tapebrief
Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

COO · Q4 2025 Earnings

Cooper Companies (The)

Reported December 4, 2025

30-second summary

30-second take: Cooper closed FY25 with Q4 revenue of $1.065B (+5% YoY, +3% organic) at the high end of guidance and non-GAAP EPS of $1.15 above the $1.10–$1.14 guide, then framed FY26 well above where the sell-side was sitting — revenue of $4.299–$4.338B (+5–6%), EPS of $4.45–$4.60 (+7.7–11.4%), and FCF of $575–625M against an FY25 base of $434M. The under-the-radar moves are (1) a formal board-led strategic review explicitly evaluating separation, (2) ~$50M of annual pre-tax cost savings from a Q4 reorganisation underwriting the EPS step-up, and (3) a raised three-year FCF objective of more than $2.2B cumulative — together a clear pivot from "growth story under pressure" to "margin, cash, and structural unlock."

Headline numbers

EPS

Q4 FY2025

$1.15

Revenue

Q4 FY2025

$1.07B

+5.0% YoY

Gross margin

Q4 FY2025

61.0%

Free cash flow

Q4 FY2025

$0.15B

Operating margin

Q4 FY2025

13.0%

Key financials

Q4 FY2025
MetricQ4 FY2025YoYQ3 FY2025QoQ
Revenue$1.07B+5.0%$1.06B+0.5%
EPS$1.15$1.10+4.5%
Gross margin61.0%67.0%-600bps
Operating margin13.0%26.0%-1300bps
Free cash flow$0.15B$0.16B-9.0%

Guidance

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Actuals vs prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideActualΔResult
RevenueQ4 FY2025$1,049 - $1,069 million$1,065.2 million+$-4.2M below high end, at top of rangeBeat
Non-GAAP EPSQ4 FY2025$1.10 - $1.14$1.15+$0.01 above high endBeat
CooperVision RevenueQ4 FY2025$700 - $713 million (organic growth of 2% to 4%)$709.6 millionin-line with rangeMet
CooperSurgical RevenueQ4 FY2025$350 - $356 million (organic growth of 2% to 4%)$355.6 millionin-line with rangeMet

New guidance

MetricPeriodGuideYoY
RevenueQ1 FY2026$1,019 - $1,030 million
Non-GAAP EPSQ1 FY2026$1.02 - $1.04
CooperVision RevenueQ1 FY2026$693 - $700 million (organic growth of 3.5% to 4.5%)
CooperSurgical RevenueQ1 FY2026$327 - $330 million (organic growth of 2% to 3%)
RevenueFY2026$4,299 - $4,338 million (organic growth of 4.5% to 5.5%)
Non-GAAP EPSFY2026$4.45 - $4.60

Changes to prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideNew guideΔResult
Revenue
FY2025
$4,076 - $4,096 million$4,092.4 millionwithin prior range; actuals confirm guidanceRaised
Non-GAAP EPS
FY2025
$4.08 - $4.12$4.13+$0.01 above high endRaised

Segment KPIs

Q4 FY2025
SegmentQ4 FY2025YoY
CooperVision - Toric and Multifocal$0.345B+5.0%
CooperVision - Sphere, other$0.365B+2.0%
CooperVision Total$0.71B+3.0%
CooperSurgical - Office and Surgical$0.215B+6.0%
CooperSurgical - Fertility$0.141B+1.0%
CooperSurgical Total$0.356B+4.0%

Other KPIs

Q4 FY2025
SegmentQ4 FY2025YoY
Americas$0.285B+5.0%
EMEA$0.277B+3.0%
Asia Pacific$0.147B
Non-GAAP Gross Margin66%
Non-GAAP Operating Margin27%
MiSight Growth+37%
Operating Cash Flow$247.8M
Capital Expenditures$98.0M
Share Repurchases (Q4)$197.3M
Organic Revenue Growth (Constant Currency)3%
Expected Annual Pre-Tax Savings from Reorganization~$50M

Management tone

Q1 capacity-constrained → Q2 market growth reset → Q3 demand-conversion uncertainty and pricing capitulation → Q4 strategic review, reorganisation, and capital-return formalisation.

The strategic-review pivot is the single largest tonal shift in three years of Cooper communication. For multiple prior quarters management was emphatic that separation was not on the table; this quarter management volunteered: "Today, we have taken the next step by issuing a press release announcing a formal strategic review to ensure that we explore every opportunity to unlock long-term shareholder value." The move from passive deflection to a board-led, advisor-supported public process is the kind of language a management team uses when the previous answer is no longer tenable — and it reframes Cooper from a margin-and-cash story into an event-driven one.

The Asia-Pacific / China narrative has flipped from persistent headwind to lapped drag. Management's framing this quarter: "These markets like China and the pure play e-commerce and some other markets have become a much smaller percent of our overall business. So we're not going to see the same detriment in 26 that we saw in 25." Asia-Pac Q4 organic revenue landed at 0% — flat, but the inflection point management has been pointing to, with China specifically down 28% in Q4. The 4.5–5.5% FY26 CVI organic guide leans heavily on this no-longer-shrinking-region thesis.

