In 2020, Waters Corporation, a Boston-area life sciences company that has been manufacturing analytical instruments since 1958, found itself losing ground to competitors. That year, the company’s newly appointed CEO, Udit Batra, engaged employees, the board, and other important stakeholders in a transformation effort aimed at rediscovering what he calls the organization’s “indomitable spirit.”
Udit is no stranger to either the life sciences industry or the complex nature of business transformations, having led large-scale M&A and change efforts at Novartis, Merck’s consumer health business, and MilliporeSigma. “Taking a step back, you never really know” if a transformation is going to succeed, he explains, “but if the brand is good, the gross margin is good, and the overall market has successful players, you can tell there is at least a path to success.” Waters took that path and, five years later, is beginning to see its transformation pay off: The company has outperformed its peers over the past several years, including some that are considerably larger. It ended the first quarter of 2025 with five-year total shareholder returns of 102 percent, exceeding the peer average of about 60 percent.
