Thank you for standing by. My name is Janine and I will be your conference operator for today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Cooper Companies Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been paced on mute to prevent any background lines. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star 1 and to reiterate question, please press star one again. I will now hand a call over to Kim Duncan, Vice President of Investor Relations and Risk Management. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Cooper Company's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's call, we will discuss results and guidance included in the earnings release and then use the remaining time for questions. Our presenters on today's call are Al White, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Andrews, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that this conference call will contain forward-looking statements, including statements relating to revenues, EPS, cash flows, interest, FX and tax rates, tariffs, and other financial guidance and expectations, strategic and operational initiatives, market conditions and trends, and product launches and demand. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data, or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Events that could cause our actual results and future actions of the company to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements are set forth under the caption, forward-looking statements in today's earnings release and are described in our SEC filings, including Cooper's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings, all of which are available on our website at coopercoats.com. Also, as a reminder, the non-GAAP financial information we will provide on this call is provided as a supplement to our GAAP information. We encourage you to consider our results under GAAP as well as non-GAAP and refer to the reconciliations provided in our earnings release, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website under Quarterly Materials. Should you have any additional questions following the call, please email ir at cooperco.com. And now I'll turn the call over to Al for his opening remarks.

Thank you, Kim, and welcome, everyone, to our Q2 earnings call. We delivered record revenue and non-GAAP earnings this quarter, with revenues growing 8% to $1.08 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share increasing 26% to $1.21. This marks our 10th consecutive quarter of beating consensus earnings expectations, demonstrating the consistency and disciplined execution of our operating model. We also generated another quarter of robust free cash flow, reinforcing confidence in the strength and durability of our cash generation. Cooper Vision reported a solid quarter with revenues increasing 8% or 4% organically, driven by continued strength in the Americas and momentum in EMEA. Cooper Surgical also performed well with revenues up 8% or 6% organically, led by our fertility business growing 13% or 10% organically. We also deliver meaningful operating margin expansion this quarter as back-office consolidation and efficiency initiatives continue to deliver operating leverage, especially within Cooper Surgical. Overall, our results reflect steady execution against our strategy of driving sustainable, profitable growth through innovation, new product introductions, leveraging our infrastructure, generating free cash flow, and gaining market share. Now, before moving into quarterly details, let me address two key topics. First is our strategic review. We initiated this process to evaluate opportunities to unlock long-term shareholder value across a range of potential outcomes. At the same time, we've been working through litigation related to a December 2023 embryo culture media recall in our fertility business. We've now reached settlements with substantially all of the claimants in this case as disclosed in the Form 8K, which was filed this evening with our earnings release. With that done, we are now actively advancing discussions with multiple parties that have submitted significant indications of interest in Cooper Surgical. To summarize that activity, we've received robust interest in Cooper Surgical, and in conjunction with our board and the assistance of our advisors, we're focused on identifying the optimal path forward to maximize shareholder value. Cooper Surgical's strong performance, highlighted by record revenue and non-gap earnings this past quarter, strengthens our confidence in the business and underscores our view that this is a very valuable asset. That said, we are working with speed and plan to provide a more definitive update to the market soon. Second is an update on our capital allocation strategy. We remain focused on investing in high-return organic growth opportunities, maintaining balance sheet flexibility, and repurchasing shares. While buybacks were limited this quarter, they remain a core part of our strategy, and we expect to be significantly more active moving forward. With that, let's turn to our Q2 performance, starting with Supervision. After achieving an 18th consecutive year of share gains in 2025, our focus is on extending that streak. We remain a number one global contact lens company with roughly one-third of all wearers using Cooper Vision lenses, and we expect this leadership position to continue serving as a key driver of revenue share gains as wearers continue transitioning to daily silicone hydrogel lenses. Additionally, our leadership position in pediatric myopia control through MySight will remain an important growth driver. For the quarter, Cooper Vision delivered revenue of $724 million, driven by share gains in both the Americas and EMEA. The Americas increased 7%, supported by continued strength in premium lenses, while EMEA increased 6%, fueled by strong demand for MyDay and MySight, further reinforcing our number one position in that region for both revenue and wares. In Asia-packed, revenue declined 6% as we continue repositioning our portfolio, including rationalizing legacy hydrogel products, and managed through broader market softness across the region, including greater-than-expected weakness in Japan, which created additional headwinds and further pressured our results. Turning to products, daily silicone hydrogel lenses grew 8%, with our flagship MyDay brand delivering double-digit growth, driven by expanding customer partnerships and success with premium products. We also saw gains across both branded and private label channels, with improvement across all regions, and particular strength in multifocals and energists. And both of these products remain key growth drivers as we continue rolling them out in new markets. The multifocal has excellent momentum, supported by its next-generation optical design that enables an easy-to-fit lens with consistent performance across different lighting conditions, distances, and patient profiles. And EnerGist continues to perform exceptionally well, benefiting from its innovative design that combines premium optics with advanced material technology designed specifically for maximum comfort in today's always-on digital lifestyle. With respect to clarity, we continue to upgrade the portfolio, including upcoming launches of our next-generation multifocal at EMEA and AsiaPAC and the TORIC and multifocal launch in Japan. Turning to our FRP portfolio, Biofinity delivered strong results, growing 5% organically. Growth was led by TORIC and multifocal lenses, including our market-leading extended ranges and made-to-order offerings. Parameter breadth continues to be a key driver for Biofinity, supported by our highly innovative and flexible manufacturing platforms that offer more than six times the prescription options than all other monthly brands combined. As a result, eye care practitioners can fit virtually any patient who walks through the door using just this one product family. Turning to Myopia Control, MySite delivered an excellent quarter, growing 24% to $32 million. Our newest market, Japan, is exceeding expectations with strong and accelerating momentum. We recently hosted the sixth annual Asia-Pac myopia management summit in Tokyo, highlighting the clinical performance and patient benefits of MySite and are seeing increased awareness and adoption following the event. Also, our recent launch of the highly innovative MySite in Europe is performing extremely well as eye care practitioners absolutely love this product. And we're seeing a similar reception as we expand availability globally. At the same time, we're increasing our consumer awareness activity during the high demand and back-to-school periods by having multiple markets run national marketing campaigns to further build parent awareness. Overall, these initiatives, spanning innovation, geographic expansion, customer partnerships, and consumer activation, reinforce our confidence in MySite's continued robust growth. Turning to Cooper Surgical, Q2 revenue reached $358 million, reflecting growth of 8% or 6% on an organic basis. Within this, fertility performed well, growing 10% organically to $144 million. Growth was driven by strength across our leading global portfolio of products and services, including capital equipment, where we saw strength in the U.S., and continued global momentum from WITNESS, our highly successful automated lab tracking system. These capital sales provided a near-term lift, while also positioning us for longer-term growth as they drive incremental consumable demand over time. Additionally, late quarter buy-in activity in the Middle East contributed to performance as distributors restocked following the reopening of airspace. Geographically, results were led by EMEA, where we continued gaining share, and solid performance in the Americas. Asia-Pac was mixed with softness in China, offset by strength in other markets. By product category, growth was led by genomics, capital equipment, and consumables, supported by new clinic wins, expansion within existing accounts, and continued adoption of recently launched products. Looking ahead, underlying fertility trends remain healthy, and we anticipate continued strength in the back half of the year, with fertility expected to grow in the mid-single digit range. The long-term outlook also remains positive, supported by a strong innovation pipeline, particularly in our equipment portfolio. Regarding the overall global fertility market, we continue to expect steady improvements supported by improving cycles and increasing investments in technology and workflow optimization by fertility clinics. The fundamental drivers of the industry also remain intact, including the ongoing trend of delayed childbirth and expanding access to care. This was recently highlighted in the U.S. with updated CDC data showing U.S. fertility rates fell in 2025 to a new annual low of 3.6 million births. Within this, women age 30 and older now comprise 53% of all births. And for the first time in the U.S., more babies were born to women 40 and above than to women under 20. In response to these trends, support for expanding IVF coverage is growing. For example, in California, starting in January this year, most large group health plans with over 100 employees are now required to cover IVF and infertility treatments, significantly increasing access to care. Moving to office and surgical products and services, sales reached $214 million, up 4%. Medical devices grew a healthy 6% as our surgical OBGYN and specialty devices continue to deliver strong performance. Emperegar came in ahead of expectations, delivering flat revenue for the quarter. Now, before I turn the call over to Brian, let me conclude with a few comments on our revenue guidance. For Cooper Vision, we're guiding the full-year organic growth of 3.5% to 4.5%. Similar to our peers, we expect market growth at the low end of the historical 4% to 6% range, with Asia-Pac weighing on the category while NIA and the Americas remain healthy. Importantly, this softness is regional, not global, and we view it as temporary as Asia-Pac resets amid economic pressure especially in China and Japan and to a lesser extent Korea specifically for Cooper Vision we now expect Asia pack to decline in Q3 with pressure from both the market and our ongoing rationalization of legacy hydrogel products that said we now have full regional leadership in place including a new regional head and new country managers in Japan Korea and China and we're seeing strengthening execution and commercial discipline, including progress on my-day contract wins and product launches. Outside of Asia-Pac, demand remains solid for premium products, including daily silicone hydrogen lenses, as well as torques and multifocals. For Cooper Surgical, our guidance is unchanged at 4% to 5% organic growth. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Brian.

