STAA - STAAR Surgical falls as 2023 outlook disappoints

STAAR Surgical Company ( NASDAQ: STAA ) dropped ~7% post-market Tuesday after the maker of implantable eye lenses indicated a lower-than-expected outlook for the full year with its Q4 2022 results.

The company’s reaffirmed guidance for the full year, implying $340M in net sales compared to ~$344.0M in the consensus.

“Our outlook for fiscal 2023 total ICL sales is approximately $340 million, which represents 26% year over year growth,” Chief Executive Tom Frinzi remarked, referring to the company’s Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) used in refractive surgery.

Meanwhile, ICL sales climbed ~15% YoY to $61.2M during the quarter, while ICL full-year sales added ~27% YoY to $269.7M. Quarterly net sales rose ~9% YoY to $64.0M driving the full-year net sales ~23% YoY higher to $284.4M.

“Moreover, our growth significantly outpaced the roughly flat growth for refractive industry procedures over the same period,” Frinzi noted, adding that ICL unit growth stood at ~20% in Q4 with 109% YoY and 18% YoY growth in the U.S. and China, respectively.

“In China, transient COVID-related headwinds that impacted our results in the fourth quarter are subsiding as we move through the first quarter of 2023.”

Meanwhile, the company’s gross margin improved to ~78% from ~76% in the prior year quarter while net income rose ~20% YoY to $5.9M driving the full year net income ~58% YoY higher to $38.8M.

Seeking Alpha contributor Long James issued a Buy rating on STAAR ( STAA ) in November, highlighting the track record of the company’s CEO.

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