Waters Q2 2026: revenue beat, GAAP loss masks $3.05 adjusted EPS and raised guidance
Waters beat its own second-quarter revenue guide and raised every component of full-year 2026 guidance, on 9% constant-currency organic growth and mid-single-digit growth in the newly acquired businesses. The ugly GAAP numbers — a $1.39 per-share loss and a 44.6% gross margin — are purchase-accounting artifacts: $155 million of inventory step-up in cost of revenue and $244 million of intangible amortization. Read adjusted EPS of $3.05 and the cash flow, not the loss.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowGAAP loss per share was $1.39 versus $2.47 a year earlier, driven by $155 million of acquisition inventory and fixed-asset step-up inside cost of revenue plus $244 million of purchased-intangible amortization. Adjusted EPS rose to $3.05 from $2.95, landing at the high end of guidance and just above the $3.0367 consensus. The $4.44 per-share gap between the two figures is the clearest measure of how much this acquisition distorts reported earnings right now.
Reported revenue rose 113% to $1.645 billion, but $817 million of that came from the acquired Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses; organic revenue was $828 million, up 7% as reported and 9% in constant currency. The quarter cleared the $1.6235 billion revenue guide set three months earlier, a beat of about 1.3%. All four divisions grew, though Advanced Diagnostics' reported $521 million is mostly a comparison-base effect — the prior-year $62 million contained only the Clinical Business Unit.
Waters raised every part of its full-year 2026 outlook: total revenue of $6.415 billion to $6.476 billion, organic constant-currency growth of 7.0% to 9.0%, acquired-business revenue of about $3.045 billion, and adjusted EPS of $14.45 to $14.65, or 10% to 12% growth. For the third quarter it guides to $1.745 billion to $1.762 billion of revenue — a $1.7535 billion midpoint, about 6.6% above this quarter — and adjusted EPS of $3.95 to $4.05, or 16% to 19% growth. The whole outlook is a mix of reported and adjusted figures, and the company states it cannot reconcile forward adjusted EPS to GAAP without unreasonable effort.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-09-17
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