Thank you, Al, and good afternoon, everyone. Most of my commentary will be on a non-GAAP basis, so please refer to today's earnings release for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results. For the second fiscal quarter, consolidated revenue was $1.08 billion, representing an 8% increase year-over-year, or 5% on an organic basis. Gross margin of 68.1% was roughly flat year-over-year as positive currency offset higher costs, including tariffs. Operating expenses rose just 1%, reflecting benefits from last year's reorganization that delivered efficiencies across the organization. This progress is particularly evident at Cooper Surgical, where expenses declined year-over-year for the second consecutive quarter. Importantly, this significant operating leverage has been achieved while continuing to invest in key revenue growth initiatives. Operating income increased 19%, resulting in a 27.5% operating margin. Interest expense was $20.9 million, and the effective tax rate was 15.4%. Non-GAAP VPS grew 26%, so $1.21, with roughly 196 million average shares outstanding. Strong free cash flow of $96 million was used to reduce net debt to $2.3 billion and repurchase $13 million of stock. Before moving to guidance, let me address the litigation charge we took this quarter. In December of 2023, Cooper Surgical initiated a voluntary recall of one batch of embryo culture media consisting of three specific lots, which led to claims and lawsuits being filed across various jurisdictions alleging damages associated with the use of the product. between December 2023 and mid-March 2026. We resolved a significant number of claims and lawsuits through settlements which were largely covered by insurance. From mid-March 2026, we identified developments which resulted in a reassessment of our exposure. With this, we proceeded with negotiations and reached settlement agreements covering over 95% of claimants. Based on this, we concluded that a loss was probable and reasonably estimable, particularly with respect to potential exposure exceeding available insurance coverage. The net impact to resolve outstanding claims was $271.6 million, consisting of $324.1 million of accrued settlement, partially offset by $52.5 million of insurance recoveries. We have excluded discharge for non-gap earnings. Additional information regarding this matter is provided in the Form 8-K filed today with the earnings release, and further accounting details will be included in our Form 10-Q, which we anticipate filing tomorrow, June 5th. Turning to the full year fiscal 2026 guidance, we've updated expectations with revenues expected to be roughly $4.28 to $4.32 billion, reflecting growth of 5% to 6% or organic growth of 3.5% to 4.5%. Cougar Vision revenue is expected to be in the range of roughly $2.88 to $2.91 billion of 5% to 6% or 3.5% to 4.5% organically. And Cooper Surgical remains essentially unchanged, with a range of roughly $1.4 to $1.41 billion, up 4% to 5% as reported and organically. Interest expense is expected to be around $85 million, and the effective tax rate is expected to be around 15.5%. For earnings, we're maintaining guidance at $4.58 to $4.66, and we're increasing our 2026 free cash flow outlook to roughly $650 million, excluding any litigation payouts, the majority of which we do expect will be made during fiscal 2026. There are several key considerations underlying this guidance. As discussed on prior earnings calls, we continue to expect gross margins to decline year-over-year. For the third quarter specifically, we expect gross margins of approximately 66%. This is primarily driven by unfavorable FX and certain higher costs, including tariffs, freight, and the impact of lower production at Cooper Vision, where success from our new AI-enhanced inventory control system is allowing us to reduce inventory levels. Importantly, while this inventory work will occur over time, it benefits free cash flow, reinforcing our confidence in our 2026 free cash flow objectives and in achieving $2.2 billion in free cash flow from 2026 through 2028. Regarding tariffs, our guidance assumes approximately $22 million dollars this fiscal year but does not include any potential tariff refunds should refunds materialize they could be as much as 15 million dollars and would be meaningful and would provide meaningful upsides the guidance also does not include any accretion from share repurchases with that i will turn it over to the operator for questions ladies and gentlemen we will now begin the question-and-answer session and I would like to remind everyone for

