Start here if you're new
what it is
Bausch + Lomb sells the stuff that helps you see, from contact lenses to eye drugs to surgical tools.
how it gets paid
Last year Lomb made $5.1B in revenue. Vision Care was the main engine at $2.45B, or 48% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 6.5% last year. The number that mattered was -$0.85 EPS, because sales growth means less when the bottom line still bleeds.
what just happened
Revenue hit $3.7B, but the real story is that BLCO still posted a GAAP loss.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
0.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 49/100 — below average
-$0.30 fy2027 eps est
$6B fy2029 rev est
What they do
Bausch + Lomb sells the stuff that helps you see, from contact lenses to eye drugs to surgical tools.
This business sells into about 100 countries and has been around since 1853. That matters when your eye doctor already knows the brand and your patient already trusts the box. The moat is distribution scale and habit, plain English for shelf space and repeat use, so what: BLCO still produced $5.1 billion of annual revenue even with a net margin of just 0.6%.
How they make money
$5.1B
annual revenue · their business grew +6.5% last year
Vision Care
$2.45B
+8.0%
Consumer Eye Health
$0.87B
+4.0%
Ophthalmic Pharmaceuticals
$1.28B
+6.2%
Surgical
$0.50B
+5.0%
The products that matter
dry eye disease treatment
MIEBO®
Q4 growth driver
management pointed to MIEBO® as part of the momentum behind Q4 2025 revenue of $1.41B, which came in 1.8% above estimates. for this stock, new-product traction matters because the legacy business is already large.
new launch
ophthalmic drug portfolio
Pharmaceuticals
$1.3B · +6%
this $1.3B segment grew 6% last year. that's the cleanest growth line in the company right now, which is why investors keep coming back to the pipeline and launch cadence.
fastest grower
contact lenses and surgical platforms
Vision Care + Surgical
$3.8B combined
together these businesses account for roughly $3.8B of revenue. they give BLCO scale, but with growth listed as flat in the snapshot, they currently look more like ballast than acceleration.
scale base
Key numbers
$6.0B
2029 revenue goal
The long-range revenue estimate is $6 billion versus $5.1 billion now, plain English for only about $0.9 billion of added sales over several years, so what: the story needs margin repair more than raw growth.
$4.9B
long-term debt
Debt equals 45% of capital, which is heavy for a business earning just a 0.6% net margin.
2.2%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit from the actual business before financing and taxes, plain English for how much the machine keeps, so what: BLCO keeps only 2.2 cents on each sales dollar.
$20
18-month target
That target is only $3.13 above the current $16.87 price, so the near-term upside is modest unless earnings finally show up.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- long-term debt $4.9B (45% of capital)
- net profit margin 0.6% — keeps 1 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 0% — $0.00 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for BLCO right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Revenue hit $3.7B, but the real story is that BLCO still posted a GAAP loss.
Yahoo shows last earnings at $0.32 versus a -$0.04 estimate, while the SEC-backed latest-quarter figure shows EPS of -$0.85. Plain English: adjusted results looked fine, but reported profit still looked rough.
$1.4B
revenue
-$0.85
eps
+189%
revenue vs. last year
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was -$0.85 EPS, because sales growth means less when the bottom line still bleeds.
-
bausch & lomb will likely remain in the red over the next few years.
-
this global eye health company posted a third-quarter net loss of $0.08 a share, well below the year-ago figure, on a solid 7% uptick in revenues.
-
the top line benefited from strong across-the-board demand reported by its three divisions (vision care, up 8%; surgical, up 4%; and pharmaceutical, up 8% ) as well as a favorable foreign-exchange environment.however, the bottom line was tempered by a significant increase in the company’s effective income tax rate. indeed, during the september interim, bausch & lomb paid $22 million in taxes, versus a $66 million tax benefit a year earlier. as a result, we expect that the company will post a flat bottom-line comparison for 2025, with a narrowing of the net loss likely in the cards for this year and next.
-
nevertheless, the investment community seems enthused about the company’s long-term prospects.
-
to wit, blco stock has increased about 10% in value since our november review, as compared to a relatively flat performance by the s&p 500 index over the same period.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the #1 risk is margin improvement failing to show up while the company still carries $4.9B in debt.
med
margin target miss
management is pointing investors to a 19% EBITDA margin in 2026, while current operating margin sits at 13.5%.
if that gap does not start closing, the stock loses its main turnaround argument.
med
debt load
BLCO carries $4.9B in long-term debt, equal to 45% of total capital.
that limits flexibility. it also makes every earnings disappointment more expensive for equity holders.
med
product recall and securities scrutiny
shareholder law firms are investigating issues tied to a product recall and potential securities-law questions.
even before any outcome, legal noise can pressure sentiment, absorb management attention, and add volatility to a stock with only 40/100 price stability.
med
mix stalls in the slow lanes
Vision Care and Surgical are still large pieces of the business, but both were flat in the revenue mix while Pharmaceuticals did the heavy lifting.
if the faster segment stops outgrowing the rest, revenue still arrives — but the margin story gets harder to defend.
a company targeting 19% EBITDA margin while carrying $4.9B in debt does not get many bad quarters for free. add legal overhang, and the risk picture is very specific: profits have to catch up to sales.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings date
2026-05-06 q1 2026 earnings report
scheduled for may 6, 2026. you want to see whether revenue momentum still holds and whether profits stop lagging the top line.
margin
progress toward the 19% EBITDA margin target
management put a number on the table. now it has to walk toward it. the closer BLCO gets, the more credible the turnaround becomes.
legal
product recall investigation updates
watch for whether the recall issue stays a headline problem or turns into something that costs real money and management attention.
product mix
MIEBO® and pharmaceuticals growth
pharmaceuticals grew 6% last year. if new products keep outgrowing the flatter segments, BLCO's mix gets better. that's how margin stories usually start.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — the stock is not sending a strong short-term signal. in human-speak, analysts are waiting for cleaner proof.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — middle-of-the-pack risk. not a bunker stock, not a disaster story either.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead, even though the fundamental scorecard still looks mixed.
valuation
wait
composite 49/100 — the market is paying for a turnaround that still has to prove itself. if margin progress stalls, the rating should too.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 43 buyers vs. 46 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 35.7M shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$12
$27
$17
current price
$20
target midpoint · +19% from current · 3-5yr high: $27
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive