STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the STAAR Surgical Company fourth-quarter 2025 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 STAAR Surgical Company 2025 會計年度第四季財務業績電話會議。(接線員指示)

Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Connie Johnson, Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

請注意，本活動將進行錄音。現在我想把會議交給 Connie Johnson，投資人關係總監。請開始。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. On the call today are Warren Foust, Interim Co-CEO, President, and Chief Operating Officer of STAAR Surgical; and Deborah Andrews, Interim Co-CEO and Chief Financial Officer of STAAR Surgical.

謝謝，接線員。各位下午好，感謝各位加入。今天與會者包括 STAAR Surgical 代理共同執行長、總裁暨營運長 Warren Foust，以及 STAAR Surgical 代理共同執行長暨財務長 Deborah Andrews。

Earlier today, we reported our fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 results via press release and Form 8-K. We posted our results release and shareholder letter to our Investor website at investors.staar.com. Today’s call is scheduled for one hour and will include Q&A for publishing analysts. Webcast participants can also send questions for today’s Q&A session to ir@staar.com.

今天稍早，我們已透過新聞稿與 Form 8-K 公布 2025 會計年度第四季及全年業績。我們已將業績新聞稿與致股東信函發布於投資人網站 investors.staar.com。今天的電話會議預計一小時，並將包含提供給發佈研究報告之分析師的問答環節。收看網路直播的與會者也可將今日問答環節的問題寄至 ir@staar.com。

Before we get started, I want to remind you that during today’s discussion we will be making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. I encourage you to read the disclaimers in today’s release, the shareholder letter as well as disclosures in our filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, STAAR assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or actual outcomes.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，今天的討論將包含前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與該等前瞻性陳述所明示或暗示者存在重大差異。建議各位閱讀今日新聞稿、致股東信函中的免責聲明，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交文件中的揭露內容。除法律要求外，STAAR 不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述以反映未來事件或實際結果的義務。

In addition -- during today’s discussion, we will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA and constant currency sales. Please refer to today’s release for definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP metrics. For brevity, unless otherwise specified, all comparisons on today’s call will be on a year-over-year basis versus the relevant period. Finally, a quick reminder. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included on our website in the Investor Relations section. Accordingly, investors should monitor our investor website in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.

此外，在今天的討論中，我們將提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，包括調整後 EBITDA 與固定匯率銷售額。請參閱今日新聞稿中對非 GAAP 指標的定義與調節表。為求簡潔，除非另有說明，今天電話會議中的所有比較均為與相關期間之去年同期相比。最後，快速提醒一下。我們擬以公司網站作為揭露重大非公開資訊的方式，並用以遵循《公平揭露規則》（Regulation FD）下的揭露義務。此類揭露將刊載於我們網站的投資人關係專區。因此，投資人除關注我們的新聞稿、SEC 申報文件以及公開電話會議與網路直播外，也應持續留意我們的投資人網站。

With that, I’d like to turn the presentation over to the Interim Co-CEO, Warren Foust. Warren?

接下來，我想把簡報交給代理共同執行長 Warren Foust。Warren？

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Deborah and I are pleased to be with you today on our first quarterly results call as Interim Co-CEOs. Before we dive in, I’d like to address our leadership structure. Deborah and I stepped into the shared role of Co-CEOs effective February 1, and we are jointly leading the organization on an interim basis. We bring continuity to this transition. Deborah and I have worked very closely and collaboratively over the past year in our roles as Chief Financial Officer and President and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, and that partnership has positioned us well for this next chapter. We complement each other’s capabilities and areas of expertise, and we are aligned on both priorities and execution.

各位下午好，感謝各位加入。Deborah 和我很高興今天以代理共同執行長身分，與各位進行我們的首次季度業績電話會議。在深入內容之前，我想先說明我們的領導架構。Deborah 和我自 2 月 1 日起共同擔任共同執行長，並以代理方式共同領導公司。我們為這次轉換帶來延續性。過去一年，Deborah 與我分別以財務長以及總裁暨營運長的角色密切合作、協同推進，而這樣的夥伴關係使我們能為下一個階段做好充分準備。我們在能力與專業領域上相互互補，並在優先事項與執行上保持一致。

STAAR’s Board of Directors has engaged Egon Zehnder, a leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm, to conduct the search for STAAR’s next chief executive officer. The search will include both internal and external candidates. 2025 was a difficult year of transition for STAAR. We expect 2026 to be a much better year, a year of growth, improving profitability and meaningful progress across our innovation pipeline, all of which we plan to discuss on today’s call. As Connie indicated, along with today’s results release, we have issued a shareholder letter that provides commentary on 2025 and discusses our plans and approach for 2026.

STAAR 董事會已聘請全球領先的高階主管搜尋與領導力顧問公司 Egon Zehnder，負責尋找 STAAR 下一任執行長。本次遴選將同時納入內部與外部候選人。2025 年對 STAAR 而言是充滿挑戰的轉型之年。我們預期 2026 年將明顯更佳，將是成長的一年、獲利能力改善的一年，並在我們的創新產品管線上取得具意義的進展；上述內容我們都將在今天的電話會議中討論。如 Connie 所述，除今日業績新聞稿外，我們也發布了致股東信函，提供對 2025 年的評論，並說明我們對 2026 年的計畫與作法。

Deborah and I have the benefit of being deeply familiar with and embedded in the operations of STAAR. We are working with our teams to evaluate our portfolio and roadmap after a period of uncertainty, setting clear expectations on both operational front and in terms of financial performance in order to unlock the power of our 2026 growth, profit and innovation plan.

Deborah 和我都對 STAAR 的營運非常熟悉，並深度參與其中。在經歷一段不確定性之後，我們正與團隊合作評估產品組合與路線圖，並在營運面與財務表現方面設定明確期望，以釋放我們 2026 年成長、獲利與創新計畫的動能。

We are encouraged by the start of 2026. The team is energized and productive. Days are filled with customer engagements, distributor meetings, internal town halls, leadership alignment sessions and global commercial kickoffs focused on clinical training, commercial readiness, sales effectiveness and message discipline. Our teams are excited because across most markets, refractive surgery continues to move toward lens-based procedures and away from laser vision correction procedures that require corneal tissue removal. EVO ICL continues to gain share even as the broader laser vision correction market struggles.

我們對 2026 年的開局感到鼓舞。團隊士氣高昂且富有生產力。每天都安排了客戶互動、經銷商會議、內部員工大會、領導團隊對齊會議，以及聚焦臨床訓練、商業化準備度、銷售效能與訊息一致性的全球商務啟動活動。團隊感到振奮，因為在多數市場中，屈光手術持續朝向以晶體為基礎的手術發展，並逐步遠離需要移除角膜組織的雷射視力矯正手術。即使整體雷射視力矯正市場表現承壓，EVO ICL 仍持續提升市占。

Consequently, STAAR remains well positioned to re-accelerate growth in existing markets and unlock opportunities with our new product offerings. In China, our largest market, after several years of macroeconomic volatility driven by COVID, housing market weakness and uneven consumer spending, conditions stabilized in 2025 as policy support increased and the stock market rose sharply. In-market EVO ICL demand recovered at mid-single digit rates and procedures improved as we exited the year. This recovery did not translate into China net sales growth for STAAR in 2025 as our distributors reduced inventory levels, but it does provide us with optimism about 2026.