one question one follow-up if you would like to ask a question please press star follow button number one on your touch tone phone and you will hear a prompt with your hand then raise if you wish to read the right question please press star one again if you're using a speakerphone ask to lift the handset before pressing any keys please hold for a moment while we gather questions And it comes from the line of Jeff Johnson from Fairs. Please go ahead. Thank you.

Good afternoon, guys. Can you hear me okay? Hey, Al. So a couple questions here. Let me just start first on APAC, expecting another quarter of declines. I think we're four quarters in a row now have flattened down. You do swing from kind of a plus-five comp that you came against this quarter when you did the minus-six to a negative 5% comp, if my model is correct. So what are the drivers of that staying negative on top of a negative 5% comp? And just any progress you're making on getting through some of those older hydrogels and any other updates you can provide on what's going on in Asia-Pact? And I have one my site follow-up question.

Sure. Yeah, you're exactly right from a comp perspective on how we move from Q2 to Q3. I would say the difference in that market from what we've seen in prior quarters is softness in the market itself. That Asia-packed market, especially when we look at Japan and China, is softer than we anticipated it was going to be. It looks like, as you sit here, it's going to continue to be soft. I'm talking about the market. So we're continuing to do what we're doing, which is executing on my day and repositioning the products and so forth and rationalizing the hydrogels, but we're doing it in a market that's now considerably softer than when we started the process. We still have a little ways to go on rationalizing the hydrogel products, and it's going to continue to put pressure on us for probably, I don't know, maybe all through 2027 even. But we're starting to get it behind us. The numbers are starting to get smaller, so the impact is at least being reduced.

All right. Let me just pull on that thread, and I'll just ask my question on the callback tonight. But just as you talk about that potentially continuing through 2027, should we think about APAC then? And I know it's hard to predict where the market goes, but especially for your part of the business on reducing some of that FRP exposure there, or the hydrogel, sorry, Should we think about Asia-Pac being flat as we get into 2027? Are we going to stay in negative territory for the next six quarters? And again, I know it's hard to predict, and you don't guide by geography or product line, But just on that comment, and sorry about the dog, but on that comment, if you could provide any color, thanks.

Yeah, because it'll be dependent largely on what that market does. I think we get to a point here probably even in Q4 here, not this quarter, next quarter, where we're going to be essentially in line with market. I think we'll probably grow in line with market is my guess in 2027. So it'll end up being dependent on that market. Right now, I would probably argue that market is essentially flat. I mean, it might even be down a little bit, but flat down. So we'll see what the market does, but I think we'll at least be back in line with the market in Q4 this year and through 2027.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Blackoff-Stato. Please go ahead.

Great. Thanks, guys, and good afternoon.

Al, maybe I'll just start with the strategic review for CSI. I'm just curious, is, you know, that interest that you cited from multiple parties, is that for the entire CSI business, or is it, you know, call it different parties, more looking for different pieces of the business? Any color that you can provide and sort of elaborate there?

Sure. Yeah, we received, I don't know how else to say, other than significant interest in the entire business and in pieces of the business, both. But I would say there's a sufficient number of parties that have given indications of interest that are on the entire business. That's how we're moving forward.

