Munger Mode rating: 3 out of 5 — Hold. Our own rating from the research report below, on business quality first: moat durability and management, with price separating the top three.
Written in the first person by two old partners who would rather own a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price — and who have learned, over a long life, to be suspicious of any company that decides to become twice as complicated overnight. Let us start where we always start: can we explain what this company does to a reasonably bright ten-year-old? For most of its history, Waters could pass that test with ease. Waters makes the instruments that laboratories use to figure out exactly what a substance is made of and precisely how much of each ingredient is present. Its two core technologies are liquid chromatography (LC and the higher-pressure UPLC that Waters itself pioneered) and mass spectrometry.
Recent filings analysed: 8-K (2026-08-04), 8-K (2026-05-22), 10-Q (2026-05-12), 8-K (2026-05-05).
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