Shares of Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics Inc. hit a new 52-week low Friday after another analyst downgraded the contact lens care and eye device maker after it announced a recall.
It’s the fourth downgrade since Advanced Medical on Nov. 21 announced a recall of tainted contact lens solution and lowered its outlook for this year and next.
Lehman Brothers analyst Bob Hopkins downgraded Advanced Medical to “equal weight” from “overweight,” based on lower confidence that the company will be able to move smoothly through the recall and sterilization of its Chinese plant, where the solution was made.
In a research note, Hopkins said he was worried that Advanced Medical’s management team may be stretched unnecessarily thin, particularly given that Chief Financial Officer Randy Meier “is also the president of an important operating business (lens care solution), which is in the midst of manufacturing issues.”
Advanced Medical recalled nearly 3 million tainted bottles of its Complete MoisturePlus contact lens solution because of bacteria found in three lots of solution made there and shut down its Chinese plant.
For more on this story, see the Dec. 4 edition of the Business Journal.