Okay. Fair enough. And then, Brian, you know, I'll do some sort of real-time math, which is always dangerous. But the 1H EPS for the year is, you know, I think $2.31, if I've got that right. It's exactly 50% of a full-year guidance at the midpoint. And for each of the past three years, 1H was closer to about 45% or 46%. So, in other words, like that would, you know, sort of imply maybe some upside to the EPS guidance. I know you called out maybe those inventory dynamics with AI better controlling the inventory, and so therefore I guess like less consumption. But is that everything? Or why would you have that delta, you know, relative to past years when it does seem like you guys are doing a really, really good job on the OpEx side of things. Thank you. Hi, John.

Yeah, thanks for the question. I mean, certainly we are driving strong operational results, you know, top to bottom, including, you know, stronger sales, margins, leverage. You know, I think, you know, my guess is that there's a little bit of a mismatch really between how the street and we modeled FX for the year. I gave an FX tailwind last quarter of 1% for the year. So what you saw in the first half was a pretty decent amount of FX favorability that flowed through the bottom line. So the EPS growth that you saw in the 20s between Q1 year-over-year and Q2, you know, certainly is a direct result of all the work we've done exiting Q4 to drive a stronger operating model. But the The FX favorability, when I talked about the 1%, that was really what you see in the second half of the year is really FX turning decently negative. And so that starts here in Q3 with an FX negative to Q3, and then again here in Q4. So it's probably just a bit of a timing and modeling phenomenon, if you will. But expect continued strong operational delivery with, of course, the noise around tariffs and some of those other costs that I talked about.

Helpful call. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Jason Bednar from Pepper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Hey, good afternoon. I'll actually follow up real quick here on the guide, a couple of pieces here. You know, just really in the context of you beat consensus by 11 cents. We're not touching the guide here for the rest of the year. Just a little bit of conservatism, a little bit of maybe some of the uncertainty around APAC demand on the CBI side, just trying to juxtapose that against raising last quarter when you beat as well. So just is there something different here as we think about the philosophy? And then on the $2.2 billion free cash flow figure, just want to confirm that's more of an adjusted figure that doesn't account for the litigation outflow that we got over the settlement that we learned about today.

Sure. I'll take the second one first, and maybe I'll jump in on the first one. On the $2.2 billion free cash flow, that is inclusive of our expected payouts related to litigation. So what I'm trying to convey here is, you know, we are delivering a strong operating result this year, and I expect that to continue. The work we're doing to optimize inventory through the use of our technology-enabled systems, Our supply chain system that I mentioned in our prepared remarks are helping us to drive better inventory balances. So while that's a little bit of a pressure on gross margins for the remainder of this year and next year, it is a positive – does have a positive impact on driving free cash flow. So the $2.2 billion is essentially an increase from where we were to start the year with respect to the litigation because we're hurtling that litigation and reiterating the $2.2 billion in free cash flow. I guess I'll just – I'll start with the other question. I mean, the first question on why the EPS guidance is remaining the same, I mean, I think it's basically, like I said earlier to John, the FX that we modeled didn't change for Q2. The year-over-year impact for Q2 was $0.08, and we thought it was – we expected it to be $0.08 when we exited Q1. So, really, the delta is in just the impact of the FX unfavorability in the second half. So, certainly, we are expecting some higher costs. You know, I don't know – I think it's a balanced guidance, and, you know, we've taken down Coover Vision revenues a little bit. But, you know, I think the guidance is prudent where we set it. and believe that, you know, we're putting ourselves in a position to deliver.

Just maybe one follow-up here on the share repo strategy. Like the stock is as cheap as it's been in a long time, but obviously this is a lower buyback activity period relative to what we saw last quarter. Were you blacked out at all from buying back stock in the quarter? Was U.S. free cash an issue? We were just trying to figure out just how we think about the approach that you took here in the quarter. I hear what you're saying on being more active going forward, but was there something else that limited the activity here in the fiscal second quarter?

Yeah, Jason, there was. So we started purchasing a few shares back, a very small amount, essentially a few days after we reported earnings, but then took a, you know, you could argue a conservative position if you wanted to on share buybacks given other activity. We do not have those restrictions now and would anticipate exiting, you know, this call being much more aggressive on share buybacks going forward.

Thanks so much.

Thank you. Next question will be coming from Larry Diggelson from Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Hey, Al, I'm actually going to ask two on the strategic review you talked about. I'll just ask the first one, and then after your answer, the second one. So historically, I think you've believed that it made sense to keep CVI and CSI together. What's changed for you? That's the first question.

Sure. Well, I mean, the reason I like keeping them together was for flexibility, if you will, right? One had a good quarter. One didn't. We were able to move things around. We have a lot of cash flow as a combined business, and I always believed that we would be able to get significant back office synergies out of the business once we stopped doing acquisitions and had a chance to do that, which we did, right? We stopped doing acquisitions been, what, a year and a half or almost two years since we've done an acquisition, and you're seeing the leverage that we are able to drive through back office consolidation, deliver the earnings this quarter that we just had and the increasing cash flow. So I still like that piece of it, but I also look at the market right now, and I look at where our valuation is today, which I believe is absurd. I look at the strength of the Cooper Surgical business, and we're in a position right now, and we're probably not alone within the medical device industry, where there's a good argument that private investors are willing to pay a premium price over the public markets. If that is the case, then it's certainly, we're going to do what's best for our shareholders. And if what's best for our shareholders is to transact, then that is what we're going to do.

