Waters Corp (NYSE:WAT) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2018 earnings on Apr 24.
The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 4.17%. In fourth-quarter 2017, earnings of $2.51 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7 cents.
Net sales of $687 million beat the consensus mark and increased 9% year over year. The growth was driven by robust performance in the bio/pharmaceutical end markets, and the government and academic market.
Shares have returned 8.7% year to date compared with the industry’s decline of 0.9%.
Factors to Consider
Waters Corp’s leading position in the high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry markets is its key strength and has acted as a sturdy revenue driver for the past few quarters. The company is anticipated to benefit from strong growth potential in pharmaceutical business.
The company is also witnessing encouraging trends in its industrial businesses driven by increasing regulation around food safety and quality, strict conditions for food testing, along with environmental and fine chemical applications.
The governmental and academic markets have also turned its performance around and looks poised to maintain the growth trend, in the to-be-reported quarter.
However, fluctuating demand in the Americas remains a concern. Further, rising outlay on the company’s research & development will push expenses higher and hurt immediate profits. Moreover, intensifying competition is a key concern.
What Our Model Says
According to the Zacks model, a company with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) along with a positive Earnings ESP has a good chance of beating estimates. The Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) are best avoided.
Waters Corp has a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of 1.63%, which indicates a likely positive surprise. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are few other stocks you may consider as our proven model shows that these too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) has an Earnings ESP of +2.20% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC) has an Earnings ESP of +0.33% and a Zacks Rank #1.
GrubHub (NYSE:GRUB) has an Earnings ESP of +2.78% and a Zacks Rank #2.
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