What Happened?
Shares of medical lens company STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) fell 7.1% in the afternoon session after the company announced the expiration of its 'go-shop' period without receiving any competing acquisition proposals, solidifying its pending merger agreement with Alcon Inc.
The go-shop period, which ended on December 6, 2025, allowed STAAR to actively seek better deals from other parties. Despite soliciting proposals from 21 potential buyers, no competing offers were made. The outcome drew criticism from major shareholder Broadwood Partners, which reiterated its opposition to the sale. Broadwood stated that the deal's timing was poor and the price did not reflect the company's intrinsic value. Adding to the dissent, proxy advisory firm Egan-Jones also reaffirmed its recommendation for shareholders to vote against the acquisition, citing concerns that the deal's valuation was inadequate.
The shares closed the day at $23.52, down 7.3% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
STAAR Surgical’s shares are very volatile and have had 29 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock gained 45.6% on the news that eye-care company Alcon announced a definitive agreement to acquire the company in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.5 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Alcon paid $28 in cash for each share of STAAR Surgical. This price marked a 51% premium to the company's closing stock price on the previous day. STAAR Surgical manufactured implantable lenses for vision correction, including its EVO family of Implantable Collamer® Lenses. The acquisition allowed Alcon to absorb a key player in the ophthalmic surgery space.
STAAR Surgical is down 2.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $23.52 per share, it is trading 17.7% below its 52-week high of $28.57 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of STAAR Surgical’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $290.59.
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