The Cooper Companies, Inc

Jana Partners is pressing The Cooper Companies, Inc. to replace CEO Albert White and its board chair and to explore selling all or part of its CooperVision and CooperSurgical businesses. The activist, which built its stake in the contact lens maker roughly a year ago, began the push in mid-September 2026, after a roughly 28% decline in Cooper's stock since Jana first disclosed its position. Jana cites what it calls inventory management and capital allocation problems and has threatened a proxy fight ahead of a January nomination deadline if the company does not engage. Cooper's third-quarter revenue reached $1.07 billion, non-GAAP earnings rose 4%, and free cash flow increased 66% to $273 million, though CooperVision's third-quarter revenue stayed flat as U.S. channel inventory reductions weighed on results. Management expects fourth-quarter organic CooperVision revenue to range from a 2% decline to no growth.

The Cooper Companies ended its nine-month strategic review of the CooperSurgical unit on September 9, 2026, deciding to keep the business after bids failed to meet shareholder interests. The company had launched the review in December 2025, and management said the offers undervalued the business because of temporary factors including a new competitor in the non-hormonal IUD space and recent fertility litigation expenses. To signal conviction, the board authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase program, while Bank of America noted that a nine-month auction ending with no deal shows buyers would not meet management's valuation. The third-quarter miss and a cut outlook sent the stock down about 15% to a 52-week low near $51, with shares at 18 times earnings and down roughly 40% from their high. CooperVision, the core contact lens business, posted flat organic revenue growth in the third quarter as the company began reducing U.S. channel inventory ahead of fiscal 2027, while third-quarter free cash flow hit a record $273 million and short interest stood at approximately 5.3% of the float.

The Cooper Companies cut its fiscal 2026 profit and revenue forecasts after weaker-than-expected demand for contact lenses weighed on its CooperVision business. The company now expects adjusted earnings of $4.51 to $4.55 per share, down from its previous forecast of $4.58 to $4.66, while revenue guidance was reduced to $4.23 to $4.25 billion from $4.29 to $4.32 billion. Third-quarter revenue came in at $1.07 billion, below Wall Street's $1.10 billion estimate, although adjusted EPS of $1.15 beat expectations. The weakness was concentrated in CooperVision, where revenue fell to $717 million, and Cooper said a reduction in U.S. channel inventory hurt results and is expected to continue affecting the fourth quarter. The company also completed its strategic review and decided to retain CooperSurgical rather than sell the business, disappointing investors, while increasing its share-repurchase authorization from $2 billion to $3 billion.

UnitedHealth has sold an interest in some of its Optum Health operations in Florida to private equity firm TPG, part of the health conglomerate's effort to recover from a collapse in profits last year. CFO Wayne DeVeydt told Bloomberg News that Optum Health margins will be around 2% this year, above prior expectations, and should rise to around 4% in 2027 and 6% the following year. Amgen fell more than 8%, its worst single-day decline since 2016, after Novartis announced a Phase 3 trial failure for the heart disease therapy pelacarsen, which it is developing with Ionis Pharmaceuticals; BMO Capital Markets downgraded Amgen to Market Perform from Market Outperform with a $450 price target. CooperCompanies dropped 13% after issuing fiscal 2026 guidance below consensus, with revenue of $4.229B-$4.252B versus the prior $4.285B-$4.321B and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $4.51-$4.55 versus $4.58-$4.66 previously, and said its board decided to keep CooperSurgical rather than sell it while raising its share buyback authorization to $3B from $2B. Novo Nordisk fell more than 1% premarket after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal-weight, citing the semaglutide patent cliff, and the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index slipped more than 3.5% for the week.

Five of the six key S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week beat consensus EPS estimates and expanded profits year over year, while all six grew revenue year over year. Oracle rose nearly 7% after hours on a Q1 beat, with adjusted EPS of $1.92 versus $1.75 consensus on $19.35B in revenue, up 30% year over year, and guided to at least $90B in FY27 revenue and adjusted EPS of $8.10. Copart reported mixed fiscal Q4 results, with revenue up 2.7% to $1.15B but GAAP EPS of $0.35 missing by $0.03, and agreed to acquire ACV Auctions for $10.50 per share in cash, sending CPRT up 10% and ACVA up 43% in extended trading. Casey's General Stores fell 14.2% despite a Q1 beat, with revenue up 24.5% to $5.69B and GAAP EPS of $7.37, while CooperCompanies slipped 14.7% after cutting FY26 revenue guidance to $4.229B–$4.252B and non-GAAP EPS to $4.51–$4.55, ending its strategic review by retaining CooperSurgical and expanding its buyback authorization to $3B. Adobe fell 2.7% after hours despite Q3 adjusted EPS of $6.13 on $6.76B in revenue and raised FY26 targets, as its Q4 revenue midpoint of $6.825B slightly missed the $6.84B consensus, and Kroger fell 2.8% premarket despite a Q2 beat with revenue of $34.6B and adjusted EPS of $1.09, after lowering its full-year identical sales growth outlook to 0.2%–0.8%.

