Waters forecasts first-quarter profit below estimates on stronger dollar

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(Reuters) – Waters Corp forecast first-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday as it sees an impact from a strengthening U.S. dollar, sending the company’s shares down about 10% in premarket trade.

The lab equipment maker expects adjusted profit between $2.17 and $2.25 per share, below analysts’ average estimate of $2.42 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company sees an around 7% hit to profit from a stronger dollar in the first quarter and about 4% for the year.

It also forecast 2025 adjusted profit between $12.70 and $13.00 per share, in line with analysts’ expectations of $12.85 per share.

Waters earned more than half of its revenue in 2024 from markets in Asia and Europe.

Typically, a stronger dollar eats into the profits of companies that have sprawling international operations and convert foreign currencies into dollars.

However, Waters beat expectations for fourth-quarter profit and revenue on strong demand for its products and services used in drug development and manufacturing.

The company has been seeing revenue growth from its strong presence in the Indian market, and also its unit that provides quality assurance and quality control to pharma companies, especially those that make GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss drugs.

Larger peer Thermo Fisher Scientific late last month also beat expectations for fourth-quarter profit and revenue, on strong demand for its analytical instruments.

Waters’ quarterly revenue rose 6% to $872.7 million for the quarter ended December 31, above analysts’ estimate of $857.2 million.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned a profit of $4.10 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $4.03 per share.

(Reporting by Sruthi Narasimha Chari and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Shailesh Kuber)