因此，STAAR 仍具備良好條件，可在既有市場重新加速成長，並透過新產品供應開啟更多機會。在我們最大的市場中國，經歷數年由 COVID、房市疲弱與消費支出不均所帶來的宏觀波動後，隨著政策支持加大及股市大幅上漲，2025 年情勢趨於穩定。EVO ICL 的在地需求以中個位數的速度回升，且我們在年底時看到手術量改善。然而，由於經銷商降低庫存水位，這波復甦並未在 2025 年轉化為 STAAR 在中國的淨銷售成長，但確實讓我們對 2026 年更具信心。

Market conditions in China appear to be positioned for a rebound, which will help drive growth for STAAR. Outside China, we also have reason to be optimistic about STAAR’s future growth. We are seeing momentum in our US business despite the ongoing decline in laser vision correction procedures. And with our recently announced expanded age range indication for EVO in the United States, which is now approved for myopia treatment in adults aged 21 to 60, our opportunity is even bigger. This expanded indication equates to roughly 8 million more potential candidates for EVO in the United States.

中國的市場狀況看起來已具備反彈條件，將有助於推動 STAAR 的成長。在中國以外，我們同樣有理由對 STAAR 未來的成長保持樂觀。儘管雷射視力矯正手術量持續下滑，我們仍看到美國業務動能增強。此外，隨著我們近期宣布 EVO 在美國的適用年齡範圍擴大之適應症，現已核准用於 21 至 60 歲成人近視治療，我們的機會更為龐大。此一擴大適應症約等同於在美國新增約 800 萬名 EVO 潛在候選人。

Our efforts to expand our EVO labeling are helping fuel our growth in other parts of the world as well. For example, in Brazil, EVO had previously been approved for use down to minus 6 diopters and can now be used for treatment of myopia down to minus 0.5 diopters. Our growth remains steady across the Americas, and we expect to see additional expansion in Canada in 2026.

我們擴大 EVO 標示（labeling）的努力，也正在推動全球其他地區的成長。例如在巴西，EVO 先前核准的使用範圍最低為負 6 屈光度，現在已可用於治療最低至負 0.5 屈光度的近視。我們在美洲地區的成長仍維持穩健，並預期 2026 年在加拿大將看到進一步擴張。

In 2025, we went direct in Canada, and while the team is small, our efforts there are already paying off. In 2026, we are targeting solid growth of EVO in EMEA and in our Asia Pacific markets, such as Japan, Korea and India. India in particular, where we’re laying a foundation, represents growing opportunity for us as its economy is growing quickly and a rising portion of its population can afford refractive surgery. We’re also excited about the market opportunities in Taiwan, where we’ve received regulatory approval in 2025.

2025 年，我們在加拿大改採直營模式；雖然團隊規模不大，但我們在當地的努力已開始帶來成果。2026 年，我們目標是在 EMEA（歐洲、中東與非洲）以及亞太市場（如日本、韓國與印度）推動 EVO 的穩健成長。尤其是印度，我們正在打下基礎；隨著其經濟快速成長，且可負擔屈光手術的人口比例上升，對我們而言代表日益擴大的機會。我們也對台灣的市場機會感到振奮，因為我們已於 2025 年取得監管核准。

In terms of profitability, we made a lot of progress in 2025. Profitability will continue to be a focus in 2026. In 2025, we took costs out and reduced our annualized adjusted operating expense run rate. We beat our second half $225 million target communicated to investors back in Q1 2025. As revenue grows, we expect cost discipline to drive operating leverage. We are focused on enterprise-wide impacts, not isolated improvements, and on new ways of working that increase the velocity of decision-making so actions can translate more quickly into results and returns.

就獲利能力而言，我們在 2025 年取得了很大進展。獲利能力將在 2026 年持續成為重點。在 2025 年，我們降低成本並下調了經調整後營運費用年化水準（run rate）。我們達成並超越了早在 2025 年第一季向投資人溝通的下半年 2.25 億美元目標。隨著營收成長，我們預期成本紀律將帶來營運槓桿。我們著重於全企業層面的影響，而非零星的改善，並聚焦於能提升決策速度的新工作方式，使行動能更快轉化為成果與回報。

Profitability expansion comes from reducing costs enterprise-wide, but it also comes from disciplined investing. We are focused on opportunities big and small, including manufacturing and infrastructure improvements, and we continually look for margin improvement opportunities in our sales and distribution network. We also believe that optimizing ASPs can contribute to increased profitability. We are allocating capital where it makes the greatest impact, the right programs in the right markets, supported by the right people and infrastructure.

獲利能力的擴張來自於全企業範圍的降本，但也來自於有紀律的投資。我們聚焦於大小機會，包括製造與基礎設施改善，並持續在我們的銷售與配送網路中尋找提升毛利的機會。我們也相信，最佳化平均售價（ASP）可有助於提升獲利能力。我們將資本配置在影響最大的地方：在正確的市場投入正確的專案，並由合適的人才與基礎設施支撐。

To that point, we are in the final stages of our Oracle ERP implementation, which will modernize the way we operate enterprise-wide. Full deployment is expected early in the second half of the year. Alongside ERP, we are advancing Stella, our next-generation online sizing and ordering platform, which reduces friction in the adoption of EVO ICL technology. We are also advancing additional IT initiatives spanning from manufacturing process improvements to salesforce enablement. We believe these investments will not only benefit our surgeon, customers and patients, but will drive efficiency and profitability across the organization.

就此而言，我們的 Oracle ERP 導入已進入最後階段，將在全企業範圍內現代化我們的營運方式。預計在今年下半年初完成全面部署。在 ERP 之外，我們也在推進 Stella——我們的新一代線上尺寸選配與訂購平台，可降低採用 EVO ICL 技術的摩擦。我們也在推進其他 IT 計畫，涵蓋從製造流程改善到銷售團隊賦能。我們相信，這些投資不僅將使我們的醫師、客戶與病患受益，也將推動整個組織的效率與獲利能力。

Our 2026 growth, profit and innovation plan also reflects a renewed focus on innovation. I’m proud to report that we have launched EVO+ in China, and we are progressing with our rollout plan as we scale Swiss manufacturing to meet demand. EVO+ represents our first new lens in China in more than a decade. Early demand has been encouraging, and we are working to increase supply as production scales. Over time, we expect higher ASPs and margin expansion from EVO+ in China.