And then second, I guess, do you expect to have an update, you know, before the next earnings call? You said soon. And is there any reason why, you know, a deal, you know, wouldn't happen for CSI based on the offers coming in?

It's a little tough to answer that one. We got the litigation stuff done. So we moved into, if you will, round two of the process, and we're going to work on that really fast right now and see what kind of progress we can make. If that happens to be before we report earnings in the beginning of September, we'll certainly get a release out there, if not by then at least. But we'll see. I mean, there's nothing now holding us back from being able to move very quickly.

Thank you, Al.

Yeah.

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Yung Lee from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

All right, great. Thanks for taking the question. I guess to begin, was curious if you can make some comments on Fisco 3Q or Fisco 4Q revenue split. If there's any color you can provide to help to model it out.

What you're asking, honestly, just like revenue gating, maybe?

No, just the revenue cadence for fiscal 3Q versus 4Q with the implied guidance for the second half of the year.

Well, I would probably say, as I just think about it kind of off the top of my head without numbers or anything, you know, Cooper Vision will be okay in Q3 and be a little bit better in Q4 is what I would envision. and that's kind of what we've been seeing and executing through. Cooper Surgical should have a decent Q3 and a decent Q4. I'm not sure. Like, we don't get quarterly guidance or specific numbers or ranges or anything, so probably directionally that's what I would say.

Okay, great. That's really helpful. I guess on the fertility business, you know, you know, it rebounded to double digits earlier than expected, you know, heard some of the positive comments from your prepared remarks. I guess can you maybe talk a little bit more about, you know, what you're seeing in the markets and, you know, how that can – that progress can maybe continue through the rest of the year?

Yeah, we went through a period within the fertility industry where we were seeing a lot of consolidation among fertility clinics, and we were seeing a much greater focus on clinics driving their own profitability. So we went through that period. It depressed our results. It depressed the market's results for a while, and now we're working through that. We had a good quarter here from a capital equipment perspective, right? And when we're putting capital in, that's a really good sign for us. So, yeah, it pumps up like an individual quarter because capital can always be a little bit lumpy, but it also gives us future consumable sales. So you're seeing right now a market that's getting a little bit better. It's not going to shoot up, but it's going to continue to progress and get a little bit better. And you're seeing us taking a little bit of share in that space. And, again, it might be a little lumpy with capital, but from a market perspective, we believe we're going to continue to see positive trends.

Next question from Steve Bittman of Whitney and Blair. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Hi, guys. I guess first out, it sounds like you're seeing a firm end market in the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., what are you seeing on price? I know you've been conservative on that, but do you see some opportunities given maybe inflation being stubbornly high here?

Yeah, you know, price is okay when it comes to the U.S. market. Okay, in EMEA, it's still a challenge in Asia-Pac. When we look at inflation and we look at where pricing is and opportunities, I mean, we took pricing earlier this year like we normally do. We've seen some competitors take pricing out there. I guess I would just say we'll continue to evaluate it. The nice thing is when you look at most of the world outside of Asia-Pac, There continues to be a lot of interest in premium products, higher-priced products, and there's not a pushback necessarily on some of the price increases or people just transitioning over to a higher-priced product. So I won't kind of commit to anything on that, but, yeah, inflation is kind of staying stubbornly high, so to speak. I mean, Brian mentioned we see some of the costs roll through our own P&L, so we'll continue to take a look at it.

Got it. And then just in Japan, have you launched Clarity Tour at the Multifocal? I wasn't sure if that hit the market. And could that still help in that lower-priced environment that, you know, you've obviously been dealing with here the last few quarters?

Yeah, that is launching soon. I am excited about that, by the way, because that does give us the full Clarity family there to compete as we try to move hydrogel wearers over to a silicone hydrogel, be it our own wearers right now, a number of who we're losing. But as we get that launch in Japan, that's going to help us keep our own wearers transitioning from older products into that silicone hydrogel. And it's going to give us the opportunity to go after the market a little bit more. So that's coming. I don't think that will have much of an impact, honestly, in this fiscal year. But we'll probably get a little bit positive impact in Q4 and then more in 2027.

Great. Thanks, Adam. Hey, thanks for the question. I really wanted to ask about the lower revenue guidance, the 1806 points lower. Is that all APAC and what exactly has changed first and three months ago in APAC?

Is it more market, more execution? Is the market stuff new? I'm just trying to understand what's changed and why the lower guide.

Yeah, it's Asia-Pac and it's market-based. I mean, that's just going to be very succinct. That's what it is. And why has the market changed versus three months ago? Just want to make sure that's clear to everybody. Consumer weakness. We really see that not in every market, but we see it in Japan and we see it in China. Now, China's not very large for us, so it's bigger in Japan, where we've seen that just consumer softness. And those markets, keep in mind, a lot of those markets are more consumer markets, if you will, than medical devices, meaning you don't need a script to buy contact lenses. So in a lot of our markets around the world, including in Asia-Pac, we definitely have more of a consumer bent, like almost a discretionary consumer bent, if you will, than we do a medical device sale. And we're seeing some of that activity in that region right now, some of the soft consumer activity in that region.

And then if there is a CSISO, I would assume the proceeds are used for buyback. I just want to make sure that's the right assumption.

That's correct. I would assume that the vast majority of them are certainly used for buyback. Yeah, we'll have to look, obviously, at RemainCo, if you will, balance sheet, and there will be a number of things we'll need to evaluate there, but a significant portion of it certainly will be used for share buyback. Okay, thank you.

