Waters Corporation vs Abbott Laboratories
WAT wins the Tale of the Tape 5–4.
🏆 Tale of the Tape
Green = winner in each category. Higher is better except P/E (lower = cheaper).
Rolling Correlation
Low correlation — excellent diversification pair.
Fundamentals
| Metric | WAT | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $37.7B | $149.1B |
| P/E Ratio | 48.8x | 24.0x |
| Forward P/E | 23.4x | 14.1x |
| P/B | 8.92x | 2.86x |
| Dividend Yield | — | 2.94% |
| Beta | 1.14 | 0.65 |
Quantitative Metrics
| Metric | WAT | ABT |
|---|---|---|
| DCF Fair Value | $48.56 | $57.20 |
| DCF Upside | -85.0% | -43.2% |
| Piotroski F | 4/9 | 5/9 |
| Altman Z | 11.74 | 4.87 |
| Beneish M | -2.38 | -2.53 |
| FCF Yield | 1.70% | 4.21% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | 0.3x | 0.1x |
| ROIC | 17.0% | 10.1% |
| WACC | 12.0% | 9.4% |
| ROIC – WACC | 5.0pp | 0.7pp |
| Gross Margin | 59.3% | 56.4% |
| Net Margin | 20.3% | 14.7% |
| Rev Growth YoY | 7.0% | 5.7% |
| Sharpe (1Y) | -0.05 | -1.05 |
| Max Drawdown 3Y | — | — |
| FCF Payout Ratio | — | 56% |
WAT Price
ABT Price
ETF Exposure
WAT found in:
ABT found in:
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Quant metrics computed from financial statements and 1,200+ trading days. Correlation is Pearson coefficient on daily log returns. Not investment advice.
WAT vs ABT: Head-to-Head Analysis
Waters Corporation (WAT) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) represent two companies in the Healthcare sector. In our quantitative Tale of the Tape scoring, WAT leads 5–4 across nine fundamental and risk metrics including profitability, valuation, capital efficiency, and financial health.
In terms of capital efficiency, WAT generates a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 17.0% compared to ABT's 10.1%. This suggests WAT is more effective at deploying capital to generate shareholder returns.
The 252-day rolling correlation between WAT and ABT is 0.142, indicating low correlation, making them an effective diversification pair in a portfolio context.
WAT appears in 30 ETFs tracked by SecuritiesDB, while ABT appears in 34 ETFs. Investors holding broad-market ETFs may already have indirect exposure to both stocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stock is the better investment, WAT or ABT?
Our quantitative analysis compares WAT and ABT across nine fundamental dimensions. WAT wins the Tale of the Tape 5–4. However, stock selection depends on your individual risk tolerance, time horizon, and portfolio context. These metrics are computed from SEC filings and market data — they are not investment recommendations.
Are WAT and ABT correlated?
The 252-day correlation between WAT and ABT is 0.142. They have low correlation, offering good diversification.
How is the Tale of the Tape scored?
The Tale of the Tape compares both stocks across nine categories: profitability (net margin), valuation (P/E), efficiency (ROIC), health (Piotroski F-Score), safety (Altman Z-Score), growth (revenue YoY), risk (Sharpe ratio), leverage (debt-to-equity), and cash generation (FCF yield). The stock that wins more categories takes the overall score. Lower P/E and lower debt-to-equity count as wins.