STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 0.16%. The business had revenue of $83.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from STAAR Surgical’s conference call:

• Third-quarter net sales were $83.4 million, down 12% year over year due to the prior-year China deferred-sales comparison; excluding that item, sales grew 21%. China sales rose 31% on the adjusted comparison, while distributor unit shipments in the market were up 12.4% through the first nine months.
• Growth was broad outside China: sales increased 13%, led by 14% growth in the Americas and 31% growth in EMEA. APAC excluding China grew 4%, though Japan and South Korea faced market and currency headwinds.
• Third-quarter gross margin was 70.9%, pressured by ERP-related production inefficiencies, freight, tariffs, and inventory provisions; management said unit costs will remain elevated through year-end. It expects margin to improve in the fourth quarter and further in 2027 as production and yields recover.
• STAAR ended the quarter with $206.4 million in cash and investments and no debt, and its board authorized a $50 million share repurchase program. Management said nine-month results included record revenue, net income, and free cash flow.
• The company expects to begin first-in-human enrollment for two Collamer-based presbyopia products in the coming months, subject to regulatory authorizations. The trials are an early step in management’s plan to broaden its product portfolio; no launch timing or trial details were provided.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of STAA traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.80. The company had a trading volume of 252,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,974. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.64. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2,573,600.00 and a beta of 1.22. STAAR Surgical has a 52 week low of $15.59 and a 52 week high of $35.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of STAAR Surgical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, William Blair set a $33.00 price objective on STAAR Surgical in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

STAAR Surgical announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical is a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery and vision correction. The company develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses and related products designed to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

Its principal product line is the EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL), a lens implanted inside the eye to correct myopia, with or without astigmatism. Unlike procedures that remove corneal tissue, ICL surgery preserves the eye’s natural lens and is designed to be removable.