Next question from David Saxon of Needham and Company. Please go ahead.

Great. Yeah, thanks. Good morning, or good afternoon, I should say. Just wanted to follow up on the A-tax, so down six. I guess how much of that was the market and this consumer softness you've talked to versus rationalizing the legacy hydratail part of the portfolio? And then just on that repositioning, like what inning are you in at this point?

Yeah, it's always hard to parse that kind of stuff out, you know. But, I mean, the guy down was because of the market. I think it could have been like half of that six came, if you will, from the market. When I think about where we are from a hydrogel perspective, we're probably more than halfway, but not much farther, right? Fifth inning or something like that. We still have some work to do.

Thanks for that. And then just on Clarity, so, I mean, it sounds like it was probably kind of in line with last quarter's growth. I guess, what's the outlook for that product, you know, as you look out to the back half in 27? Thanks so much.

Yeah, you know, Clarity was actually probably a little bit weaker this quarter than last quarter. My day was stronger and kind of more than made up for it, if you will. I think that the big thing on Clarity right now is that we do have to get it properly positioned in Asia-Pac, which we're very actively doing, right? Get those products launched, get the multifocal out there so we have the full set of products and start getting that product rolling again. I mean, the market, as odd as it sounds, like the market continues to go to premium products, which is not where Clarity is positioned. Clarity is much more of a – it's super easy handling. I mean, it's by far the easiest lens for someone to insert and remove. So if you're a new wearer, like you're going to Clarity all day long, but it's not positioned and being sold as a premium product, which oddly or interestingly enough, the market continues to gravitate towards. So I think that Clarity is not in a bad space. It's still a pretty decent-sized product for us. If we can get the other launches out, we can finish some of the repositioning, we can get it going again.

Thank you. Your next question from Mr. Anthony Patron from the Zulu Group. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Maybe a couple just on strategic comments, CSI. Is there any major difference in the margin profile of office surgical infertility, you know, just as we consider if it goes, you know, piecemeal or as a whole? And if you sort of look ahead to a scenario where CVI standalone, you know, Maybe just an update on, you know, where the bulk of capital allocation would go. What could you expect a standalone CVI to sort of look like operationally, and what is the standalone effective tax rate looks like?

Yeah, so I don't want to speculate too much on that. I would say that given where we are from a CapEx perspective in Cooper Vision, as a standalone entity, we'll generate decent free cash flow on Cooper Surgical, and I would imagine a significant portion of that would go to a very consistent share buyback program. I'll hold off kind of providing more color until we have a little bit more visibility on a transaction. On the margin question, I'm going to hold off answering that one too, but I will say just to be clear, like, although we have received significant interest on the individual pieces of surgical, we are proceeding as of today with the entire business because we have enough interest at high enough levels in the entire business that that's the way we're proceeding. That business is fairly integrated, so if you look at fertility and medical device, like, you, we have co-located plants, co-located distribution facilities, and so forth, I'm not saying that you can't split things like that up, but it becomes very difficult to do something like that. So, right now, that's not where the focus is. The focus is on the entire business. Helpful.

Thank you. Next question from LabNP from BMP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Thanks for taking my questions. On CVI, if you could discuss the contribution of the new launches. I know you mentioned the myopia control in Japan, the my day my site in Europe. So we'd be interested to hear about the contribution in Q2 and for the rest of the year. And then on Cooper's surgical, your closest competitor had called out improving market conditions and IVF cycles. So do you see similar trends as well continuing and also changes in the competitive landscape as the competitor has also called out market share gains? And then just a quick one on the strategic review. Thank you for the helpful color on the interest. Would you say that the litigation has slowed down the review process by a quarter or so? Thank you.

Yeah, a couple there. So let me hit those. The last one is litigation slowed down the process. The answer to that is yes. However, the litigation is now done and settled, and we're moving on from that and able to move quickly. So, yes, it did, but it's behind us. So, we needed to get that done, and we did get that done. If I look at fertility, yeah, I would agree with our peers who have talked about a strike-fitting market. I mentioned that earlier. we are continuing to see strength in the market. I know we've had some peers come out and say that they're taking share. I guess numbers are numbers, right? Like, I don't know what to comment other than look at the numbers. If you look at new launches within Cooper Vision, you're touching on my site, there's a push and pull going on in my site right now. So, as glasses continue to enter the market. That is a negative to contact lenses short term. I continue to say that short term. We want more and more kids in myopia control products. We're seeing more and more kids go myopia control products. Classes are doing incredibly well around the world. But that is a short term negative for us. It's kind of pulling our growth down. The flip side is the positive reaction to my day. My side in Europe, which is great. My side in Japan, which is going really well. We have quite a bit in R&D and new products that we're developing and some new products that we're going to launch that I'm really excited about. So there's definitely a push and pull going on right now within that space. But that's why, you know, we did, what, 23% growth last quarter, 24%, did a little over $100 million last year in revenue. So it's a real product line that's continuing to grow. And I think as long as we can stay focused on it, which we will, and we can drive performance and we can come out with new and innovative products, which we're going to, we're going to continue to see nice growth from our myopia-controlled franchise.

Thank you for the cover.

Yep.

Thank you. This is Christian. It's from John from State Group. Please go ahead.

