Waters (WAT) Q1 FY2026 earnings: revenue $1.3 billion, up 91.5% on the year

Waters Corp. (WAT) reported revenue of $1.3 billion for Q1 FY2026, the quarter ended 4 April 2026, up 91.5% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was -$72 million, and diluted earnings per share $-0.87. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-Q it filed with the SEC on 12 May 2026.

Revenue

$1.3 billion

+91.5% on the year · +35.9% on the quarter

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Operating margin

-3.7%

22.9% a year earlier

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Net income

-$72 million

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

Diluted EPS

-$0.87

Q2 FY2024Q1 FY2026

this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.

What management said

Guidance figures: 5 raised, 5 new, 1 kept.

Reported revenue topped guidance range: Reported revenue was $1.267 billion, above the high end of the guidance range by $56 million, with gains in organic revenue and the acquired businesses.
Adjusted EPS grew 20% to $2.70: Adjusted diluted EPS was $2.70, up from $2.25 in the first quarter of 2025.
Acquired businesses delivered $520 million: Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions revenue was $520 million on an owned-period basis, against an estimated prior-year equivalent of $485 million.

Read the earnings call summary

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Revenue	1,267	932	662	+35.9%	+91.5%
Cost of revenue	679	363	277	+87.1%	+145.4%
Gross profit	588	569	385	+3.2%	+52.7%
Gross margin	46.4%	61.1%	58.2%
Research and development	96.0	46.9	46.6	+104.7%	+105.9%
Selling, general and administrative	387	240	175	+61.2%	+121.3%
Operating income	-47.0	271	152
Operating margin	-3.7%	29.0%	22.9%
Interest expense	48.0	14.3	14.3	+236.0%	+236.4%
Pre-tax income	-88.0	264	143
Income tax	-16.0	39.0	21.5
Effective tax rate	n/a	14.8%	15.1%
Net income	-72.0	225	121
Net margin	-5.7%	24.2%	18.3%
Diluted EPS	-$0.87	$3.77	$2.03

$ million except per share.

Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter	On the year
Operating cash flow	-3.0	165	n/a
Capital expenditure	39.0	39.0	n/a	+0.1%
Free cash flow	-42.0	126	n/a
Free cash flow margin	-3.3%	13.5%	n/a
Cash from investing	95.0	-42.1	n/a
Cash from financing	-213	3.3	n/a
Depreciation and amortisation	207	52.9	n/a	+291.1%
Share-based compensation	20.0	14.5	n/a	+37.9%
Buybacks	12.0	0.1	n/a	+8,233.3%
Diluted shares, weighted	82m	60m	60m	+37.4%	+37.6%
Shares outstanding at period end	98m	60m	98m	+64.8%	+0.1%

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet

$ million	Q1 FY2026	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2025	On the quarter
Shareholders' equity	15,292	2,561	n/a	+497.1%
Debt	5,215	1,410	n/a	+269.9%
Operating lease liabilities	302	52.5	n/a	+474.7%
Other liabilities	3,722	1,053	n/a	+253.5%
Total liabilities and equity	24,531	5,077	n/a	+383.2%
Fixed assets	1,520	642	n/a	+136.7%
Goodwill	9,317	1,340	n/a	+595.3%
Intangible assets	8,776	558	n/a	+1,472.3%
Cash and equivalents	462	588	n/a	-21.4%
Receivables	1,753	829	n/a	+111.5%
Inventory	1,496	572	n/a	+161.4%
Other assets	1,207	547	n/a	+120.6%
Total assets	24,531	5,077	n/a	+383.2%

Questions

What was Waters' revenue in Q1 FY2026?

Waters (WAT) reported revenue of $1.3 billion for Q1 FY2026, the quarter ended 4 April 2026, up 91.5% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Waters earn in Q1 FY2026?

Net loss for Q1 FY2026 was $72 million, and the diluted loss per share $0.87.

When did Waters report Q1 FY2026 results?

Waters filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended 4 April 2026 with the SEC on 12 May 2026.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q3 FY2021	Q4 FY2021	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026
Revenue	659	836	691	714	709	859	685	741	712	819	637	709	740	873	662	771	800	932	1,267	1,645
Cost of revenue	271	351	286	307	307	348	284	301	291	318	262	288	302	349	277	321	328	363	679	911
Gross profit	388	485	405	407	401	510	400	440	420	501	375	420	439	524	385	450	472	569	588	734
Gross margin	59%	58%	59%	57%	57%	59%	58%	59%	59%	61%	59%	59%	59%	60%	58%	58%	59%	61%	46%	45%
R&D	42.0	43.3	40.5	44.0	43.4	48.3	42.7	45.9	42.0	44.4	44.6	46.2	45.3	46.9	46.6	48.5	53.6	46.9	96.0	122
SG&A	153	173	157	162	164	174	182	187	187	180	175	173	169	173	175	201	214	240	387	405
Operating income	192	262	195	200	192	286	174	200	179	264	134	189	211	292	152	188	192	271	-47.0	-86.0
Operating margin	29%	31%	28%	28%	27%	33%	25%	27%	25%	32%	21%	27%	29%	33%	23%	24%	24%	29%	-4%	-5%
Interest expense	11.1	10.9	11.1	11.4	12.4	13.9	14.4	23.3	30.4	30.7	25.5	23.7	21.4	19.0	14.3	14.4	26.6	14.3	48.0	60.0
Pre-tax income	183	252	187	192	183	275	165	180	153	238	115	169	194	277	143	178	170	264	-88.0	-141
Tax rate	12%	14%	14%	14%	15%	18%	15%	16%	12%	9%	11%	16%	17%	16%	15%	17%	12%	15%	n/a	n/a
Net income	161	216	160	165	156	227	141	151	135	216	102	143	162	231	121	147	149	225	-72.0	-136
Net margin	24%	26%	23%	23%	22%	26%	21%	20%	19%	26%	16%	20%	22%	27%	18%	19%	19%	24%	-6%	-8%
Diluted EPS	$2.60	$3.52	$2.62	$2.72	$2.60	$3.81	$2.38	$2.55	$2.27	$3.65	$1.72	$2.40	$2.71	$3.88	$2.03	$2.47	$2.50	$3.77	-$0.87	-$1.39
Operating cash flow	168	218	198	56.9	158	199	197	18.1	158	230	n/a	n/a	n/a	240	n/a	n/a	n/a	165	-3.0	201
Capital expenditure	39.7	44.7	27.8	47.0	39.0	62.2	34.4	46.6	38.0	41.6	n/a	n/a	n/a	52.1	n/a	n/a	n/a	39.0	39.0	48.0
Free cash flow	128	173	170	9.9	119	137	162	-28.5	120	189	n/a	n/a	n/a	188	n/a	n/a	n/a	126	-42.0	153
Buybacks	151	156	170	152	155	149	69.5	0.2	0.7	-0.2	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.1	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.1	12.0	2.0
Shares outstanding	61m	61m	60m	60m	60m	59m	59m	59m	59m	59m	59m	59m	59m	n/a	98m	98m	98m	60m	98m	98m
Filing	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-K	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-Q for the period ended 4 April 2026, filed 12 May 2026: the filing.