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B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA – Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 24,160 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STAA. Two Seas Capital LP grew its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 1,304,957 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,505,000 after buying an additional 240,568 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $952,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $618,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of STAAR Surgical in the second quarter worth about $235,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 48,968 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. 96.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STAAR Surgical Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ STAA opened at $21.27 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.46. STAAR Surgical Company has a 1 year low of $15.59 and a 1 year high of $35.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 303.90 and a beta of 1.17.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $93.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.60 million. STAAR Surgical had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 1.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 111.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.34) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that STAAR Surgical Company will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. STAAR Surgical announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 24th that allows the company to buy back $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes STAA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of STAAR Surgical from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Veritas Investment Research set a $31.00 price target on STAAR Surgical in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded STAAR Surgical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on STAAR Surgical from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

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STAAR Surgical Profile (Free Report)

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.

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Top 4 Stocks With Notable Insider BuyingSTAAR Surgical NASDAQ: STAA reported second-quarter 2026 net sales of $93.5 million, up 111% from $44.3 million a year earlier, as growth in China, the Americas and parts of Europe contributed to what President and Chief Executive Officer Warren Foust called the company’s strongest first half of revenue performance.

The prior-year quarter included minimal shipments to China while distributors worked through excess inventory, according to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Deborah Andrews. Excluding China, second-quarter sales were $41.2 million, an increase of 6% year over year.

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Star Surgical Shines as U.S. Outlook Improves for 2024 The company also returned to profitability, reporting net income of $8.1 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $16.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $20 million, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14.8 million a year earlier.

China Growth Supported by EVO+ Adoption China sales rose more than 100% year over year and increased 10% sequentially to $52.3 million. Foust said the company saw no evidence of inventory buildup at distributors or hospitals, which he said supports the view that demand, rather than channel inventory, is driving growth.

STAAR attributed its China performance in part to the launch of EVO+, its lens-based refractive surgery offering. Foust said EVO+ adoption exceeded the company’s expectations and had outpaced its supply capabilities. By the end of the second quarter, EVO+ represented “probably close to a third” of unit volume in China, he said.

Foust said the company continues to receive a premium price for EVO+ and that customers and patients have not resisted that pricing. He also said STAAR believes it is gaining share in a refractive market that remains uneven, with laser-based procedures facing pressure in China and other markets.

“We’re definitely getting a lift from the EVO+ rollout,” Foust said, adding that patients and surgeons are responding to the lens-based procedure’s reversibility and its preservation of corneal tissue.

Management said China’s seasonal pattern has shifted, with the first and second quarters emerging as the company’s strongest periods because of Chinese New Year, military recruitment-related procedures shifting earlier in the year, and summer demand. STAAR expects third-quarter China revenue to be moderately lower sequentially than the second quarter, while still growing year over year when compared with an adjusted prior-year base. The fourth quarter is expected to remain seasonally softer, though management also expects year-over-year growth.

Foust cautioned investors that third-quarter 2025 revenue included $25.9 million related to a 2024 order. Reported third-quarter 2025 net sales were $94.7 million, but the comparable base excluding that item is $68.8 million. The one-time order will not recur in third-quarter 2026.

Regional Results and U.S. Expansion APAC revenue increased 189% year over year, while APAC sales excluding China rose 7%. In Japan, unit volume increased 14%, although reported sales increased 2% because of currency headwinds. Foust said Japan remains a market with strong category awareness and long-term potential, supported by direct-to-consumer initiatives launched in November 2025.

The Americas grew 12% year over year, with the U.S. producing another approximately $6 million quarter. Foust said the U.S. business has delivered back-to-back quarters above $6 million and remains underpenetrated. The company is focusing on increasing adoption at practices where surgeons are already clinically confident using EVO and can benefit economically from offering lens-based refractive procedures.

EMEA sales declined 1% due to continued conflicts in the Middle East. Excluding the Middle East, EMEA revenue increased 12% year over year.

Management also highlighted Taiwan, which launched last year and has generated significant sequential growth, according to Andrews. The company recently received approval for EVO+ in Taiwan.

Margins, Cash Flow and Manufacturing Plans Gross margin was 74.5%, compared with 74% in the prior-year quarter. Andrews said the increase reflected lower Switzerland ramp-up costs, reduced advanced manufacturing expenses, lower inventory provisions, and lower freight and other cost of sales as a percentage of revenue. Those improvements were partly offset by higher per-unit manufacturing costs tied to lower 2025 production volumes.

China tariffs on U.S.-manufactured product also weighed on gross margin. Andrews said tariffs will continue to affect margins until all products shipped to China are manufactured in Switzerland, which the company expects to achieve by the end of 2026.

Operating expenses were $59.6 million, down from $62.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Excluding $5.2 million in restructuring and merger-related costs in the year-earlier period, operating expenses increased about 3.7%. Current-quarter expenses included $1.2 million of marketing severance and $1.7 million in enterprise-resource-planning, or ERP, consulting costs. The severance expense is not expected to recur, and ERP consulting expense is expected to decline significantly beginning in the fourth quarter.

STAAR ended the quarter with $181.5 million in cash equivalents and investments available for sale, up from $163.9 million at the end of the first quarter, and had no debt. Andrews said the company expects significant free cash flow in the second half and expects to end 2026 with well over $200 million in cash.

ERP Implementation and Product Pipeline Foust said the company completed its ERP system implementation during the quarter and is optimizing the system in the third quarter. Management said the implementation had no material effect on overall revenue, though it required substantial internal effort and added consulting costs.

The company is also preparing for first-in-human studies of a next-generation product and plans to hire a chief technology officer to lead its innovation agenda. Foust said STAAR aims to develop into a broader ophthalmology platform rather than remain a single-product company, while continuing to build on its Collamer material technology and expertise in refractive procedures.

“Refractive is our wheelhouse,” Foust said, adding that the company sees potential opportunities in areas including presbyopia correction and other lens-based technologies.

About STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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