374.57
Average true range (ATR)
3.1%
Distance to 52-week high
-8.5%
14-day change (14d)
+4.8%
30-day change (32d)
-1.3%
30-day relative strength
-3.0%
SPY change (32d)
+1.7%
Nearest support
373.94
Distance to nearest support
0.2%
Nearest resistance
377.87
Distance to nearest resistance
0.9%
Volume accumulation ratio (14d / 46d)
0.95
  • Major: 373.94 (0.2% away, 0.05 ATR, 74 touches)
  • Major: 371.26 (0.9% away, 0.28 ATR, 60 touches)
  • Major: 367.87 (1.8% away, 0.58 ATR, 44 touches)
  • Major: 377.87 (0.9% away, 0.28 ATR, 34 touches)
  • Major: 380.56 (1.6% away, 0.52 ATR, 63 touches)
  • Major: 383.21 (2.3% away, 0.75 ATR, 67 touches)

Trends

Evidence

Average earnings surprise
+5.8%
  • May 5, 2026: actual EPS 2.7 vs estimate 2.31 (surprise +17.0%)
  • February 9, 2026: actual EPS 4.53 vs estimate 4.51 (surprise +0.5%)
  • November 4, 2025: actual EPS 3.4 vs estimate 3.22 (surprise +5.5%)
  • August 4, 2025: actual EPS 2.95 vs estimate 2.94 (surprise +0.3%)

Expected move

Drivers

  • Past earnings Positive

    The company has beaten earnings expectations in recent quarters, with an average surprise of +5.8%, showing strong historical performance.

Implied move
+3.0%
Source
Options chain

Reactions over its last 20 earnings

Median move
3.9%
75th percentile move
6.6%
90th percentile move
13.5%
Up / down moves
12 / 8
Average up move
+5.6%
Average down move
-5.3%

Monitoring and close

What Waters Corporation reported

Status
Finished
Actual EPS3.05
EPS estimate3.01
EPS surprise+1.3%
Revenue$1,645 million
Revenue estimate$1,623 million
Revenue surprise+1.4%

Waters Corp reported a 9% constant currency organic revenue beat in Q2 2026, leading to raised full-year guidance despite foreign exchange headwinds.

Sources (10)

Pre-market second reading after the results

Verdict
Beat expectations

Heading into the open, the results beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, and the price is indicating -1.1% pre-market, a move below the stock's usual reaction (about 4%). The figures don't confirm the prior scenario: the price move doesn't follow the direction the results point to.

How the stock reacted

Outcome
Accurate
Consolidated
+5.7%
Max favorable move (MFE)
7%
Max adverse move (MAE)
1.3%