STAAR Surgical NASDAQ: STAA reported second-quarter 2026 net sales of $93.5 million, up 111% from $44.3 million a year earlier, as growth in China, the Americas and parts of Europe contributed to what President and Chief Executive Officer Warren Foust called the company’s strongest first half of revenue performance.
The prior-year quarter included minimal shipments to China while distributors worked through excess inventory, according to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Deborah Andrews. Excluding China, second-quarter sales were $41.2 million, an increase of 6% year over year.
The company also returned to profitability, reporting net income of $8.1 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $16.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $20 million, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14.8 million a year earlier.
China Growth Supported by EVO+ Adoption
China sales rose more than 100% year over year and increased 10% sequentially to $52.3 million. Foust said the company saw no evidence of inventory buildup at distributors or hospitals, which he said supports the view that demand, rather than channel inventory, is driving growth.
STAAR attributed its China performance in part to the launch of EVO+, its lens-based refractive surgery offering. Foust said EVO+ adoption exceeded the company’s expectations and had outpaced its supply capabilities. By the end of the second quarter, EVO+ represented “probably close to a third” of unit volume in China, he said.
Foust said the company continues to receive a premium price for EVO+ and that customers and patients have not resisted that pricing. He also said STAAR believes it is gaining share in a refractive market that remains uneven, with laser-based procedures facing pressure in China and other markets.
“We’re definitely getting a lift from the EVO+ rollout,” Foust said, adding that patients and surgeons are responding to the lens-based procedure’s reversibility and its preservation of corneal tissue.
Management said China’s seasonal pattern has shifted, with the first and second quarters emerging as the company’s strongest periods because of Chinese New Year, military recruitment-related procedures shifting earlier in the year, and summer demand. STAAR expects third-quarter China revenue to be moderately lower sequentially than the second quarter, while still growing year over year when compared with an adjusted prior-year base. The fourth quarter is expected to remain seasonally softer, though management also expects year-over-year growth.
Foust cautioned investors that third-quarter 2025 revenue included $25.9 million related to a 2024 order. Reported third-quarter 2025 net sales were $94.7 million, but the comparable base excluding that item is $68.8 million. The one-time order will not recur in third-quarter 2026.
Regional Results and U.S. Expansion
APAC revenue increased 189% year over year, while APAC sales excluding China rose 7%. In Japan, unit volume increased 14%, although reported sales increased 2% because of currency headwinds. Foust said Japan remains a market with strong category awareness and long-term potential, supported by direct-to-consumer initiatives launched in November 2025.
The Americas grew 12% year over year, with the U.S. producing another approximately $6 million quarter. Foust said the U.S. business has delivered back-to-back quarters above $6 million and remains underpenetrated. The company is focusing on increasing adoption at practices where surgeons are already clinically confident using EVO and can benefit economically from offering lens-based refractive procedures.
EMEA sales declined 1% due to continued conflicts in the Middle East. Excluding the Middle East, EMEA revenue increased 12% year over year.
Management also highlighted Taiwan, which launched last year and has generated significant sequential growth, according to Andrews. The company recently received approval for EVO+ in Taiwan.
Margins, Cash Flow and Manufacturing Plans
Gross margin was 74.5%, compared with 74% in the prior-year quarter. Andrews said the increase reflected lower Switzerland ramp-up costs, reduced advanced manufacturing expenses, lower inventory provisions, and lower freight and other cost of sales as a percentage of revenue. Those improvements were partly offset by higher per-unit manufacturing costs tied to lower 2025 production volumes.
China tariffs on U.S.-manufactured product also weighed on gross margin. Andrews said tariffs will continue to affect margins until all products shipped to China are manufactured in Switzerland, which the company expects to achieve by the end of 2026.
Operating expenses were $59.6 million, down from $62.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Excluding $5.2 million in restructuring and merger-related costs in the year-earlier period, operating expenses increased about 3.7%. Current-quarter expenses included $1.2 million of marketing severance and $1.7 million in enterprise-resource-planning, or ERP, consulting costs. The severance expense is not expected to recur, and ERP consulting expense is expected to decline significantly beginning in the fourth quarter.
STAAR ended the quarter with $181.5 million in cash equivalents and investments available for sale, up from $163.9 million at the end of the first quarter, and had no debt. Andrews said the company expects significant free cash flow in the second half and expects to end 2026 with well over $200 million in cash.
ERP Implementation and Product Pipeline
Foust said the company completed its ERP system implementation during the quarter and is optimizing the system in the third quarter. Management said the implementation had no material effect on overall revenue, though it required substantial internal effort and added consulting costs.
The company is also preparing for first-in-human studies of a next-generation product and plans to hire a chief technology officer to lead its innovation agenda. Foust said STAAR aims to develop into a broader ophthalmology platform rather than remain a single-product company, while continuing to build on its Collamer material technology and expertise in refractive procedures.
“Refractive is our wheelhouse,” Foust said, adding that the company sees potential opportunities in areas including presbyopia correction and other lens-based technologies.
About STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA)
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.
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