There’s big upside in shares of Cooper Companies, a company known for manufacturing contact lenses, according to Baird. Analyst Jeff Johnson upgraded the stock to outperform, noting he sees a rosy outlook in 2023 for the company, even if it misses expectations in its fourth-quarter earnings report next week. “While we expect COO to miss FQ4 and guide FY’23 EPS below Street, we’ve been encouraged by recent still-healthy contact lens end-market checks and expectations pricing tailwinds could grow for CVI next year,” Johnson wrote in a Wednesday note. “We believe FX and interest rate risks will also prove more manageable for the company in FY’23, and with double-digit EPS growth likely resuming in the back half of next year, we now see a path to improving sentiment and share price outperformance over coming quarters,” Johnson added. The analyst’s $370 price target, raised from $345, represents roughly 20% upside from Tuesday’s closing price of $307.44. Shares of Cooper Companies are under pressure this year, down more than 25% compared to the roughly 17% decline in the S & P 500. However, the analyst said that his checks into contact lens end markets have improved in recent months. What’s more, he expects that price increases for contact lenses that proved to be sticky this year, will continue in 2023. “Bottom line, with shares of COO notably underperforming both the broader market and medtech more generally this year, we believe the positives above should be enough to drive improving sentiment on this name over the next couple quarters and recommend investors try to get ahead of that sentiment shift today, even ahead of next week’s FQ4 report,” Johnson wrote. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