MyDay has migrated from "demand-conversion uncertainty" to active private-label contract wins, including in developed markets. Management says "we won quite a few more contracts in Q4, several of which are in the U.S. and Europe...Momentum is robust." Combined with the back-half-loaded FY26 cadence guidance, this is management asserting that the conversion timing problem is resolving — and putting the FY26 algorithm on it.

Fertility has shifted from "challenged, conservative" to early-inflection language. Management is willing to commit publicly that "fertility by the end of the year will end up growing mid-single digits, and I think we'll grow a little bit faster than that." CSI fertility printed only +1% in Q4 (lapping a 13% comp) — so the bullish framing is forward-looking, not backed by the print. Worth watching whether Q1 confirms the inflection.

Capital allocation went from flexible to formalised. Q4 repurchases were $197.3M (FY25 total ~$290M, roughly two-thirds of FCF), the FY26–FY28 cumulative FCF target was raised to "more than $2.2B," and management committed to allocating "a similar percentage to share repurchases" of FCF going forward, with the remainder to debt paydown. This is the clearest capital-return framework Cooper has ever articulated, and it pairs with the strategic review to suggest management is responding to a specific investor playbook.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

MyDay private label contract acceleration driving stair-step revenue growthStrategic review formally underway to evaluate separation and unlock shareholder valueEight consecutive quarters of earnings beats with three-year double-digit earnings growth trajectoryFree cash flow acceleration and formalized capital return policyAsia-Pacific normalization post China e-commerce pressureFertility market stabilization with technology upgrade cycle beginning

Risks management surfaced:

Tariff impact on gross margins (multiple mentions of tariff headwinds)Competitive IUD launch potential impact on Paragard (factored into flat-to-low-single-digit guidance)China market continued softness and e-commerce pricing pressureCeleste myopia control competitor launch impact on MySite near-term revenueConsumer spending tightness in fertility, especially Asia-Pac

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q4 CVI organic landing inside the 2–4% guide. CVI Q4 organic was +3% (within range); reported was +5% on $709.6M, within the $700–713M guide. The print neither validates a clean share-gain acceleration nor confirms structural MyDay cannibalisation — it lands in the murky middle.
Continue monitoring
Whether the FY26 framework names a CVI growth range above 5%. FY26 CVI organic guide is +4.5–5.5%, which barely clears the 5% threshold at the midpoint. The long-run double-digit EPS algorithm now depends on operating leverage and ~$50M of cost savings, not CVI growth acceleration.
Resolved negatively
FCF conversion ramp into FY26 against the "$2B over three years" framework. Management raised the cumulative FY26–FY28 target to more than $2.2B and named an explicit FY26 FCF range of $575–625M, well above the FY25 actual of $434M. This is a genuine commitment to step-up cash conversion.
Resolved positively
Pricing commentary from European and Asia-Pac peers. Management framed global net pricing at roughly +1% for FY26, similar to FY25, but did not provide peer-comparison data.
Continue monitoring
Clarity repositioning evidence in Asia-Pac. Management explicitly stated Clarity is being repositioned into the entry-level space in Asia-Pac, with Clarity down a couple percent in Q4 and approaching $400M annualised. The new 3-add multifocal launch is delivering double-digit growth in the Americas.
Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Strategic review milestones — formal reviews typically run 6–12 months. Management committed to providing an update on the Q1 earnings call in early March unless something material happens beforehand. Watch for advisor identification, scope confirmation (full separation vs partial divestiture of CSI fertility or Paragard), and any interim board commentary.

Q1 FY26 CVI organic landing inside the +3.5–4.5% guide — management has explicitly framed FY26 as back-half-loaded with strongest performance in Q3 and Q4. A print at or below the low end would put pressure on the +4.5–5.5% FY26 CVI algorithm immediately.

Fertility re-acceleration evidence — management is publicly underwriting mid-single-digit fertility growth by year-end versus the +1% Q4 print. Watch Q1 CSI fertility organic for any sequential lift; if Q1 prints flat or negative, the "stronger year for fertility" framing breaks.

Reorganisation savings phasing — ~$50M annualised, ~$0.19 EPS. Watch for confirmation of the run-rate cadence (front-loaded vs back-loaded) in Q1 disclosure, and any sign that the savings are funding growth investment rather than dropping to EPS.

Capital allocation execution against the new framework — management committed to allocating roughly two-thirds of FCF to repurchases with the rest to debt paydown. With $197.3M of Q4 buybacks already executed and ~$1B remaining under the $2B authorisation, watch the Q1 repurchase pace as the leading indicator of conviction.

Sources

  1. Cooper Companies Q4 FY2025 press release, filed 2025-12-04: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/711404/000162828025055405/cooperq42025pressrelease.htm
  2. Cooper Companies Q4 FY2025 earnings call transcript (prepared remarks and Q&A), 2025-12-04

Get the next brief, free.

We publish analyst-grade earnings briefs the same day or morning after every call — headline numbers, segment KPIs, Q&A highlights, and tone analysis. Free during beta.

This is not investment advice.