Staar Surgical’s (Nasdaq: STAA) co-CEOs released a letter to the company’s shareholders following a fourth-quarter earnings report that revealed a net loss of $18.3 million, or 37¢ EPS for the quarter.
Full 2025 fiscal year net sales decreased 23.7% to $239.4 million, but were up 6.6% in net sales excluding China, totaling $161.7 million. Staar reported a net loss of $80.4 million, or –$1.62 per share, for the 2025 fiscal year, compared to 2024’s net loss of $20.2 million and -$0.41 per share.
“2025 was a difficult year of transition for Staar,” Staar co-CEOs Warren Foust and Deborah Andrews said in their letter. “We expect 2026 to be a much better year, a year of growth, improving profitability, and meaningful progress across our innovation pipeline.”
Staar’s said that over the past four years, macroeconomic headwinds, particularly in China, have contributed to slow revenue growth, increased cost structures and reduced profitability. In 2024, Staar’s in-market sales in China declined 13% during the fiscal year, but improved in 2024 with an estimated mid-single digit recovery.
In-market demand in China increased in 2025’s fourth-quarter, a positive sign for the new fiscal year, Foust said in a news release. However, that fourth-quarter growth didn’t translate into sales growth for the quarter due to a reduction in sub-distributor and customer inventory in China.
Uncertainties surrounding sub-distributor and inventory roles if Staar was acquired by Alcon led some Chinese sub-distributors and customers to return inventory to Staar’s distributors, resulting in “lower-than-anticiptated” Q4 net sales. The uncertainty also impacted sales to distributors in other parts of the world.
Staar shifted focus in early 2025, and temporarily paused shipments to China to address elevated channel inventory, initiate cost reductions and accelerate manufacturing expansion in Switzerland in response to rising tariffs, the co-CEO’s said.
“These steps were difficult but necessary to reset the business and position STAAR for renewed growth and profitability,” the letter continued.
Following some turbulence, and an amended agreement, the merger with Alcon ultimately failed when Staar’s shareholders rejected the $1.6 billion acquisition bid in January 2026. In the aftermath, then-CEO Stephen Farrell and Chair Elizabeth Yeu stepped down, with Foust and Andrews soon appointed as interim co-CEOs.
“In 2026, with the merger question behind us, we believe we will see modest growth in in-market volume demand and expect net sales in China to increase due to rising average selling prices (ASPs) for lenses and market share gains,” Foust said.
Staar said its 2025 cost actions reversed the expense growth of prior years, and the company achieved cost savings in 2025. Staar intends to maintain cost discipline and return to profitability as revenue recovers.
“Because our proprietary products earn strong gross margins, our operating margin has the potential to be quite high if we execute our plans effectively,” the co-CEOs stated. “We feel confident that our technology, product roadmap and ability to execute will enable us to both invest to generate significant revenue growth and achieve a substantial operating margin.”
Staar’s 2026 ASP increases are driven by the launch of EVO+ ICL in China. EVO+ ICL is a laser-assisted vision correction procedure implanting Staar’s implantable collamer lens (ICL) without altering the cornea to treat nearsightedness and astigmatism.
EVO+ ICL for China is manufactured in Switzerland and not subject to U.S.-China tariff volatility. Staar said it’s working with its distributor partners to accelerate adoption of the technology in China.
“Staar possesses differentiated proprietary material in Collamer, exceptional optical technology in EVO ICL, and a proven ability to gain market share,” the co-CEOs said. “With a large addressable opportunity driven by rising global myopia prevalence, we believe Staar has a winning formula.”
