Cooper Companies (The)

Track record is mixed. Investments into daily silicone hydrogel capacity and myopia management are high‑return and moat‑accretive. However, CooperSurgical’s rollups (e.g., Generate Life Sciences) and subsequent quality issues in 2023 media lots have diluted returns and introduced legal risk.

Management ended the small dividend in 2023, prioritizing reinvestment and buybacks, and repurchased ~$290 million of stock in FY25 while expanding the authorization to $2.0 billion.

We see improving discipline and a sharper focus following FY25 reorganization and the announced strategic review, but we want more evidence of sustained ROIC expansion and risk control in surgical.