CooperCompanies shares plunged to a 52-week low of $51.08 on Thursday, down nearly 20% from Wednesday's close, after the vision care company lowered its full-year revenue and EPS guidance. Both fiscal 2026 guidance ranges now sit below consensus figures. The company also decided after a strategic review not to sell its women's health-centered CooperSurgical division, a move BNP Paribas analyst Navann Ty said may have contributed to the share decline. Ty added that CooperSurgical's flat organic growth in FY26 Q3 was another setback relative to competitors' operating performance. Cooper shares were down about 14% in Thursday afternoon trading.

AeroVironment shares jumped 6% after the defense contractor reported record FQ1 revenue of $480.5M, up 6% year over year and $24.5M above consensus, while adjusted EPS of $0.59 more than doubled the $0.25 estimate. Autonomous Systems revenue climbed 21% to $346M, led by a 71% increase in uncrewed aircraft systems sales to $120M, while Space, Cyber, and Directed Energy revenue fell 21% to $134.5M. Gross margin expanded to 26% from 21%, though adjusted EBITDA declined to $53.4M from $56.6M, and the company maintained its FY2027 revenue outlook of $2.125B-$2.225B and adjusted EPS guidance of $3.02-$3.34, both midpoints below consensus. The Cooper Companies tumbled 16% after its board decided to retain CooperSurgical following a strategic review, citing a valuation disconnect, and cut its FY2026 revenue guidance to $4.229B-$4.252B from $4.285B-$4.321B, below the $4.31B consensus, while lowering non-GAAP EPS guidance to $4.51-$4.55 from $4.58-$4.66 and raising its share repurchase authorization to $3B from $2B. American Eagle Outfitters plunged 11% despite beating Q2 expectations, with sales rising 9.4% year over year and profit up 34% to $0.79 per share, a result that included nearly $200M in tariff refunds, while the namesake brand's comparable sales declined 1%, partly offset by a 19% increase at Aerie and OFFLINE. The retailer expects Q3 operating income of $110M-$115M with mid-to-high-single-digit comparable sales growth, and raised its FY2026 operating income guidance to $540M-$550M from $390M-$410M.

The Cooper Companies reported fiscal third-quarter non-GAAP EPS of $1.15, beating estimates by $0.03, while revenue of $1.07 billion, up 0.9% year over year, missed by $30 million. The company also issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2026, with Q4 revenue projected between $1.057 billion and $1.080 billion versus a consensus of $1.11 billion, and Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $1.05 to $1.09 versus a consensus of $1.19. For the full fiscal year, revenue is expected between $4.229 billion and $4.252 billion versus a consensus of $4.31 billion, and non-GAAP EPS of $4.51 to $4.55 versus a consensus of $4.63. The company reaffirmed its long-term free cash flow objective exceeding $2.2 billion for fiscal years 2026 through 2028. Shares fell 6.22% in response.

StockStory highlights two momentum stocks with strong fundamentals and one to avoid. Remitly has grown active customers 28.4% annually and boosted free cash flow margin by 35.2 percentage points, while Dutch Bros posted 5.8% average same-store sales growth and expanded free cash flow margin by 2.8 percentage points. In contrast, CooperCompanies is flagged for slow 6.5% annual revenue growth, projected 4.1% sales growth, and low returns on capital. Remitly trades at $23.76 per share, Dutch Bros at $72.25, and CooperCompanies at $74.30.

The Cooper Companies carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a Neutral recommendation as premium contact lens momentum from MyDay is weighed down by Asia-Pacific weakness, litigation costs, and leverage. MyDay delivered double-digit growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, and CooperSurgical fertility revenues rose 10% organically to $143.8 million, but CooperVision’s Asia-Pacific sales fell 6% organically to $130.6 million, with further declines expected in the third quarter. The company recorded a $271.6 million net pre-tax charge tied to a fertility media recall, though it raised its fiscal 2026 free cash flow outlook to roughly $650 million excluding litigation payouts. Cash and equivalents stood at $138.8 million against total debt of $2.46 billion as of April 2026, keeping debt reduction in focus. The stock has a VGM Score of B with Value and Growth Scores of B, but a Momentum Score of D points to limited near-term price or estimate momentum.