Hey, how are you doing today? Thank you for taking the question. I want to touch based on just two things and get an update on the manufacturing of your MyDay lenses. And also, Paragard looks like it was flat sequentially, or year-over-year might be the right answer, which is better than I think most expected. And if you could just give us a feel for what's going on there, that too would be great. Thank you so much.

Yeah, with Paragard, it was flat against, as you remember from last year, a pretty hard comp. We were launching the single-hand inserter last year. So, yeah, Paragard, we were expecting Paragard to be down. It was flat this quarter, so it's doing well. I mean, that product grew nicely last year, and right now it's well-positioned. That single-hand inserter is helping us. We're well-positioned. Tee's doing a really nice job selling it, so I continue to think that we've got a chance to put up good numbers in Paragord. On the manufacturing of lenses, probably not too much to add there. We're continuing to crank along. I think the one thing that Brian highlighted, which is important, is, you know, our inventory levels internally got a little high as we were supporting, like, NDR and supporting customers around the world through our logistics, which can get kind of complex with all the private labels and so forth we do. We implemented a new AI-based inventory control system, and the team has done just a really, really nice job with that. And that targeting and that work they're doing is allowing us to reduce our inventory levels, and we're going to continue to do that. That's going to be an effort that's going to happen, you know, the rest of this year and all of next year. So that does have a negative that Brian mentioned in terms of less production, higher cost per unit, but it has a clear positive impact on cash flow. So we'll give more colors as we proceed through that and those details kind of come out. But, yeah, we're continuing to work through that process. I mean, ultimately, that is about a more efficient business. So, to me, it's positive.

From Robbie Marcus from J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

Oh, great. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking the questions. Two for me. First, Al, sorry to come back to this. Just wanted to ask again on the Asia-Pac market weakness. You said it's a bit Cooper-related, a bit Cooper, a bit market-related. Is it that volumes are going down in the market? Is it that consumers are shifting to private label? Are they extending wear more than usual? Are they trading, you know, back to glasses? Maybe just give us a little more flavor for what exactly is happening to cause the slowdown so we can get a better sense of how transient it might be.

Yeah, you're definitely getting – yeah, yeah, yeah. you're definitely getting some of what you were just talking about, Robbie, which is some changing in wearer behavior. We see that every once in a while in different markets. We're seeing that there. It's always tough to fine-tune that as to whether it's somebody wearing glasses or how often they're doing it or what they're doing with their contact lenses and so forth. But we are seeing that type of activity. When we've seen that in the past, that'll happen for a year, and eventually you annualize that. And eventually, by the way, it swings back the other way as people start wearing contact lenses more. So I think that's what we're seeing. The other thing we're seeing there is a little bit more online purchase activity, meaning a little bit more e-commerce activity. That is not where we're strong. We're strong with the fitters. We're a little bit weaker when you talk about online activity. So there's been a little bit of shift over there, which is a little bit of a negative for us. But I think if you're talking about the market, it's largely tied to that dynamics you were talking about. And you don't have pricing over there. I mean, that's the other thing is we're able to get positive pricing around the world and then shift at more premium products. And in that market, you just don't really have any pricing.

Got it. Separate question. As we think about a potential separation of the women's health business, how should we think about the fully burdened operating margin for each of the companies and the free cash flow that each generates? because you talked before about one of the strong rationales is you've integrated it well in the back office. So I'd imagine there's probably a good amount of disynergies to stand that up if the, you know, whatever acquirer doesn't have those back office capabilities to stand it up with. And then I know there's some tax disynergies as well. Anything you could comment on that, just as we think about maybe splitting them up and what a remain co might look like. Thanks a lot.

Yeah.

So a few different comments on that. There's definitely some back office consolidation work that we've done. We did that in Q4 last year. I think about that in the context of like HR, finance, IT, and so forth. But Cooper Surgical still has a full team of people working on that. So yes, there is some disenergies, if you will, but it's probably not as significant as you think. We don't have co-located facilities. That's probably the biggest thing, meaning that the manufacturing and distribution of Cooper Vision products is separate from Cooper Surgical products. So from that perspective, that's a big one in terms of your ability to do something with a transition services agreement and everything else that comes along with it. If I look at a couple other things, you know, cash flow, like free cash flow on a per revenue basis, The per-dollar revenue basis is higher at Cooper Surgical than it is Cooper Vision. But I would say, I guess I would say the upside of future, because our CapEx is just, I mean, if you get to Q4, it's going to start coming down. It'll be down a decent amount next year. So there's some upside coming from future free cash flow in Cooper Vision. You'll see some of the details when you look at the Q tomorrow, right? You'll see some of the improvements that we're really starting to see at Cooper Surgical. on a gap basis. Like, we don't have nearly as many non-gap adjustments as we used to, and we're going to try to keep those to a minimum. So you'll see those improvements. But I won't go too much into the operating margins, because I think if they're in the transaction, Robbie, like, as you know, like, we're rolling up our sleeves looking at things, and we need to drill through those numbers and get you guys some real information, which we will.

And tax? uh tax would be uh i guess a remain co cooper vision tax would probably be fairly similar to what it is uh today yes great thank you very much appreciate it thank you next question from fred fishpin from keyback capital markets please go ahead hey guys good evening thank you for taking the questions um just gonna shift gears a little bit back to operating margin in the quarter which was definitely a bright spot, and was interested if you could just provide some, you know, color or directional split on how much of the improvement was, like, really driven by some of the durable changes in cost structure that you're taking versus, you know, other factors like FX or favorable mix with, you know, lower cells in APAC, CBI this quarter. Thank you.

