Bausch & Lomb Caps Off Its Fiscal Year With Solid Top Line Growth; Maintaining FVE

Narrow-moat Bausch & Lomb posted a solid quarter with good top line growth as it ramps up its vision and surgical portfolio. Margins were held back by continued currency headwinds and supply chain inflation, as well as increased research investment. We think the firm is catching up with the more robust portfolios of its peers in the surgical vision space with premium intraocular lens releases like the earlier AcuFocus acquisition and the recent LuxSmart launch in Europe. Guidance for fiscal 2023 will be provided in the first-quarter earnings release by Brent Saunders, who is returning as CEO. While adjusted net income has not yet turned positive, we think the firm is on track to grow its premium sales and improve mix. After evaluating the earnings, we are maintaining our fair value estimate.