11:10 AM EDT, 08/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We raise our target to $281 from $276, 19.9x our 2026 EPS view, below WAT's historical forward P/E average. We up our 2025 EPS estimate to $12.97 from $12.86 after the slight Q2 beat. We keep our 2026 EPS view at $14.11. WAT reported a slightly better-than-expected performance in Q2 2025 amid a challenging business environment. Net sales rose 9% Y/Y, slightly beating expectations. WAT saw a strong demand in Pharma (60% of total revenue), which was above our expectations, driven by a solid instrument replacement cycle, with sales up 11% Y/Y. This counterbalanced the 3% Y/Y decline in the Academic/Government end market revenue due to ongoing headwinds. Geographically, Asia emerged as a key growth driver, with sales up 14%, led by above expectations sales growth in China, which WAT partially attributes to the localization of its portfolio. The proposed deal with BDX to combine WAT's existing business with BDX's Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions, expected to close in early 2026, could be an important catalyst.