我們的 2026 年成長、獲利與創新計畫也反映出對創新的重新聚焦。我很自豪地報告，我們已在中國推出 EVO+，並在擴大瑞士製造以滿足需求的同時，按計畫推進上市推廣。EVO+ 是我們十多年來在中國推出的第一款新鏡片。初期需求令人鼓舞，隨著產能擴張，我們正努力提升供應。長期而言，我們預期 EVO+ 在中國將帶來更高的 ASP 與毛利率擴張。

In 2026, we are also expanding the commercial availability of the Lioli injector for EVO ICL procedures. The Lioli injector has been well established in the United States, and we are pleased to bring this new injector option to our surgeons in EMEA. We’re excited about these near-term launches, but we are also focused on our pipeline for the longer term. We are building new capabilities, and our teams are establishing clear milestones and timelines for future advancements, as well as the operational discipline and accountability required to stay on track in a rapidly evolving market.

在 2026 年，我們也將擴大 Lioli 注射器在 EVO ICL 手術中的商業供應範圍。Lioli 注射器在美國已相當成熟，我們很高興能將這個新的注射器選項帶給 EMEA 地區的醫師。我們對這些近期上市項目感到振奮，但同時也聚焦於更長期的產品管線。我們正在建立新能力，我們的團隊也為未來的進展設定清晰的里程碑與時程，並建立在快速演變的市場中保持進度所需的營運紀律與問責機制。

Before I hand things over to Deborah, I think it’s important to recognize that 2025 is now in the rearview mirror, and the disruption associated with our proposed merger with Alcon is behind us. Our shareholders have spoken, supporting a long-term approach, and we are listening to them, embracing the opportunities for STAAR as a standalone company. We firmly believe that STAAR has everything it takes to deliver on our growth, profitability and innovation goals.

在我把時間交給 Deborah 之前，我認為有必要指出：2025 年已成過去，而我們與愛爾康（Alcon）擬議合併所帶來的干擾也已在身後。我們的股東已表達立場，支持長期策略；我們正在傾聽並擁抱 STAAR 作為獨立公司所面臨的機會。我們堅信，STAAR 具備實現成長、獲利與創新目標所需的一切條件。

We have superior technology. Our differentiated Collamer material is the foundation for our EVO technology and is unmatched in the market. Only STAAR has 40-plus years of history treating myopia with our innovative lens-based procedure, and the myopia and dry eye disease epidemics are only getting worse. We have trusted relationships with our partners. The STAAR surgeon community is passionate about EVO ICLs and bringing the benefits of lens-based vision correction without corneal tissue removal to their patients. The power of this devoted customer base is real and tangible.

我們擁有領先的技術。我們具差異化的 Collamer 材料是 EVO 技術的基礎，在市場上無可匹敵。只有 STAAR 擁有 40 多年以創新「晶體植入式」手術治療近視的歷史，而近視與乾眼症的流行只會愈發嚴重。我們與合作夥伴建立了值得信賴的關係。STAAR 的醫師社群對 EVO ICL 充滿熱情，並將「不需切削角膜組織」的晶體式視力矯正益處帶給病患。這個忠誠客戶群的力量是真實且具體可見的。

We have a talented team. Our dedicated employees and the STAAR leadership team are aligned, focused, and have the capabilities to execute our goals and objectives and drive stockholder value creation.

我們擁有優秀的人才團隊。我們敬業的員工與 STAAR 領導團隊目標一致、專注投入，並具備執行我們目標與策略、推動股東價值創造的能力。

Now I would like to turn things over to my Co-CEO, Deborah, for additional commentary and to discuss our financial results. Deborah?

現在我想把時間交給我的共同執行長 Deborah，請她補充評論並討論我們的財務結果。Deborah？

Thank you, Warren. I’m pleased to join you on today’s call and I’m proud to lead the STAAR organization with you as Co-CEO. As Warren said, we took a number of steps in 2025 to reduce our costs and improve our profitability. A key activity in 2025 was addressing our China inventory to position STAAR for future growth. Our most significant operational challenge in 2025 was working through rebalancing product inventory in China following weakened demand in 2024. That year saw a double-digit decline in end-market EVO ICL sales and elevated inventory levels.

謝謝你，Warren。我很高興參與今天的電話會議，也很榮幸與你共同擔任共同執行長，帶領 STAAR 組織。正如 Warren 所說，我們在 2025 年採取了多項措施以降低成本並提升獲利能力。2025 年的一項關鍵工作是處理我們在中國的庫存，以使 STAAR 能為未來成長做好準備。我們在 2025 年最重大的營運挑戰，是在 2024 年需求走弱之後，推動中國產品庫存的再平衡。當年終端市場 EVO ICL 銷售出現雙位數下滑，且庫存水位偏高。

In response, we deliberately paused shipments, normalized channel inventory and strengthened distributor discipline. These actions were painful but necessary. By late 2025, inventory held by our distributor customers in China had declined to contractual levels. End market sales and procedures improved and business momentum began to return.

作為回應，我們有意識地暫停出貨，使通路庫存回歸正常，並強化經銷商紀律。這些行動雖然痛苦，但屬必要之舉。到 2025 年末，中國經銷商客戶持有的庫存已降至合約水準。終端市場銷售與手術量改善，業務動能開始回升。

As previously discussed, our December 2024 China shipment contributed to elevated inventory levels. This $27.5 million shipment was consumed during fiscal 2025, and by the end of Q3, we had fully recognized the revenue associated with the December 2024 China shipment. During much of this period, STAAR did not have complete visibility into downstream inventory levels or actual EVO ICL procedure volumes. Over the past year, we have invested time and effort in more comprehensive data processes and analyses that now provide improved and still evolving insight into inventories across the channel. While this work is ongoing, our visibility has improved materially and will continue to strengthen.

如先前所述，我們在 2024 年 12 月對中國的出貨導致庫存水位偏高。這筆 2,750 萬美元的出貨在 2025 會計年度內被消化，且截至第三季末，我們已完整認列與 2024 年 12 月中國出貨相關的營收。在此期間的大部分時間，STAAR 對通路下游庫存水位或實際 EVO ICL 手術量並無完整能見度。過去一年，我們投入時間與資源建立更全面的資料流程與分析，現已能對通路各環節的庫存提供更佳、且仍在持續演進的洞察。雖然這項工作仍在進行中，但我們的能見度已顯著改善，並將持續強化。

Let me briefly touch base on tariffs and Swiss manufacturing. We are pleased to report that we were able to respond quickly in 2025 when rising China/US tariffs created additional headwinds for our business. We were able to mitigate near-term exposure by deploying temporary consignment inventory and leveraging existing China-held inventory while accelerating manufacturing expansion in Nidau, Switzerland. Our Swiss facility is now producing commercial product and is focused on EVO+ for China.

