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 ~$723.5M in the April 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 ~$358.0M, 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 September 2026 is unusually two-sided. Trailing revenue of ~$4.23B grew ~6%, gross margin held at ~68% and non-GAAP operating margin improved to ~27%, yet the shares sit near ~$70 against a 52-week range of roughly ~$59 to ~$90. Three 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, and the uncertainty of a formal strategic review that began in December 2025 under pressure from activists JANA Partners and Browning West. That review has already produced a new board chair and advanced discussions to sell CooperSurgical outright, with proceeds earmarked for buybacks and paying down the ~$2.46B of debt on the balance sheet.

Asia-Pacific is the immediate problem: consumer weakness in Japan and China pushed CooperVision revenue in the region down ~6% and forced a trim to full-year revenue guidance in June 2026, with roughly ~$22M of tariff costs and second-half currency headwinds 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. The breakup carries risk in both directions, since a sale might not close, might price below the ~$4.1B figure being discussed, or might remove the faster-growing fertility franchise from shareholders. 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. Activist involvement and a board leadership transition add the ordinary uncertainty of a company being reshaped while it operates.

14 analysts publish price targets on COO, averaging $81.50 against a $69.73 price as of September 2026, or +16.9%. The published targets run from $66.00 to $92.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 10 buy, 6 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 2 raises and 9 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, $92.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Asia-Pacific is the immediate problem: consumer weakness in Japan and China pushed CooperVision revenue in the region down ~6% and forced a trim to full-year revenue guidance in June 2026, with roughly ~$22M of tariff costs and second-half currency headwinds layered on top. The most pessimistic target, $66.00, 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): ~$4.23B, up ~6%
• Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance: ~$4.285B to ~$4.321B (~3.5% to ~4.5% organic)
• Fiscal 2026 non-GAAP EPS guidance: ~$4.58 to ~$4.66
• Forward P/E on that guidance: ~15x at ~$70 per share
• GAAP P/E (TTM): ~59x on GAAP EPS of ~$1.18
• Total debt (April 30, 2026): ~$2.46B

GAAP and non-GAAP diverge sharply here, and the gap explains most of the odd-looking headline multiple. Trailing GAAP EPS of ~$1.18 absorbs the ~$271.6M litigation charge plus purchase-accounting amortization from years of CooperSurgical acquisitions, while management guides on non-GAAP EPS of ~$4.58 to ~$4.66, which puts the shares near ~15x, below the multiple Cooper carried through most of the last decade. Fiscal third-quarter results are scheduled for September 9, 2026, and the fiscal year closes October 31.

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 restructuring, so the next year of the story depends as much on how the CooperSurgical sale and the Asia-Pacific 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.