You know, a comment quickly. Certainly, Brian knows numbers back in his hand. Cooper Surgical drove a decent amount of that operating margin upside just because of all the leverage that we're getting out of that from the consolidation, the back office stuff I was just talking to Robbie about. So I would say the bigger side was there. You've got some certainly in corporate where we were able to leverage expenses here also. That does not diminish Vision, who's done a really nice job leveraging the P&L also. So, and then, yeah, the FX is certainly positive that Brian highlighted compared to the beginning of the year where FX is a nice positive to us and the fact where it's a decent negative to us, it kind of flattens out for the year. But that's part of the swing. Does that help?

Yeah. No, no, that's helpful. So, it sounds like, you know, a combination of some of the underlying improvement and then maybe, like, split with some of the more, you know, temporary benefits like FX and product mix. Yeah. All right. And then maybe just go on a completely different topic on, you know, the MySite Japan launch. It did sound like momentum has picked up a little bit. I was wondering if you just had, you know, any new thoughts on the broader opportunity here around either the TAM or just overall contribution to the MySite, you know, revenue story over the next, call it, six quarters. Thank you very much again.

Yeah, the myopia control market, you know, I've always been an optimist about that, and it was progressing a little slowly for a little while when we were basically the only company driving it. But now that you have spectacles out there, it is definitely accelerating. It's a really good market. I mean, spectacles are doing well. You're seeing markets like China that have just exploded. Throughout Europe, you're seeing markets. I mean, we have a joint venture on one of those. the numbers are just really strong, and they continue to be strong, and we continue to see really nice growth on the spectacle side of things. So I think that the myopia control market is going to be a big market. At the end of the day, it really truly is. Like, almost every kid gets, you know, braces right now. Every kid who's got myopia should be wearing some form of myopia control product. So I feel good about where we're at. Japan is one of those markets where you have a lot of children that are myopic, this product's going to be fantastic for them. So, I mean, we're actually looking at that right now from an investment perspective because, you know, as that market picks up and it's doing better, like, I mean, we're challenging ourselves on how to invest and where to invest and where to be more aggressive to ensure that we're capitalizing on our position. I mean, we're the only contact lens company with an FDA-approved product out there. So we're doing well. I think we're going to continue to do well. I feel good about that market in the near-term and the long-term.

The question will be from Chris Heskell from Nessertown Research. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Al, I wanted to circle back to fertility. Ten percent growth this quarter. We talked about mid-singles in the back half of the year. Is the delta there really a bolus of capital sales that you got this quarter that we should view as kind of one time in nature, or are there other factors?

Yeah. I kind of touched on that a little bit on the script. It's a great question, right? Because I think in the back half of the year, when we look at Q2 and Q3 for fertility, it'll probably be somewhere in the mid-single digits. So that delta that you were looking at was a combination of two things. One, it was capital. The other one was when the airspace opened in the Middle East, we talked about that some last quarter, we had distributors there buy some product from us and buy in advance in case the airspace, like, shut down again. So we actually kind of had a couple positives there that pushed us up to the 10%. So it was a great quarter. We did really well, right? But I don't want to act like we're going to – we're not back yet at throwing double digits. I think we did 14 out of 15 quarters at one stretch, double digits. We're not back there yet, but we're at least back to mid-sable-digit growth and fertility.

And then one quick one for Brian. Do you plan to seek refunds for prior tariff payments, and when do you expect to have clarity on whether you actually get those?

Yeah, so we're in process of filing all those refunds. I mean, I mentioned in my prepared remarks, you know, we're expecting up to $15 million at this moment sitting here today. A lot of those have been submitted, though we're submitting some more. So we actually, I think, just got one refund recently, a small one. So that's not included in guidance. So to the extent that we get some of those refunds in the third and fourth quarter, then that's going to be upside to guidance.

Last question from David Roman of Golden Sex. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hi. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking the question. This is Marco Espelado on for David Roman. You touched a little bit on this, but I was hoping that you could clarify. As you think about retaining the earnings guidance with a top-line reduction, can you talk a little bit about the interplay between protecting the P&L and sustaining growth investments?

Yeah, I mean, it's a good question, right? And we look at that very consistently. We are investing in growth opportunities. So we're leveraging the P&L through all that work that we've done, back office and so forth. But we are continuing to invest in growth. We're launching products in different spots around the world, and we're supporting that launch. I mean, that's one of the most important things to us. You look at how strong we were in the Americas, how strong we were in Europe. We have to get going in Asia-Pac. We made a lot of moves. We're doing a lot of things there. So we are investing in growth. I mean, at the same time, we obviously want to put up with good numbers. And I guess I'd just say, you know, we've got a lot going on right now. I mean, that's the other thing. There's a lot of activity in the company right now, no surprise. So you've got some risk around disruption and other areas as we jump through hoops and do all the things that we're trying to do. So I think we're trying to balance all of that. And I think, as Brian said, you know, that guidance range is a good way to look at it. And that was, to me, that was a prudent guidance range right now given everything that's going on.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call back over to Al for closing remarks.

Great. Thank you, Operator, and thank you, everyone, for being on the call today. I guess I should just end by restating that, which there's a lot going on right now. We're working super hard. We're making a lot of progress in a lot of areas. We look forward to continuing to make a lot of progress and to communicating that progress in the future. So, with that, I thank everyone for the call and look forward to talking to you in the coming months.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now listen to us.