NEW YORK — Waters' stock soared Friday morning after the company reported a 4 percent year-over-year increase in Q3 2024 revenues and raised its full-year revenue and earnings guidance.
For the three-month period ended Sept. 30, Waters' revenues rose to $740.3 million from $711.7 million the year before and beat the consensus Wall Street estimate of $713.0 million.
Instrument sales totaled $323.1 million, up 1 percent from $319.4 million last year; service revenues were $278.3 million, up 6 percent from $263.6 million; and chemistry revenues were $138.9 million, up 8 percent from $128.7 million a year ago.
In a statement accompanying the release of the results, Waters President and CEO Udit Batra said the growth was “fueled by new product adoption and improved customer spending trends.” He added that “instruments returned to growth sooner than expected, as liquid chromatography sales to pharma and industrial customers turned positive.”
Waters’ net income for Q3 was $161.5 million, or $2.71 per share, compared to net income of $134.6 million, or $2.27 per share, a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, the company reported EPS of $2.93, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.68 per share.
R&D spending was $45.3 million in Q3, up 8 percent from $42.0 million in the year-ago period. SG&A expenses were $169.1 million, down 9 percent from $186.7 million in Q3 2023.
Waters ended the quarter with $330.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The company raised its full-year 2024 guidance to project a revenue decline between 0.2 percent and 0.8 percent. Previously, it projected a decline of between 0.7 percent and 2.2 percent. Waters raised its full-year 2024 non-GAAP EPS guidance to between $11.67 and $11.87, up from a previous range of $11.55 to $11.65.
For Q4, the company projected revenue growth between 3.3 percent and 5.3 percent and non-GAAP EPS between $3.90 and $4.10.
In Friday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Waters shares were up 18 percent to $381.16.