The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO) Stock Price & How to Invest

The Cooper Companies, headquartered in San Ramon, California and employing roughly ~15,000 people, has run on the same two-segment structure for years. CooperVision, about two thirds of revenue at ~$717.0M in the July 2026 quarter, makes soft contact lenses: daily disposables in silicone hydrogel, torics for astigmatism, multifocals for presbyopia, and MiSight 1 day, the only daily disposable lens with FDA approval to slow the progression of myopia in children. CooperSurgical, the other third at ~$349.2M, splits into fertility (IVF consumables, embryo culture media, cryostorage and genetic testing sold to fertility clinics) and an office and surgical line of devices sold into OB/GYN practices. The fiscal year ends October 31, so results labelled fiscal 2026 largely cover calendar 2026.

The investment picture in October 2026 is unusually two-sided. Trailing revenue of ~$4.24B is barely growing (the July quarter was up ~0.6% and missed consensus by about 3%), yet adjusted EPS of $1.15 beat the $1.11 estimate and adjusted operating margin edged up to ~26.3%. The shares sit near ~$58, down ~29% year to date and ~19% over twelve months, against a 52-week range of roughly ~$51 to ~$90. Several things pulled them down: a June guidance trim driven by consumer weakness in Japan and China, a ~$271.6M net pre-tax charge to settle claims from the December 2023 embryo culture media recall at CooperSurgical, U.S. channel inventory reductions that left CooperVision flat in the July quarter, and a September guidance cut to ~$4.229B to ~$4.252B of fiscal 2026 revenue and ~$4.51 to ~$4.55 of adjusted EPS. The stock also fell on the conclusion of the strategic review begun in December 2025; no sale of CooperSurgical has been announced. In mid-September JANA Partners went public asking Cooper to replace CEO Albert White and the board chair and to explore selling all or part of both segments, with a proxy fight possible ahead of a January nomination deadline. Several directors, including Kurzius, Rosebrough and the recently appointed Paul Keel, bought shares in the open market in early October. Debt was ~$2.54B against ~$155M of cash at the end of July.

Demand is the immediate problem: consumer weakness in Japan and China pushed CooperVision revenue in Asia-Pacific down ~6% earlier in the year, U.S. channel inventory reductions left CooperVision flat in the July quarter, and full-year guidance was cut twice, in June and again in September, with tariff costs and currency layered on top. The December 2023 recall of three lots of LifeGlobal embryo culture media at CooperSurgical produced more than 140 lawsuits and over 1,500 claimants, and the ~$271.6M net charge booked to resolve substantially all of those claims turned the April quarter into a GAAP loss, with some residual exposure remaining. GAAP results now swing the other way too: a ~$307.2M discrete tax benefit from a U.K. tax examination lifted July-quarter GAAP EPS to $2.24, which flatters the trailing P/E. JANA's campaign could bring a proxy contest, a leadership change or a forced sale, any of which carries execution risk. CooperVision also competes against Johnson and Johnson, Alcon and Bausch and Lomb, all of which have deeper balance sheets and can price aggressively when the market slows.

15 analysts publish price targets on COO, averaging $65.80 against a $57.94 price as of October 2026, or +13.6%. The published targets run from $58.00 to $75.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 5 buy, 12 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 10 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full COO forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on The Cooper Companies, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Myopia management and premium lens mix. CooperVision's growth comes less from unit volume than from moving wearers up the price ladder into daily silicone hydrogel, torics and multifocals. The most optimistic published target, $75.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Demand is the immediate problem: consumer weakness in Japan and China pushed CooperVision revenue in Asia-Pacific down ~6% earlier in the year, U.S. The most pessimistic target, $58.00, is roughly what COO is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on COO, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see The Cooper Companies, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$4.24B; July quarter up ~0.6%
• Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance (September): ~$4.229B to ~$4.252B
• Fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance: ~$4.51 to ~$4.55
• Forward P/E: ~12x at ~$58 per share
• GAAP P/E (TTM): ~20x on GAAP EPS of ~$2.91 (includes tax benefit)
• Margins (TTM): ~66% gross, ~21% operating
• Market cap: ~$11B
• Total debt (July 31, 2026): ~$2.54B, ~$155M cash

GAAP and non-GAAP still diverge sharply, now in both directions: the trailing GAAP figure absorbs the ~$271.6M litigation charge and years of acquisition amortization but also a ~$307.2M U.K. tax benefit. On adjusted EPS guidance of ~$4.51 to ~$4.55, the shares at ~$58 trade near 12-13x, well below the multiple Cooper carried through most of the last decade, and 15 analysts hold a hold rating with a mean target near ~$65.80. The fiscal year closes October 31, and fourth-quarter guidance is ~$1.057B to ~$1.080B of revenue and ~$1.05 to ~$1.09 of adjusted EPS.

Other names that sit close to COO: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get COO exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so COO sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where COO fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Cooper is a durable, high-gross-margin lens business currently wrapped inside a contested restructuring, so the next year of the story depends as much on how the activist campaign, any portfolio sale and the CooperVision inventory reset land as on underlying demand for contact lenses.

Whether COO is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is COO a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the COO stock forecast.

For income investors, whether COO pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does COO pay a dividend? And to weigh COO against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: COO vs ALC and COO vs HNGE.