我簡要說明關稅與瑞士製造。我們很高興報告，當 2025 年中國／美國關稅上升為我們的業務帶來額外逆風時，我們能迅速因應。我們透過部署臨時寄售庫存、運用既有的中國在地庫存，同時加速擴建瑞士尼道（Nidau）的製造產能，以降低短期曝險。我們的瑞士廠目前已開始生產商業化產品，並聚焦於供應中國的 EVO+。

Products manufactured in Switzerland are not subject to US/China tariffs, which will be a benefit in the near term as we roll out EVO+ in China. We believe Swiss manufacturing can be a long-term benefit as we look to manufacture EVO and EVO+ for China in the future. Swiss manufacturing not only helps mitigate tariff exposure, but it provides flexibility and scale to support sustained growth and significantly strengthens our long-term supply chain resilience.

瑞士製造的產品不受美中關稅影響，這將在我們於中國推廣 EVO+ 的近期帶來助益。展望未來，我們相信瑞士製造可成為長期優勢，因為我們計畫未來在瑞士為中國生產 EVO 與 EVO+。瑞士製造不僅有助於降低關稅曝險，也提供彈性與規模以支持持續成長，並顯著強化我們長期供應鏈的韌性。

I’d like to turn to fourth quarter results. I start with fourth quarter sales performance, then margins, profitability and cash. Total net sales for the quarter were $57.8 million, as compared to $49 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by a lower than expected rebound in sales in China, partially offset by growth in Americas and non-China APAC regions. China net sales were $17.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, as compared to $7.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

我想轉到第四季的業績。我將先談第四季銷售表現，接著談毛利率、獲利能力與現金。本季淨銷售額合計為 5,780 萬美元，較去年同期的 4,900 萬美元增加；主要原因是中國銷售反彈低於預期，但部分被美洲與非中國亞太地區的成長所抵銷。2025 年第四季中國淨銷售額為 1,750 萬美元，較去年同期的 780 萬美元增加。

During the quarter, certain China sub-distributors and customers returned some inventory to our distributors, resulting in lower than anticipated fourth quarter net sales for STAAR. We believe this was largely due to uncertainties about their future if the company were acquired by Alcon. This uncertainty also impacted sales to distributors in other parts of the world. While these disruptions depressed our fourth quarter results, we believe that reduced distributor inventories will lead to improved net sales for STAAR in 2026 and beyond.

在本季度期間，部分中國次級經銷商與客戶將部分庫存退回給我們的經銷商，導致 STAAR 第四季淨銷售額低於預期。我們認為這主要是因為市場對於若公司被愛爾康（Alcon）收購，其未來走向存在不確定性。這種不確定性也影響了我們在全球其他地區對經銷商的銷售。雖然這些干擾壓低了我們第四季的業績，但我們相信經銷商庫存降低將帶動 STAAR 在 2026 年及之後的淨銷售額改善。

Excluding China, net sales declined by 2% year-over-year, with the Americas up 18% in the fourth quarter, EMEA down 20% in the fourth quarter, driven by a distributor transition in the Middle East and distributor dynamics across the region due to the proposed Alcon merger, and APAC ex China up 2% in the fourth quarter.

若排除中國，淨銷售額年減 2%；其中，美洲地區第四季成長 18%，EMEA 地區第四季下滑 20%，主要受中東地區經銷商轉換，以及因擬議的愛爾康合併案所引發的區域經銷商動態影響；亞太地區（不含中國）第四季成長 2%。

Turning to margins. Gross profit margin for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 75.7% of total net sales, compared to the prior year quarter of 64.7% of total net sales. The increase in gross profit versus the prior year quarter was due primarily to the timing of the recognition of the cost of sales associated with the December 2024 China shipment, decreased period costs resulting from cost reductions implemented in the first quarter of 2025, and the ramp-up of Swiss manufacturing, partially offset by higher inventory provisions.

接著談毛利率。2025 年第四季毛利率為淨銷售額的 75.7%，相較於去年同期為淨銷售額的 64.7%。與去年同期相比毛利增加，主要原因包括：與 2024 年 12 月中國出貨相關之銷貨成本認列時點的影響、2025 年第一季實施成本削減所帶來的期間成本下降，以及瑞士製造產能爬坡；但部分被較高的存貨提列準備所抵銷。

Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $66.6 million, compared to $59.6 million in the prior year quarter. Operating expenses for the quarter included costs related to the company’s terminated merger transaction with Alcon of $11.2 million and costs related to restructuring of $0.7 million. Excluding the costs related to the merger and restructuring, operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $54.7 million, a reduction of 8.2% from the prior year quarter.

2025 年第四季總營業費用為 6,660 萬美元，去年同期為 5,960 萬美元。本季營業費用包含與公司已終止之與愛爾康合併交易相關的 1,120 萬美元費用，以及 70 萬美元的重整相關費用。若排除合併與重整相關費用，2025 年第四季營業費用為 5,470 萬美元，較去年同期下降 8.2%。

Our 2025 cost actions reversed the expense growth of prior years and we achieved significant cost savings in 2025. As revenue recovers, we intend to maintain this cost discipline, positioning the company to return to profitability. Because our proprietary products can earn strong gross margins, our operating margin has the potential to be quite high if we execute our plans effectively.

我們在 2025 年採取的成本措施扭轉了前幾年的費用成長，並在 2025 年達成顯著的成本節省。隨著營收回升，我們將維持這樣的成本紀律，使公司得以重返獲利。由於我們的專有產品可帶來強勁的毛利率，若能有效執行計畫，我們的營業利益率具備相當高的提升潛力。

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2025 was a loss of $200,000, as compared to a loss of $20.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA was primarily attributable to higher gross profit and lower operating expenses before merger and restructuring expenses, partially offset by merger and restructuring expenses.

2025 年第四季調整後 EBITDA 虧損 20 萬美元，相較於去年同期虧損 2,080 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 的年對年改善主要來自較高的毛利，以及在扣除合併與重整費用前較低的營業費用；但部分被合併與重整費用所抵銷。

Turning to our balance sheet, we ended the quarter with approximately $187.5 million in cash equivalents and investments available for sale. A level of cash we have held fairly steady since Q2 despite significant restructuring and merger-related expenses. STAAR has no debt. As we look ahead to 2026, we are not providing financial guidance. We do want to provide some color commentary as to how we think 2026 will compare to 2025.

再看資產負債表，我們在季末持有約 1.875 億美元的約當現金與可供出售投資。儘管發生了可觀的重整與合併相關費用，自第二季以來我們的現金水位仍大致維持穩定。STAAR 沒有負債。展望 2026 年，我們不提供財務指引。不過，我們希望就 2026 年相較 2025 年的可能走勢提供一些補充說明。

First, because we expect to significantly increase our sales in 2026 compared to 2025, and because we made significant cost reductions in 2025, we are targeting profitability in FY26. Second, while we are driving profitability, we believe gross margin will be slightly lower in '26 relative to '25 as higher cost of inventory from our Swiss manufacturing facility is sold in '26 and increased inventory reserves from expiring product create headwinds. We will work to offset these increased costs in 2026 through higher ASPs, improved yields and efficiencies in our manufacturing, which should lead to tailwinds in 2027.

