WATERS CORP /DE/WAT
WATERS CORP /DE/ Segments Disclosure
17 Business Segment Information
The accounting standards for segment reporting establish standards for reporting information about operating segments in annual financial statements and require selected information for those segments to be presented in interim financial reports of public business enterprises. They also establish standards for related disclosures about products and services, geographic areas and major customers. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer is the CODM. The CODM evaluates the business based on our two operating segments: Waters and TA.
The Waters operating segment is primarily in the business of designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing LC and MS instruments, columns and other precision chemistry consumables that can be integrated and
used along with other analytical instruments. The TA operating segment is primarily in the business of designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing thermal analysis, rheometry and calorimetry instruments. The Company’s two operating segments have similar economic characteristics; product processes; products and services; types and classes of customers; methods of distribution; and regulatory environments. Because of these similarities, the two segments have been aggregated into one reporting segment for financial statement purposes. Please refer to
the consolidated balance sheets
and
consolidated statements of operations for financial information regarding the one reportable segment of the Company. Net sales for the Company’s products and services are as follows for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
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Product net sales: |
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Waters instrument systems |
$ | 1,101,826 | $ | 1,032,493 | $ | 1,108,702 | ||||||
Chemistry consumables |
631,458 | 565,481 | 541,469 | |||||||||
TA instrument systems |
243,816 | 246,202 | 252,879 | |||||||||
Total product sales |
1,977,100 | 1,844,176 | 1,903,050 | |||||||||
Service net sales: |
||||||||||||
Waters service |
1,080,162 | 1,006,447 | 951,419 | |||||||||
TA service |
108,024 | 107,764 | 101,947 | |||||||||
Total service sales |
1,188,186 | 1,114,211 | 1,053,366 | |||||||||
Total net sales |
$ | 3,165,286 | $ | 2,958,387 | $ | 2,956,416 | ||||||
Net sales are attributable to geographic areas based on the region of destination. Geographic sales information is presented below for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
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Net Sales: |
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Asia: |
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China |
$ | 437,468 | $ | 396,599 | $ | 440,707 | ||||||
Asia Other |
602,929 | 572,623 | 567,118 | |||||||||
Total Asia |
1,040,397 | 969,222 | 1,007,825 | |||||||||
Americas: |
||||||||||||
United States |
965,782 | 933,926 | 927,982 | |||||||||
Americas Other |
195,731 | 181,854 | 180,591 | |||||||||
Total Americas |
1,161,513 | 1,115,780 | 1,108,573 | |||||||||
Europe |
963,376 | 873,385 | 840,018 | |||||||||
Total net sales |
$ | 3,165,286 | $ | 2,958,387 | $ | 2,956,416 | ||||||
None of the Company’s individual customers accounts for more than 2% of annual Company sales. Net sales by customer class are as
follows
for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
||||||||||
Pharmaceutical |
$ | 1,873,362 | $ | 1,718,899 | $ | 1,696,875 | ||||||
Industrial |
961,154 | 908,486 | 909,003 | |||||||||
Academic and government |
330,770 | 331,002 | 350,538 | |||||||||
Total net sales |
$ | 3,165,286 | $ | 2,958,387 | $ | 2,956,416 | ||||||
Net sales for the Company recognized at a point in time versus over time are as follows for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and
2023
(in thousands):2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
||||||||||
Net sales recognized at a point in time: |
||||||||||||
Instrument systems |
$ | 1,345,642 | $ | 1,278,695 | $ | 1,361,581 | ||||||
Chemistry consumables |
631,458 | 565,481 | 541,469 | |||||||||
Service sales recognized at a point in time (time & materials) |
387,686 | 369,149 | 372,530 | |||||||||
Total net sales recognized at a point in time |
2,364,786 | 2,213,325 | 2,275,580 | |||||||||
Net sales recognized over time: |
||||||||||||
Service and software maintenance sales recognized over time (contracts) |
800,500 | 745,062 | 680,836 | |||||||||
Total net sales |
$ | 3,165,286 | $ | 2,958,387 | $ | 2,956,416 | ||||||
Long-lived assets information at December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 is presented below (in thousands):
December 31, |
||||||||||||
2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
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Long-lived assets: |
||||||||||||
United States |
$ | 419,827 | $ | 445,883 | $ | 440,993 | ||||||
Americas Other |
1,728 | 1,971 | 2,632 | |||||||||
Total Americas |
421,555 | 447,854 | 443,625 | |||||||||
Europe |
198,330 | 176,310 | 167,948 | |||||||||
Asia |
22,161 | 27,036 | 27,500 | |||||||||
Total long-lived assets |
$ | 642,046 | $ | 651,200 | $ | 639,073 | ||||||
The Americas Other category includes Canada, Latin America and Puerto Rico. Long-lived assets exclude goodwill, other intangible assets and other assets.
The Company’s segment performance measure is net income attributable to Waters shareholders, which is used by our CODM when assessing performance and allocating capital and resources to our business. Significant segment expenses are presented in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. Additional disaggregated significant segment expenses, that are not separately presented on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations, are presented below.
The significant segment expenses, revenues and net income of the Company’s one reportable segment are as follows for the years
ended
December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands): 2025 |
2024 |
2023 |
||||||||||
Total sales, net |
$ | 3,165,286 | $ | 2,958,387 | $ | 2,956,416 | ||||||
Less: |
||||||||||||
Labor costs within selling and administrative and research and development expenses |
(645,147 | ) | (596,381 | ) | (605,884 | ) | ||||||
Material purchases |
(538,790 | ) | (556,123 | ) | (551,005 | ) | ||||||
Labor costs within product and service cost of sales |
(387,970 | ) | (350,978 | ) | (358,788 | ) | ||||||
Other segment expenses |
(790,791 | ) | (628,552 | ) | (623,063 | ) | ||||||
Interest expense and other income, net |
(47,710 | ) | (71,485 | ) | (81,433 | ) | ||||||
Provision for income taxes |
(112,249 | ) | (117,034 | ) | (94,009 | ) | ||||||
Net income |
$ | 642,629 | $ | 637,834 | $ | 642,234 | ||||||
The other segment expenses include ERP implementation costs, transaction costs, depreciation and amortization expenses, facilities and information technology costs, travel, freight, professional fees and all other costs.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 23, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 25, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 27, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 27, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 24, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 24, 2021 | |
| 2018 | Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 24, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 26, 2016 | |
About Segments Disclosures
Segment disclosures break a company into its reportable operating units, revealing revenue, profit, and asset allocation that consolidated financial statements obscure. Under ASC 280, segments must match how the chief operating decision maker views the business, providing a window into internal management structure and resource allocation priorities.
Key signals: compare segment margins to identify which units drive profitability and which destroy value. Watch for changes in the number of reportable segments — segment aggregation or disaggregation often coincides with strategic shifts or attempts to obscure declining performance. Intersegment elimination patterns reveal internal pricing practices. The reconciliation between segment totals and consolidated figures exposes corporate overhead allocation and unallocated items. Geographic revenue concentration highlights regulatory and currency exposure. Compare segment-level capital expenditure against segment revenue to assess where management is investing for future growth versus harvesting existing assets.