Advanced Medical Optics Inc. on Friday got an upgrade from an analyst who’s been critical of the contact lens care and eye surgery company in the past.
Analyst Andrew Swanson of Citi Investment Research said in a note that Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical’s laser vision correction business is improving and that its stock price will benefit from its decision this week to drop a takeover bid for rival Bausch & Lomb Inc.
Swanson changed his rating to “hold” from “sell.”
Advanced Medical reported its second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Charges and lost sales from a contact lens solution recall drove a wider loss.
Excluding charges, Advanced Medical lost $48 million, more than analysts expected.
Swanson said he expected a larger loss of $61.1 million, and mentioned that Advanced Medical’s laser vision correction revenue nearly doubled.
He also said that Advanced Medical’s decision to end its $4.23 million bid for Bausch should remove some uncertainty around the stock.
With the “termination of AMO’s bid for B & L; and today’s results (which were largely in-line), we believe several of the key overhangs on AMO’s business have improved,” he said.