第一，因我們預期 2026 年銷售額將較 2025 年顯著增加，且我們已在 2025 年大幅削減成本，因此我們以 2026 財年達成獲利為目標。第二，在推動獲利的同時，我們認為 2026 年毛利率將較 2025 年略低，原因是 2026 年將銷售來自瑞士製造基地、成本較高的存貨，以及因產品到期而增加的存貨備抵將形成逆風。我們將在 2026 年透過提高平均售價（ASP）、改善製造良率與效率來抵銷這些成本上升，並可望在 2027 年形成順風。

Third, we achieved significant operating expense savings in 2025. For 2026, we expect to maintain our operating expense run rate at levels generally aligned to the $225 million target we communicated to investors back in Q1 2025. Finally, while cash will dip modestly in the near term, we expect to resume cash generation in the back half of the year and end 2026 with a higher cash balance than 2025.

第三，我們在 2025 年達成顯著的營業費用節省。對於 2026 年，我們預期將把營業費用的常態化水準維持在大致符合我們於 2025 年第一季向投資人溝通的 2.25 億美元目標。最後，雖然短期內現金將小幅下滑，但我們預期在下半年恢復現金創造能力，並在 2026 年底的現金餘額高於 2025 年。

Now I’ll turn the call back over to Warren. Warren?

現在我把電話交回給 Warren。Warren？

Thanks, Deborah. To summarize, 2025 was a year of transition. 2026 is about execution. We have stabilized China. We have right-sized costs. We are scaling Swiss manufacturing. We’re accelerating EVO+ in China. We are aligned around growth, profit, and innovation. We possess differentiated polymer material, exceptional optical technology, and a proven ability to gain market share in a very large and growing myopia market. We are moving quickly to ensure every employee understands our growth, profit, and innovation focus and carries measurable goals tied directly to execution.

謝謝你，Deborah。總結來說，2025 年是轉型的一年；2026 年則是執行的一年。我們已穩定中國市場。我們已將成本調整到適當規模。我們正在擴大瑞士製造。我們正在加速 EVO+ 在中國的推進。我們在成長、獲利與創新方面已達成一致。我們擁有差異化的聚合物材料、卓越的光學技術，以及在規模龐大且持續成長的近視市場中提升市占率的成熟能力。我們正快速推動，確保每位員工都理解我們對成長、獲利與創新的聚焦，並承擔與執行直接連結、可衡量的目標。

Our people are talented and highly capable. We recognize change can be difficult but it’s also exciting and filled with promise and opportunity. We are working to reignite the organization around sustained long-term growth. Our Board and leadership team are aligned, our strategy is clear. Our focus is disciplined execution and long-term shareholder value creation. We are energized by what lies ahead and confident in our path forward.

我們的團隊人才濟濟且能力出眾。我們理解改變可能很困難，但同時也令人振奮，充滿希望與機會。我們正努力重新點燃組織動能，聚焦於可持續的長期成長。我們的董事會與領導團隊步調一致，策略清晰。我們的重點是有紀律的執行與長期股東價值創造。我們對未來充滿幹勁，並對前進的道路充滿信心。

Thank you for your continued support. Operator, we’ll now take questions.

感謝各位持續的支持。接線員，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Tom Stephan, Stifel.

Tom Stephan，Stifel。

First one, just on distributor inventory. Warren, have the reductions continued into the first quarter or has that stabilized now that Alcon is behind you? With that in mind, can you give us any guardrails for how to think about the first quarter and revenues? Maybe compared to the $77 million in 1Q '24. We’re here in March. I actually think Chinese New Year ended today. Just any comments on 1Q revenue as well would be helpful. Then I have a follow-up.

第一個問題，關於經銷商庫存。Warren，庫存下降的情況是否延續到第一季，或是在愛爾康的事情告一段落後已經穩定了？在此背景下，你能否給我們一些參考範圍，讓我們思考第一季與營收可能會如何表現？也許可與 2024 年第一季的 7,700 萬美元相比。我們現在在三月。我其實認為今天是農曆新年結束。也請就第一季營收提供一些評論，會很有幫助。接著我還有一個追問。

Look, we’re really pleased with the progress we’ve made on inventory management. I actually love the progress and the oversight. We’ve got a new leader based there in Asia Pacific and China. This is a highly skilled, deeply experienced senior VP who’s joined us, who’s helping with that process. We’re looking at inventory on a weekly basis, so we understand much better than we used to. We'll never be perfect, but we understand it much better than we did. We watched at the end of 2025 inventory get cooled down all the way below or right at contractual levels as we exited 2025, and we continue to see really stable inventory levels at our distributor.

你看，我們對在庫存管理方面取得的進展感到非常滿意。我其實很喜歡這些進展與監督機制。我們在亞太與中國任命了一位新的領導者。這是一位技術高超、資歷深厚的新任資深副總裁加入我們，並協助推動這個流程。我們每週檢視庫存，因此我們的掌握程度比過去好得多。我們永遠不會做到完美，但我們的理解確實比以前更好。在 2025 年底，我們看到庫存一路降溫，於 2025 年結束時降到低於或接近合約水準；而我們也持續看到經銷商端的庫存水位非常穩定。

In fact, we’re a little bit below the 6-month contractual level that we referenced before. Inventory is in a good place. We feel like we’re ready now as the market starts to come back and we see what the market’s gonna bring. That’s on inventory.

事實上，我們略低於先前提到的 6 個月合約水位。庫存處於良好水準。我們覺得，隨著市場開始回溫、我們也看到市場將帶來什麼，我們現在已經準備就緒。以上是關於庫存。

And then as far as just the Q1, you heard Deborah’s comments. We’re obviously not gonna provide guidance, but what we would say is we’re pleased with how '25 ended in China in market. 2024 was a really challenging year. That was, we believe, double-digit decline in end market demand, which in 2025 rebounded to a nice sort of mid-single digit level. And we think that we’re gonna experience that as we exit '25 into '26. So we maintain optimism.

接著就第一季而言，你也聽到了 Deborah 的評論。我們當然不會提供指引，但我們想說的是，我們對 '25 年在中國市場的收官表現感到滿意。2024 年是非常具挑戰的一年。我們認為終端市場需求出現了雙位數下滑，而在 2025 年則反彈到不錯的中個位數水準。我們認為，當我們從 '25 走向 '26 時，會延續這樣的態勢。因此我們維持樂觀。

Just my follow-up, more thematic and taking a step back, Warren or Deborah, maybe if you can spend some time just discussing sort of the health of the organization today and how it compares to pre-Alcon. Sort of curious if this is any sort of consideration, positive or negative, in the near term or long term as we think about the path forward for the company.

