STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Releases Earnings Results

05 Mar 2026, 13:50 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA – Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.51), FiscalAI reports. STAAR Surgical had a negative return on equity of 10.01% and a negative net margin of 33.60%.The company had revenue of $57.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.54 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

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

Q4 financial improvement: Total net sales were $57.8M (vs. $49M YA), gross margin rose to 75.7%, adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $0.2M, and the company finished the quarter with ~$187.5M in cash and no debt while targeting profitability in FY2026.
China inventory rebalanced and EVO+ launch: Management says distributor inventories in China were reduced to contractual levels (which depressed 2025 sales) and that the launch of EVO+ in China has shown encouraging early demand, setting up expectations for a China rebound in 2026.
Near-term margin headwinds from Swiss production and inventory reserves: Scaling Swiss manufacturing to mitigate tariff exposure and supply EVO+ will raise inventory costs and reserves, and management expects gross margin to be slightly lower in 2026 despite higher sales.
Cost discipline and operational investments: STAAR reduced operating expenses (sustaining a run-rate near the prior $225M target), is finalizing an Oracle ERP deployment, rolling out the Stella ordering platform, and expanding the Lioli injector — initiatives intended to improve sales efficiency and operating leverage.

STAAR Surgical Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of STAAR Surgical stock opened at $19.22 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.15. STAAR Surgical has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $30.81. The firm has a market cap of $956.00 million, a P/E ratio of -11.79 and a beta of 1.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STAA. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of STAAR Surgical from $30.75 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wedbush initiated coverage on STAAR Surgical in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $21.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $20.78.

Read Our Latest Research Report on STAAR Surgical

Key STAAR Surgical News

Here are the key news stories impacting STAAR Surgical this week:

Positive Sentiment: Management said it is targeting a return to profitability in 2026 after a volatile 2025, giving investors a recovery path to model. STAAR Surgical Eyes 2026 Profit
Positive Sentiment: Geographic strength — especially strong sales growth in China — helped total revenue rise ~18% year‑over‑year, signaling demand resilience for EVO ICL products. Q4 Highlights: China Growth
Positive Sentiment: Gross margins expanded as cost of sales declined and the company finished the quarter with a solid cash balance (~$153M), which supports the recovery plan. Q4 Financial Details
Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain mixed: Needham maintained a Hold (neutral) view, reflecting short‑term revenue headwinds but belief in a 2026 recovery. Needham Hold Rating
Neutral Sentiment: Company issued a shareholder letter and held an earnings call/transcript that provide more detail on near‑term actions and leadership transition — useful for modeling timing of the turnaround. Shareholder Letter Earnings Call Transcript
Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed expectations: revenue of $57.8M fell well short of Street estimates and the company reported a net loss and operating loss, with diluted EPS near -$0.37 — this is the primary reason for the sell‑reaction. Q4 Results & Miss
Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its price target to $18 and moved to a Hold after the “noisy” Q4 print, signaling reduced near‑term upside and increased analyst caution. Stifel PT Cut
Negative Sentiment: Despite y/y revenue growth, operating loss widened and EPS missed consensus, creating near‑term execution risk until the company demonstrates consistent top‑line recovery. Earnings Miss Coverage

Insider Activity at STAAR Surgical

In other news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. purchased 336,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.62 per share, for a total transaction of $7,284,772.52. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 15,356,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $332,006,167.94. The trade was a 2.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 434,138 shares of company stock valued at $9,424,176. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of STAAR Surgical

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in STAAR Surgical during the 3rd quarter worth $48,729,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of STAAR Surgical by 112.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,076,743 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $47,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,484 shares during the period. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the third quarter valued at about $17,689,000. AQR Arbitrage LLC acquired a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the third quarter worth about $16,942,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in STAAR Surgical in the fourth quarter worth about $10,515,000. 96.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists.