WATERS CORP /DE/

Waters Corporation is a global leader in analytical instruments and software, primarily designing, manufacturing, selling, and servicing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), mass spectrometry (MS), thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry technology systems and related consumables. The company's products are used in various industries, including pharmaceutical, life science, environmental, and academic research. Waters was founded in 1991 and became a publicly traded company in 1995. The company's operating segments include Waters and TA, with the Waters segment focusing on LC and MS technology systems and the TA segment on thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments. The company's website is www.waters.com, and its ticker symbol is WAT. Waters Corporation's business strategy involves offering a wide range of analytical instruments and software, including LC and MS systems, chromatography columns, and related services. The company has been a developer and supplier of software-based products that interface with both its and other suppliers' instruments. Waters' newest software technology for mass spectrometry is the waters_connect Software platform, which supports biopharmaceutical workflows and provides the foundation for the connected lab of the future. The company has also made several acquisitions, including Andrew Alliance in 2023, which offers lab workflow automation solutions, and Integrated Software Solutions in 2020, which provides clinical laboratory software systems. The servicing and support of instruments, software, and accessories is an important source of revenue for Waters, representing over 35% of sales in 2023. The company offers support plans, demand services, spare parts, customer performance validation services, and customer training. Waters also offers a Software-as-a-Service application called waters_connect System Monitoring, which enables laboratory managers and analysts to monitor the real-time status of any chromatography instruments, regardless of the manufacturer, running on Waters Empower Software. Waters Corporation's products are used in various industries, including pharmaceutical, biomedical, clinical, food and beverage, environmental, and academic research. The company's LC and MS instruments are often used together and are designed to deliver rapid and accurate sample analysis, enhance sensitivity, and simplify characterization of complex samples. Waters' thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments are used to predict the suitability and stability of materials in various industries, including plastics, chemicals, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. The company offers a range of instrument configurations with increasing levels of sample handling and information processing automation and tailored software packages for specific applications. In recent years, Waters Corporation has introduced several new products and enhancements to its existing product line. In 2019, the company introduced the BioAccord System, a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry solution that expands access to high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry capabilities, and the SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS System, which seamlessly integrates cyclic ion mobility technology into a high-performance research-grade time-of-flight mass spectrometer. In 2020, the company introduced the RADIANT ASAP System, a novel direct mass detector engineered for non-mass spectrometry experts to conduct fast and accurate analyses of solids and liquids with minimal sample prep, and enhancements for the Waters Xevo G2-XS QTof System, SYNAPT XS System, and SELECT SERIES Cyclic IMS System. In 2021, the company introduced the SELECT SERIES MRT MS System, a high-resolution mass spectrometer that combines Multi-Reflecting Time-of-Flight technology with enhanced desorption electrospray ionization and new matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization imaging sources, and the ACQUITY RDa Detector featuring SmartM Technology, the company's newest Tof MS designed to improve the ease and reliability of small molecule analysis for pharmaceutical, academic, food, and forensic applications. In 2022, the company introduced the Xevo TQ Absolute System, the most sensitive and compact benchtop tandem mass spec in its class, and the new Xevo G3 Q-Tof Mass Spectrometer with CONFIRM Sequence, a new oligonucleotide sequencing confirmation app for the waters_connect Software platform and an electrospray ionization source for the high-resolution SELECT SERIES MRT Mass Spectrometer. In 2023, the company introduced the industry's first targeted imaging mass spectrometer based on its Xevo TQ Absolute Tandem Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer, which is the most sensitive and compact mass spectrometer in its class, and the next generation Xevo TQ Absolute IVD Mass Spectrometer, expanding its family of MassTrak IVD LC-MS/MS Systems for clinical diagnostic applications. The company also introduced new updates to its SELECT SERIES MRT System that increases its specificity and utility for UPLC-MS/MS metabolomics and drug discovery applications and for mass spectrometry imaging experiments. The MRT System now offers 50% higher resolution, making it capable of 300,000 FWHM resolution, a 3X faster scan rate, and parts-per-billion mass accuracy. The new MRT System enhancements are designed to help research scientists unambiguously identify analytes of interest in samples of blood, urine, and tissue, contributing to a greater understanding of molecules and their mechanisms of action in numerous scientific fields. The MRT System is compatible with numerous MS imaging sources including DESI and MALDI, and generates crystal-clear, high-resolution images without compromising mass spectral resolution or accuracy. The company also combined its BioAccord LC-MS System and the Waters Andrew+ Pipetting Robot, connecting via new protocols in OneLab Software to create fully integrated and easy-to-use bioprocess walk-up solutions. It is designed to enable less experienced LC-MS users to acquire critical quality attribute data for analysis of drug product and cell culture media. Capturing data directly at the bioproduction laboratory can help bioprocess engineers improve process understanding, leading to more robust manufacturing processes and accelerated development timelines.