我再追問一題，偏主題性、退一步看整體。Warren 或 Deborah，也許你們可以花點時間談談目前組織的健康狀況，以及與 Alcon 之前相比如何。我也想了解，當我們思考公司未來的發展路徑時，這是否會在短期或長期成為任何考量因素（正面或負面）。

Yeah, it’s a good one. I’ll start, and maybe Deborah can join us because I think she’s done a lot in 2025 on the financial side to really get us into a healthy place. You’ll remember that we let expenses spiral out of control in advance of the Alcon merger agreement, and we really got control of that starting in the Q1 2025 timeframe. And so I think as we went through the year, despite what was going on with the disruption, and there was a lot of disruption, particularly in the Q4 timeframe. We can talk about that, but we got our expenses in line, and we’ve carried that discipline now through '25 and we believe into '26, and that’s our plan, is to make sure we maintain that discipline.

是的，這題問得很好。我先開始，Deborah 也可以補充，因為我認為她在 2025 年財務面做了很多工作，讓我們真正回到健康的狀態。你會記得，在 Alcon 併購協議之前，我們讓費用失控地攀升，而我們從 2025 年第一季左右開始真正把它控制住。因此我認為，當我們走過這一年，儘管期間有各種干擾，而且干擾很多，尤其是在第四季。我們可以談那部分，但我們已把費用拉回到合理水準，並且在 '25 年一路維持這樣的紀律，我們也相信會延續到 '26 年；這就是我們的計畫，確保我們維持這份紀律。

I think from a cost management standpoint, that’s great. Now it’s about restoring revenue. You heard us talk about this three-prong approach. Let’s grow our revenue, let’s expand our profit margin, and then we have to accelerate our innovation. We’ve got the organization, what we believe, even early in our new roles, aligned around those three focal points. I think what you would find is post Alcon transaction, we have a very aligned Board. The Board and the management team, we all want the same thing. We want growth and profitability.

我認為從成本管理的角度來看，這很棒。現在重點在於恢復營收。你們也聽到我們談到這個三管齊下的方法。我們要成長營收、擴大利潤率，然後必須加速創新。我們相信，即使我們在新職務上仍屬初期，組織也已圍繞這三個重點達成一致。我想你會發現，在 Alcon 交易之後，我們的董事會非常一致。董事會與管理團隊，我們都想要同一件事。我們要成長與獲利能力。

The organization I think is happy to be past the disruption, and so now it’s about can we go out and execute? I believe that we have the talented team to lead us to do that.

我認為組織很高興能走出干擾期，因此現在重點是：我們能不能走出去把執行做好？我相信我們擁有有才華的團隊來帶領我們做到這一點。

Ryan Zimmerman, BTIG.

Ryan Zimmerman，BTIG。

Hi, Deborah, Warren, this is Izzy on for Ryan. Thanks for taking the questions. To start out, I appreciate that you’re not guiding for 2026, and I heard your comments there to Tom, but I just wanted to ask or maybe push a little bit more. If we think about how China saw in market demand up mid-single digits, but the rest of the business was down, I think you said about 2% outside of China. Curious if low single digits is a good place for 2026 collectively. Any growth or any commentary on growth you can qualitatively would be super helpful as we start to think about our models.

嗨，Deborah、Warren，我是代 Ryan 提問的 Izzy。謝謝你們回答問題。首先，我理解你們不對 2026 年提供指引，也聽到了你們對 Tom 的回應，但我想再問、或稍微再追問一下。如果我們看中國的終端市場需求成長在中個位數，但其他業務是下滑的，我想你們說中國以外大約下降 2%。想請教，對 2026 年整體而言，低個位數是否是一個合理的區間？任何關於成長的定性看法或評論，對我們開始建立模型會非常有幫助。

Thanks for the question, Izzy. I’ll make sure I understand. Is the question that the 2% we saw in the quarter ex China, is it a question around ex China or is it something else?

謝謝你的問題，Izzy。我先確認我理解正確。你的問題是關於本季中國以外看到的 2%（ex China），是想問中國以外的情況，還是其他面向？

As we think about the balance of the company, right, weighing what we’ve seen in China versus what you’re doing in the rest of the world collectively, do you think low single digits is a good place to be or something that could be achievable for 2026 as for STAAR as a whole?

當我們思考公司其餘部分的平衡，也就是權衡中國的表現與你們在全球其他地區所做的事情，你們認為對 STAAR 整體而言，2026 年達到低個位數是否是一個合理位置或可達成的目標？

I think it’s a good question. Look, I think 2025 needs a little context, particularly in Q4. There was a lot of disruption and we watched our distributor partners all around the world, not just in Asia. We watched our distributor partners make decisions around what are they gonna do with inventory. Imagine being a distributor facing into what you believe is gonna be a transaction and likely thinking you’re gonna lose your job. You’re gonna skinny your inventory down. You’re likely gonna stop investing in some of the key things that might drive revenue to your company and so on. We saw all of those things happen, particularly in Europe, where you see the European number pretty soft for Q4.

我認為這是個好問題。你看，2025 年需要一些背景脈絡，尤其是第四季。當時有很多干擾，我們看到全球各地的經銷夥伴，不只是亞洲。我們看到經銷夥伴在庫存處理上做出各種決策。想像你是一個經銷商，面對你認為即將發生的一筆交易，而且很可能覺得自己會失去工作。你就會把庫存壓到很精簡。你也很可能停止投資一些可能帶動你公司營收的關鍵事項，等等。我們看到這些情況發生，尤其在歐洲，因此你會看到第四季歐洲的數字相當疲弱。

We think those things are largely influenced by that disruption, and that disruption is behind us now. We’re still optimistic as we’ve ever been around ex China business being able to continue to grow. Clearly, surgeons are moving away from LASIK and taking steps in the direction of lens-based refractive surgery, choosing Collamer, which has been around for 30 years. We’re the only one in the Phakic IOL business that’s been there. They’re choosing ICLs, and so we’re seeing that momentum continue. We think in China and we think ex China, that we’re gonna be able to continue that momentum. As you mentioned, we’re not guiding on what we think that number’s gonna be, but we’re pleased with where we are.

我們認為這些情況在很大程度上是受到那段干擾所影響，而那段干擾現在已經過去了。對於中國以外業務能夠持續成長，我們依然一如既往地樂觀。很明顯地，外科醫師正逐步遠離 LASIK，並朝向以晶體為基礎的屈光手術方向前進，選擇已經存在 30 年的 Collamer。在有晶體眼內人工水晶體（Phakic IOL）領域，我們是唯一長期深耕的公司。他們選擇 ICL，因此我們看到這股動能持續。我們認為在中國以及中國以外，我們都能延續這股動能。如你所提到的，我們不會對我們認為該數字會是多少提供指引，但我們對目前的狀況感到滿意。

As we think about the distributor dynamics, can you elaborate a little bit more about the specific structural changes that you’ve put into place with those agreements, particularly in China, that’ll prevent us from seeing any form of inventory buildups, similar to what we saw in '24 and '25?

