Sifting through countless of stocks in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Agilent Technologies, Inc. or Waters Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation

Agilent Technologies, Inc. provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets, Agilent CrossLab, and Applied Markets. The Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems. This segment is also involved in the genomics, contract development and manufacturing organization, pathology, companion diagnostics, and biomolecular analysis businesses. The Agilent CrossLab segment provides various services, including repairs, parts, maintenance, installations, training, compliance support, software as a service, asset management, consulting, and other custom services. This segment also offers consumables, including gas chromatography and liquid chromatography columns, sample preparation products, custom chemistries, and various laboratory supplies; software and informatics solutions comprising software for instrument control, data acquisition, data analysis, secure storage of results, and laboratory information and workflow management; and OpenLab laboratory software, an open software platform that enables customers to capture, analyze, and share scientific data throughout the lab and across the enterprise. In addition, it provides automated sample preparation solutions, such as liquid handling, plate management, consumables, and scheduling software. The Applied Markets segment offers products in the areas of gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, vacuum technology, and remarketed instruments. It markets its products through direct sales, distributors, resellers, manufacturer's representatives, and electronic commerce. Agilent Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The company operates through two segments, Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and supports products, including chromatography columns, and other consumable products. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer goods, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. In addition, the company offers MS technology, which is used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. Its products are used by clinical, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. The company was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts.

Latest Life Sciences Tools & Services and Agilent Technologies, Inc., Waters Corporation Stock News

As of July 2, 2026, Agilent Technologies, Inc. had a $36.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Life Sciences Tools & Services median of $2.1 million. Agilent Technologies, Inc.’s stock is down 4% in 2026, down 3.6% in the previous five trading days and up 8.5% in the past year.

Currently, Agilent Technologies, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 26.2. Agilent Technologies, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $7.2 billion with a 19.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.059 per share for the current fiscal year. Agilent Technologies, Inc. currently has a 0.8% dividend yield.

As of July 2, 2026, Waters Corporation had a $37.2 billion market cap, putting it in the 91st percentile of all stocks. Waters Corporation’s stock is down 0.1% in 2026, up 0.6% in the previous five trading days and up 6.23% in the past year.

Currently, Waters Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 55.1. Waters Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.8 billion with a 11.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 91.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $14.514 per share for the current fiscal year. Waters Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Agilent Technologies, Inc.	A	C
Waters Corporation	WAT	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a Growth Score of 56, which is Average. Waters Corporation has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Waters Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Waters Corporation has a more attractive growth grade than Agilent Technologies, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Waters Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Agilent Technologies, Inc.	A	A
Waters Corporation	WAT	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a Quality Score of 91, which is Very Strong. Waters Corporation has a Quality Score of 21, which is Weak.

The Quality Grade Winner: Agilent Technologies, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Waters Corporation. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Agilent Technologies, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Agilent Technologies, Inc.	A	C
Waters Corporation	WAT	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 49, which is Neutral. Waters Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 67, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Waters Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Waters Corporation has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Agilent Technologies, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Waters Corporation could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation Grades

In addition to Growth, Estimate Revisions and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Agilent Technologies, Inc. or Waters Corporation Stock?

Overall, Agilent Technologies, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 56, Estimate Revisions Score of 49 and Quality Score of 91.

Waters Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 95, Estimate Revisions Score of 67 and Quality Score of 21.

Comparing Agilent Technologies, Inc. and Waters Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.