Alcon downgraded at Morgan Stanley on changing patient pool for cataract surgery

Morgan Stanley analyst Patrick Wood downgraded Alcon to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $65, down from $85, as the firm thinks post-refractive laser surgery patients could move from about 5%-10% of the cataract pool to about 30%, impacting growth for Alcon’s implantables business. While the firm thinks Alcon is “the strongest overall ophthalmology company in our coverage universe,” it sees a tough setup for the stock and thinks shares may struggle to work through 2024 as expectations on this key unit are reset.