Staar Surgical preannounced better-than-expected first-quarter sales on Thursday, helping Staar stock retake its 200-day line and hit a seven-month high.
The company makes implantable lenses to help improve vision. During the first quarter, Staar says it generated more than $77 million in sales. That beat expectations for $72 million, Needham analyst David Saxon said in a report.
In the U.S., sales of its implantable collamer lens, Evo, were a record $5 million, Staar Surgical said in a news release. Analysts projected a lower $4.4 million in sales.
"Relative to consensus, the outperformance appears to be driven by strength in Europe, Middle East and Africa," Saxon said in a report.
On today's stock market, shares jumped 16.5% to 45.51. That put Staar stock above its 200-day moving average, according to MarketSurge.com.
Staar Surgical Rivals Lasik
Now, Staar Surgical says its full-year sales will likely come at the high end of its guidance for $335 million to $340 million. Saxon expects the company to handily beat that, though, and predicts $355 million in sales for the year.
But he kept his hold rating on Staar stock.
"Even assuming this, the ramp required to reach Staar's 2026 revenue target would still appear aggressive," he said.
Staar Surgical recently said it hopes to hit $500 million to $550 million in 2026 sales.
But Staar's Evo product is competing against laser-based procedures like Lasik. In a discussion with Saxon, Dr. Steven Silverstein, an eye doctor, said the vast majority of his refractive error correction procedures, 96% to 97%, are laser-based. The rest use Staar's Evo product.
"Importantly, he does not believe that this mix will change longer-term," Saxon said. "Dr. Silverstein noted that lasers typically cost around $300,000, so doctors want to get their return on investment, which tends to drive laser-based volumes."
Staar stock has an IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 41, which has improved over the past six months. But that means shares still rank in the bottom half of all stocks when it comes to 12-month performance.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_AGatlin.
