Waters Corp. Q2 Profit, Sales Surpass Street View; Ups Annual Sales Outlook

(RTTNews) - Analytical instruments and software company Waters Corporation (WAT) on Tuesday reported net profit of $164.86 million or $2.72 per share in the second quarter, lower than $167.29 million or $2.69 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $2.75 per share, that beat the average estimate of 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters $2.66 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

During the prior-year quarter, the company had received $10 million in connection with the settlement agreement to resolve patent infringement litigation with Bruker Corporation and Bruker Daltronik GmbH.

Sales for the quarter were $714.32 million, an increase of 5% from $681.65 million last year. The consensus estimate stood at $707.02 million.

Looking forward, the company expects sales to grow in the range of 8% to 10% in the third quarter, at constant currency levels.

Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $2.50 to $2.60 for the quarter. Analysts' expectation stands at $2.7 per share.

For the full year, Waters has raised its outlook.

Sales growth is now expected in the range of 9.5%-10.5% compared with 7.5%-9% provided earlier. Currency translation is expected to decrease full-year sales growth by approximately five percentage points, the company said.

Further, the company is reaffirming the mid-point of its full-year adjusted EPS guidance with the updated range of $11.95 to $12.05. Previous outlook was for $11.90 to $12.10.

Analysts see earnings of $12.08 per share on revenue growth of 5.9% for the year.