Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) Stock Price

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential downside of 3.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of STAAR Surgical from $28.00 to $30.75 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of STAAR Surgical in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on STAAR Surgical in a report on Friday, January 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STAAR Surgical currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $18.94.

STAAR Surgical Stock Down 3.4%

NASDAQ STAA opened at $18.57 on Wednesday. STAAR Surgical has a twelve month low of $14.69 and a twelve month high of $30.81. The stock has a market cap of $923.71 million, a P/E ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.12.

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.51). STAAR Surgical had a negative return on equity of 10.03% and a negative net margin of 33.60%.The business had revenue of $57.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.54 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that STAAR Surgical will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at STAAR Surgical

In other news, major shareholder Broadwood Partners, L.P. acquired 336,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.62 per share, for a total transaction of $7,284,772.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,356,437 shares in the company, valued at $332,006,167.94. This trade represents a 2.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 434,138 shares of company stock valued at $9,424,176 in the last quarter. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAAR Surgical

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 74.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in STAAR Surgical by 2,605.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,055 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of STAAR Surgical by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 691.0% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,607 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of STAAR Surgical by 375.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,673 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.70% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about STAAR Surgical

Here are the key news stories impacting STAAR Surgical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management said it is targeting a return to profitability in 2026 and highlighted recovery plans after a volatile year—this gives investors a potential multi-quarter path to improvement. STAAR Surgical Eyes 2026 Profit
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings commentary noted strong sales growth in China, which supports revenue momentum in a key market even though overall results disappointed. Q4 Highlights: China Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Several brokers maintained Hold/Neutral ratings (Canaccord $22 PT; Needham still neutral), signaling cautious investor stance rather than outright sell recommendations. Canaccord Hold Needham Hold
• Neutral Sentiment: The full Q4 earnings call transcript is available for investors who want detail on drivers, margins and the company’s remediation steps. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo sharply cut its price target from $30.75 to $16 and moved to an Equal Weight rating—this large downgrade adds selling pressure and signals lowered expectations for near-term recovery. Wells Fargo PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel trimmed its price target to $18 and kept a Hold, another downward revision following noisy Q4 results that reinforces caution. Stifel PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed estimates (reported EPS -$0.37 vs. consensus ~$0.14; revenue ~$57.8M vs. est. ~$75.5M) and showed a negative net margin—these misses are the primary catalyst for the downgrades and the near‑term share weakness. Q4 Results

STAAR Surgical Company Profile

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.