Waters’ Q2 Strength Earns a Place Among Madison’s Top Contributors
The fund cited solid results in Waters’ core business and newly acquired diagnostics operations as shares climbed over the past year.
Waters Corporation’s second-quarter performance made it one of Madison Mid Cap Fund’s five biggest contributors, even as the fund trailed its benchmark during a quarter dominated by enthusiasm for AI stocks. Madison said solid results in Waters’ legacy business and the newly acquired businesses from Becton Dickinson helped lift the shares.
The operating numbers give that assessment some substance. Waters reported $1.645 billion in second-quarter revenue, including $828 million from its existing operations and $817 million from the Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions businesses it acquired from BD. Organic revenue grew 9% in constant currency, while the acquired businesses grew 4% on a comparable basis. Adjusted earnings were $3.05 a share.
Waters raised its full-year outlook after the results. It now expects organic revenue growth of 7% to 9% in constant currency and adjusted earnings of $14.45 to $14.65 a share. The company also forecast $3.045 billion in reported revenue from the acquired businesses. Those figures matter because investors are weighing the growth from a much larger portfolio against the execution work involved in bringing the businesses together.
The acquisition closed on February 9, 2026, and BD shareholders received Waters shares as part of the transaction. The deal brought new bioscience and diagnostic operations into a company known for analytical instruments and related products. Integration and the performance of those businesses will remain key measures of whether the expanded company can deliver on its outlook.
Madison’s praise came against a less flattering fund comparison: its Class Y shares returned 8.58% in the second quarter, below the Russell Midcap Index’s 13.83% gain, according to the fund letter. Waters nonetheless ranked among its leading holdings by contribution. Its shares closed at $425.74 on September 22, up 45.48% over the prior 52 weeks, according to the figures cited in the letter.
The headline is not that Waters beat the market in the quarter. It is that the company’s established operations and its first full quarter with the acquired businesses both showed growth, giving investors a concrete test of the deal’s early contribution.
This article was produced with the help of AI technology.
Source: Yahoo Finance
