Medical lens company STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ: STAA) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 18.1% year on year to $57.8 million. Its GAAP loss of $0.37 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.

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“Throughout fiscal 2025, we made meaningful progress on multiple fronts, including rebalancing distributor inventory and disciplined gross profit and expense management. The actions we have taken give us confidence in a clear path toward sustained profitability and growth, and we are optimistic about the business in 2026,” said Warren Foust, Interim Co-CEO of STAAR Surgical.

Company Overview

With over 2.5 million implants performed worldwide, STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ: STAA) designs and manufactures implantable lenses that correct vision problems without removing the eye's natural lens.

Revenue Growth

Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Thankfully, STAAR Surgical’s 7.9% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was decent. Its growth was slightly above the average healthcare company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within healthcare, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. STAAR Surgical’s recent performance marks a sharp pivot from its five-year trend as its revenue has shown annualized declines of 13.8% over the last two years.

This quarter, STAAR Surgical’s revenue grew by 18.1% year on year to $57.8 million but fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 31.5% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is eye-popping and indicates its newer products and services will catalyze better top-line performance.

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Operating Margin

STAAR Surgical was roughly breakeven when averaging the last five years of quarterly operating profits, lousy for a healthcare business.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, STAAR Surgical’s operating margin decreased by 52.8 percentage points over the last five years. The company’s two-year trajectory also shows it failed to get its profitability back to the peak as its margin fell by 47 percentage points. This performance was poor no matter how you look at it - it shows its expenses were rising and it couldn’t pass those costs onto its customers.

This quarter, STAAR Surgical generated an operating margin profit margin of negative 39.5%, up 17.5 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

Sadly for STAAR Surgical, its EPS declined by 73.2% annually over the last five years while its revenue grew by 7.9%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

We can take a deeper look into STAAR Surgical’s earnings to better understand the drivers of its performance. As we mentioned earlier, STAAR Surgical’s operating margin expanded this quarter but declined by 52.8 percentage points over the last five years. Its share count also grew by 1.9%, meaning the company not only became less efficient with its operating expenses but also diluted its shareholders.

In Q4, STAAR Surgical reported EPS of negative $0.37, up from negative $0.69 in the same quarter last year. Despite growing year on year, this print missed analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street is optimistic. Analysts forecast STAAR Surgical’s full-year EPS of negative $1.63 will flip to positive $0.09.

Key Takeaways from STAAR Surgical’s Q4 Results

We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its revenue missed and its EPS fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter. The stock traded down 11.2% to $16.81 immediately after reporting.

STAAR Surgical underperformed this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to invest right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).