Staar Surgical downgraded to Hold at Needham after ophthalmology survey

As previously reported, Needham downgraded Staar Surgical to Hold from Buy and removed the firm’s prior $49 price target following an ophthalmology survey with 35 respondents to get updated checks on key vision care segments. Respondents indicated their refractive error correction volumes are expected to grow by 15% over the next year, which includes ICL growth of 16%, and this could suggest Staar’s growth is converging to be more in line with the overall refractive market, the analyst tells investors. While it’s clear Staar’s U.S. launch has been slower than expected, the firm believes its survey results are negative and imply there could be downside to the domestic launch, the analyst added.