談到經銷商的動態，你能否更詳細說明一下，你們在這些協議中採取了哪些具體的結構性調整，尤其是在中國，以避免我們再看到任何形式的庫存堆積，類似我們在 '24 與 '25 年看到的情況？

You bet. Look, as I mentioned before, it’s never gonna be perfect. I don’t wanna pretend that we know everything about China all the way down through the different layers of sub-distribution, first tier, second tier, holding companies for the hospitals, then out into the vast number of hospitals in China.

當然可以。你看，正如我之前提到的，這永遠不可能完美。我不想假裝我們對中國從不同層級的次級分銷、第一層、第二層、醫院的控股公司，一直到中國龐大的醫院數量，所有細節都瞭若指掌。

What I would suggest to you is we have a lot better process around it now. We see those numbers weekly. We understand what the shipments that go from our distributors downstream into the distribution network and the returns that come against them. Therefore, we have -- it’s a proxy for net sales. It’s not a true net sales number. But as the inventory levels have now right-sized in China, we now feel like we’ve got a good proxy for what in-market demand looks like.

我想跟你說的是，我們現在在流程上已經好很多。我們每週都會看到那些數據。我們了解從經銷商往下游配送到分銷網路的出貨量，以及對應的退貨情況。因此，我們有——它是一個淨銷售的替代指標（proxy）。它不是真正的淨銷售數字。但隨著中國的庫存水位如今已經調整到合適規模，我們現在覺得我們有一個很好的替代指標，可以反映終端市場需求的樣貌。

Brad Bowers, Mizuho.

Brad Bowers，瑞穗。

Just want to ask the first one maybe on China, historically 2Q busy season. Obviously that was obscured last year because of the distributor dynamics. Wanted to hear about how we should be modeling 2Q. Is the seasonality still expected? Are there any early reads that momentum that we typically see will be seen again this year in China?

我想先問第一個問題，可能是關於中國；歷史上第二季是旺季。顯然，去年因為經銷商動態的影響而被掩蓋了。想聽聽我們應該如何建模第二季。季節性是否仍然預期會存在？是否有任何早期跡象顯示，我們通常看到的動能今年在中國會再次出現？

Hi, this is Deborah. We do expect that from a seasonality standpoint, that Q2 and Q3 will continue to be very strong for STAAR, in 2026, as it has been historically. Don’t expect significant changes in that area.

嗨，我是Deborah。我們確實預期，從季節性的角度來看，2026年的第二季和第三季將一如既往、延續歷史表現，對STAAR而言仍會非常強勁。不預期這方面會有重大變化。

And then maybe just a high level one, just how we should be thinking about prioritization, US growth versus China growth. Obviously, historically, China has been a ballast to the business. How should we be thinking about getting back towards that versus accelerating some of the US businesses and again, the prioritization of each?

接著可能再問一個較高層次的問題：我們應該如何看待優先順序，美國成長相對於中國成長？顯然，歷史上中國一直是業務的壓艙石。我們應該如何思考回到那樣的狀態，與加速一些美國業務之間的取捨，以及兩者各自的優先順序？

Look, we’re proud of the progress we’re making in the US. We continue to see success, though you saw us right size our cost structure last year. Some of that was relative to the US business itself. Some of it was just global footprint because a lot of our headquarters are -- certainly our headquarters, but a lot of our infrastructure is US-based. You saw us tone that down and still have nice double-digit growth in the US.

你看，我們對在美國取得的進展感到自豪。我們持續看到成功，儘管你也看到我們去年調整到更合適的成本結構。其中一部分是相對於美國業務本身。另一部分則是全球佈局，因為我們的總部——當然總部在美國——而且很多基礎設施也都在美國。你看到我們把那部分縮減下來，但美國仍然有不錯的雙位數成長。

And so it’s just a smaller business relative to the bigger business outside of the US, particularly China, of course, Japan are second, and Korea and Southeast Asia, India representing big opportunity, not to mention what we do in Europe. We’ll continue to invest along with our customers that invest in EVO ICL. We’ll do that in the United States. We’ll do it outside of the United States as customers are interested in partnering with us.

因此，相較於美國以外、尤其是中國這樣更大的業務，美國業務規模仍較小；當然日本是第二大，另外韓國與東南亞、印度也代表很大的機會，更不用說我們在歐洲的業務。我們會持續隨著投資EVO ICL的客戶一起投資。我們會在美國這麼做。當美國以外的客戶有興趣與我們合作時，我們也會在海外這麼做。

Again, we’re seeing surgeons and our customers. We’re seeing patients ask for alternatives to laser vision correction that requires corneal tissue removal. They’re moving toward the lens-based option that’s reversible. So we’re seeing that, and as customers share that with their potential patients, then we’ll partner with them, and we’ll put our investments there. But China is the biggest opportunity for us. It remains that way. We’ll continue to double and triple down there.

再說一次，我們看到外科醫師與客戶。我們也看到病患在尋求不需要移除角膜組織的雷射視力矯正替代方案。他們正轉向以晶體為基礎、且可逆的選項。所以我們確實看到這個趨勢；當客戶把這些資訊分享給潛在病患時，我們就會與他們合作，並把投資放在那裡。但中國對我們而言是最大的機會。這一點仍然不變。我們會持續在那裡加倍、甚至加倍再加倍投入。

Simran Kaur, Wells Fargo.

Simran Kaur，富國銀行。

I guess just bouncing off of the prior question, maybe Warren or Deborah, could you help us understand, like, what is the true growth algorithm from here? How much is driven by the continued China recovery and growth versus ex-China recovery, penetration and mix? Can you get back to that strong double-digit growth levels that you were seeing in China, prior to last year and sort of that mid-teens growth level ex-China? Just help us understand how you get back to sort of the pre-2025 levels and over what time.

我想延續前一個問題，或許Warren或Deborah可以幫我們理解：從現在開始真正的成長算法是什麼？有多少是由中國持續復甦與成長所驅動， versus 中國以外市場的復甦、滲透率提升與產品組合所驅動？你們能否回到去年之前在中國看到的強勁雙位數成長水準，以及中國以外約中十幾%的成長水準？請幫我們理解，你們如何回到大致2025年前的水準，以及需要多長時間。

I think -- I don’t think in 2026 we’re gonna be seeing the hyper-growth levels that we saw back 2023 and before that. Certainly, we’re working towards that. Right now, thankfully, our Board has a very long view of the company. While we do expect nice growth globally for the company in 2026, I would caution I don’t expect to see 20%, 25% growth. Although that is definitely what we’re working to, and that is definitely the opportunity for sure.

