WATERS CORP /DE/ (WAT)

Waters Corporation is a global leader in analytical instruments and software, with roughly 7,900 employees operating directly in over 35 countries and products sold in more than 100 countries, serving life, materials and food sciences markets for over 65 years. The company designs, manufactures, sells and services high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) systems, mass spectrometry (MS) instruments, and integrated LC-MS systems, along with chromatography columns, other precision chemistry consumables, and post-warranty service plans; it also produces thermal analysis, rheometry and calorimetry instruments through its TA Instruments product line, and develops advanced software platforms (such as Empower Chromatography Software and waters_connect) that interface with its own and other manufacturers' instruments. Key product lines include the ACQUITY UPLC System family, Arc and Alliance HPLC systems, Xevo and other quadrupole/Tof mass spectrometers, MaxPeak High Performance Surface columns, BioResolve and XBridge column technologies, and, following the 2023 acquisition of Wyatt Technology (light scattering and field-flow fractionation instruments), the DynaPro ZetaStar instrument for nanoparticle and biologics analysis; the company also acquired Andrew Alliance in 2020 for lab workflow automation.

Waters' customers span pharmaceutical, biotechnology, clinical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic and governmental sectors, using its products for drug discovery and development (including clinical trial testing and proteomics), quality assurance, quality control, regulatory compliance testing (overseen by bodies such as the FDA and EPA), food and beverage safety, water and air purity testing, materials characterization, and biologics/biosimilar and gene therapy (e.g., AAV vector) development and manufacturing. Organized as a Delaware holding company in 1991 and publicly traded since its 1995 IPO, Waters operates through two similar operating segments—Waters (LC, MS, and consumables) and TA (thermal analysis, rheometry, calorimetry)—which are aggregated into a single reportable segment due to their shared economic characteristics, customer base, distribution methods and regulatory environment, with the recently acquired Wyatt business now part of the Waters segment.