Wolfe Research has identified The Cooper Companies (NYSE:COO) as a new investment idea, underscoring the medical device maker's leading position in the global contact lens market amid active investor engagement.
Cooper carries an approximate market capitalization of $12 billion and reports through two principal segments. CooperVision - the business that sells contact lenses - contributes roughly 70% of the company's revenue. CooperSurgical - focused on fertility and women’s health products - represents about 30% of revenue.
The company is the largest contact lens supplier worldwide, serving about 43 million wearers. Its activity sits inside the $11 billion soft contact lens market, which Wolfe Research notes is expanding at an annual pace of 4% to 6%. The long-term addressable market is described as substantial, with expectations that by 2050 roughly half of the global population - around 5 billion people - will be affected by myopia.
Cooper has moved to refresh its governance amid external pressure. In December, the company announced a new chairman and initiated a strategic review after activism from JANA and Browning West. That period also produced a cooperation agreement that resulted in the addition of a director nominated by Browning West.
Wolfe Research’s analysis points to a contrast between CooperVision’s relative strength and the drag created by CooperSurgical. The research house highlights about $2.3 billion of acquisitions completed over the past five years in the fragmented OB/GYN and fertility markets; Wolfe says those purchases have affected the company’s profitability and free cash flow.
On valuation, Cooper is trading at roughly 12.6 times estimated 2027 price-to-earnings, a multiple that the report describes as a discount to the company’s five-year average of 18.4 times and a discount relative to peer Alcon. Wolfe Research models an 18 times adjusted 2027 price-to-earnings multiple as fair value, which implies a target of $90 per share under its assumptions.
Additional timing notes in the Wolfe Research write-up: Cooper’s fiscal year ends on October 31 and the company is anticipated to release earnings in late May.
Contextual summary: Wolfe Research is highlighting a valuation opportunity in Cooper that rests on the strength of its contact lens franchise, while identifying CooperSurgical’s integration and profitability challenges - including recent acquisitions - as the primary near-term constraints. Governance changes and an ongoing strategic review reflect activist involvement in the company.