Cooper Companies (COO) stock dropped more than 15% in premarket trading Thursday after the company delivered a double hit: a missed revenue quarter and the surprise decision to hold onto its CooperSurgical business.
The Cooper Companies, Inc., COO
The market had been expecting a potential sale of CooperSurgical, the company’s women’s health and fertility unit. Instead, Cooper’s board unanimously voted to retain it following a strategic review completed late Wednesday.
That decision alone was enough to send the stock sharply lower. COO was by far the biggest faller in the S&P 500 in premarket trading Thursday.
On the earnings side, Cooper beat adjusted EPS estimates, posting $1.15 per share against expectations of $1.12. But revenue fell short. Q3 revenue came in at $1.07 billion, below the $1.10 billion analysts had forecast.
The shortfall was driven largely by a deliberate reduction in U.S. channel inventory for its CooperVision contact lens business, a move tied to the strategic review process.
CooperVision reported Q3 revenue of $717 million for the period ended July 31, down from $723.5 million in the prior quarter.
Cooper also lowered its full-year outlook. Adjusted EPS guidance was trimmed to a range of $4.51 to $4.55, compared to the prior view of $4.58 to $4.66. Analysts had been expecting $4.63 per share.
Full-year revenue guidance was also pulled back, now expected at $4.23 to $4.25 billion, versus the previous forecast of $4.29 to $4.32 billion. The Street had penciled in $4.31 billion.
For Q4, Cooper guided revenue of $1.06 to $1.08 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.05 to $1.09.
The inventory headwinds that hurt Q3 are expected to carry into Q4 as well.
KeyBanc analyst Brett Fishbin said investors will likely need time to process the combination of a guidance cut and the conclusion of the strategic review with no deal done. He carries a Sector Weight rating on the stock.
The potential sale of CooperSurgical had been seen by some as a path to creating a pure-play contact lens company, which could have attracted acquisition interest. Without that catalyst, the investment case looks different.
Cooper did announce it increased its share repurchase authorization to $3 billion, up from $2 billion.
Cooper is the second largest contact lens manufacturer globally, behind Johnson and Johnson’s Acuvue brand.
The inventory reduction in its U.S. contact lens channel remains the key operational drag heading into the final quarter of fiscal 2026.
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