COO Stock Surges 22% in Past Three Months: What's Driving the Uptrend?

However, the company’s strategic review of CooperSurgical and softer Asia-Pacific conditions introduces important variables for investors assessing whether the rally can continue.

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Factors Benefiting COO’s Prospect

Contact Lens Market-Share Gains Provide a Durable Growth Engine: CooperVision remains the largest global contact lens company, with roughly one-third of wearers using its products. After achieving its 18th consecutive year of market-share gains in 2025, CooperVision continues benefiting from the transition toward daily silicone hydrogel lenses. MyDay delivered double-digit growth, while daily silicone hydrogel sales increased 8% in the second quarter. Premium multifocal and Energys lenses should provide additional momentum as they expand into new markets.

MiSight Is Expanding the Myopia-Control Opportunity: Pediatric myopia control represents another differentiated growth avenue. MiSight revenues jumped 24% to $32 million in the second quarter, with Japan exceeding expectations. The recently launched European version is gaining strong acceptance among practitioners. Cooper Companies is increasing consumer awareness campaigns across multiple markets. With ongoing regulatory approvals and geographic expansion, MiSight provides CooperVision with exposure to a rapidly developing specialty category beyond conventional vision correction.

Fertility Recovery Is Creating an Incremental Growth Catalyst: CooperSurgical revenues rose 8%, or 6% organically, in the second quarter, with fertility growing 10% organically to $144 million. Capital equipment, genomics, consumables and new clinic wins supported the recovery. Management expects fertility to grow at a mid-single-digit rate in the second half, as clinic investment improves following a period of consolidation and profitability pressure. Equipment placements can also create a recurring stream of consumable demand.

Innovation & Portfolio Optimization Should Support Long-Term Expansion: Cooper Companies is strengthening its product portfolio through new lens launches, broader multifocal offerings and expanding myopia-control applications. Biofinity grew 5% organically, supported by toric and multifocal lenses and its broad prescription range. Meanwhile, the company is evaluating strategic alternatives for CooperSurgical after receiving significant indications of interest. A potential transaction could reshape the portfolio and unlock value, although the ultimate structure remains uncertain.

COO’s Competition Remains Strong Across Vision & Surgical Markets

CooperVision continues to face formidable competition from Alcon ALC and Bausch + Lomb BLCO. Alcon’s Vision Care revenues increased 7% in the second quarter, with contact lens sales up 5% to $726 million, supported by share gains across daily and reusable lenses. TOTAL1, PRECISION1 and TOTAL30 remain key growth products. Bausch + Lomb delivered an even stronger contact lens mix, with U.S. revenues up 5% and international constant-currency revenues up 6%. Daily SiHy rose 16%, ULTRA Monthly 9% and Biotrue ONEday 13%.

Compared with Alcon and Bausch + Lomb, Cooper Companies’ major advantage is its sustained market-share record, with roughly one-third of global wearers using its products. However, Alcon has significant scale and a broad premium daily portfolio, while BLCO is accelerating its Daily SiHy franchise.

In surgical markets, Baxter BAX is gaining traction in Advanced Surgery, with second-quarter growth led by the business and Drug Compounding. Baxter reported 5% organic companywide growth and highlighted continued strong Advanced Surgery performance. Thus, Alcon, Bausch + Lomb and Baxter remain important competitors across COO’s core markets, even though their exposure differs.

Risks & Challenges of COO

The principal near-term concern is Asia-Pacific weakness. CooperVision revenues declined 6% in the region, with demand in Japan and China softer than anticipated. Management expects legacy hydrogel rationalization to remain a drag potentially through 2027. Cooper Companies expects unfavorable forex movement, tariffs and freight costs to pressure third-quarter gross margins. Meanwhile, the strategic review of CooperSurgical creates uncertainty around the company’s future portfolio structure, while fertility growth is expected to normalize from the second quarter’s unusually strong 10% performance.

Conclusion

COO’s strong gain over the past three months is supported by market-share gains, premium contact lens adoption, MiSight expansion and a recovering fertility business. While Asia-Pacific weakness and strategic uncertainty warrant monitoring, the underlying growth profile remains attractive. With COO carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), the stock retains a favorable risk-reward profile for investors focused on long-term growth. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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