我想——我不認為2026年我們會看到像2023年及之前那種超高速成長的水準。當然，我們正朝那個方向努力。目前值得慶幸的是，我們的董事會對公司有非常長期的視角。雖然我們確實預期公司在2026年全球會有不錯的成長，但我要提醒的是，我不預期會看到20%、25%的成長。不過那確實是我們努力的方向，也確實是很明確的機會。

And maybe just in China, I appreciate the commentary around the EVO+ sort of launch. How should we think about competition in 2026? Can you give any color around what is that ASP delta between EVO+ versus EVO in China? How much of the 2026 China growth algorithm is being driven by price versus volume and sort of underlying demand and improving macro?

另外在中國方面，我很感謝你們對EVO+推出的評論。我們應該如何看待2026年的競爭？你們能否提供一些資訊，說明在中國EVO+相對於EVO的ASP（平均售價）差異是多少？2026年中國成長算法中，有多少是由價格帶動、 versus 由銷量與底層需求以及宏觀改善所帶動？

Yeah, it’s a good question, Simran. What I would say is even just appending to Deborah’s previous comments, because I think they’re somewhat related. We’re still wildly under-penetrated as far as refractive surgery as a percentage of the myopia epidemic that exists in this world. China is no different. They, in fact, lead in that. Maybe India is right there close with them. I think we collectively as those that want to impact that epidemic, lens-based refractive surgery is growing, but that’s one piece of it. I think there’s gonna be plenty of opportunity for us, plenty of opportunity for competition as well.

是的，這是個好問題，Simran。我想說的是，甚至延伸Deborah先前的評論，因為我認為它們有些相關。就屈光手術在全球近視流行病中的占比而言，我們仍然遠遠未達到足夠的滲透率。中國也不例外。事實上，他們在這方面是領先的。也許印度也非常接近。我認為，對於我們這些希望影響這個流行病的人而言，以晶體為基礎的屈光手術正在成長，但那只是其中一部分。我認為我們會有很多機會，競爭對手也同樣會有很多機會。

What I would say about the competitors, look, we take it really seriously. It’s a little flattering, if I’m honest, that Phakic IOLs are starting to grow, and I think it just speaks to LASIK is, in most markets, on the decline, and folks are looking for another way to treat. This reversible approach, I think, is really appealing to the patient or potential patients. It’s that strong recognition we’re happy with. Many companies have come as competitors in the past, and they all are non-polymer lenses. They are acrylic lenses which are varying types, but it typically creates a more rigid structure. History will tell you that of the many that have come, only a few have really even stayed in the market.

至於競爭者，我想說的是，我們非常認真看待。坦白說，Phakic IOL（有晶體眼人工水晶體）開始成長，某種程度上也有點令人受寵若驚；我認為這也反映出LASIK在多數市場正在下滑，而大家在尋找另一種治療方式。我認為這種可逆的方法對病患或潛在病患非常有吸引力。我們對這種高度認可感到高興。過去有許多公司以競爭者身分進入，而它們都不是聚合物鏡片。它們是各種不同類型的壓克力鏡片，但通常會形成較為剛性的結構。歷史告訴你，在眾多曾經進入的公司中，真正能留在市場上的其實只有少數。

And so, polymer is a differentiator for us. 30-plus years, we had a pretty big head start on the market. And so, we’re taking advantage of that, but we can’t just rely on that. We also have to continue to innovate. It’s important for us to bring products like EVO+ into the Chinese market to allow us to expand. So that gets to your question around ASP. What we’ve seen so far is a lot of excitement around EVO+, so we’re happy about that. We’re gonna continue to try and scale up our Swiss plant to be able to satisfy the demand. We are seeing a premium. We’re not sharing the premium. You can imagine why it’s a competitive advantage to us.

因此，聚合物對我們而言是一個差異化優勢。30多年來，我們在市場上有相當大的先行優勢。所以我們正在善用這點，但我們不能只依賴它。我們也必須持續創新。對我們而言，把像EVO+這樣的產品帶進中國市場、讓我們得以擴張，是很重要的。這也回到你關於ASP的問題。到目前為止，我們看到市場對EVO+非常興奮，所以我們對此感到高興。我們將持續嘗試擴大瑞士工廠的產能，以滿足需求。我們確實看到有溢價。我們不會分享這個溢價幅度。你可以想像，為什麼這對我們而言是一項競爭優勢。

What I’ll say is that customers see the difference and patients are paying for the difference, and so we’ll see where that goes. It’s still really early. I wouldn’t make too much out of it yet, but we are pleased with the early progress.

我要說的是，客戶看得出差異，而病患也在為這個差異買單，所以我們會看看後續發展如何。現在仍然非常早期。我不會在這個階段過度解讀，但我們對早期進展感到滿意。

John Young, Canaccord Genuity.

John Young，Canaccord Genuity。

Hi, Warren, Deborah. Thanks so much for taking the question tonight. I just want to follow up on the comments on EVO+ and the launch in China. If I recall the strategy correctly, a part of it also was to defend against value-based purchasing in China. Are you seeing any headwinds or -- to the traditional EVO lens right now from VBP in China, and do you expect any?

嗨，Warren、Deborah。非常感謝今晚讓我提問。我想追問一下你們對 EVO+ 以及在中國上市的評論。如果我沒記錯策略的話，其中一部分也是為了防禦中國的價值導向採購（VBP）。你們目前是否看到 VBP 對傳統 EVO 鏡片帶來任何阻力或——在中國？你們預期會有嗎？

Yeah, we haven’t heard anything about VBP, what I would say is, in order for a VBP to happen, typically it happens in the public market. It can happen in the private market. There are examples of that in dental, and I think even in some of the provinces, they’ve tried to look at orthokeratology. But we’ve not heard anything about VBP.

是的，我們沒有聽到任何關於 VBP 的消息。我想說的是，VBP 要發生通常是在公立市場。它也可能發生在私立市場。牙科領域就有這樣的例子，我想甚至在某些省份，他們也曾嘗試研究角膜塑形鏡（orthokeratology）。但我們沒有聽到任何關於 VBP 的消息。

Remember that our competitor, the Lauren Crystal that you hear about, they don’t have a toric version yet. You need multiple competitors in the market before the government has typically gotten interested in it. We certainly can’t predict one way or the other what’s going to happen. Wouldn’t try to do it. To answer your question, haven’t heard a thing about VBP and feel like so far so good.

請記得，我們的競爭對手——你聽到的那個 Lauren Crystal——目前還沒有散光（toric）版本。通常在政府開始對此感興趣之前，市場上需要有多個競爭者。我們當然無法預測接下來會如何發展。也不會嘗試去預測。回答你的問題：我們完全沒有聽到任何 VBP 的消息，目前看起來一切都還不錯。

And then in your script, you also talk about the importance of people in the organization. I just was wondering, have you had any higher than usual turnover in the organization outside the restructuring with all the changes that have been going on?

另外在你們的講稿中，你們也談到組織中人才的重要性。我想請問，除了重組之外，在這段期間的各種變動下，你們組織內是否出現比平常更高的離職率？

No, things have been pretty steady in that regard. We have a wonderful team. We have wonderful employees in the organization. They’re all very happy, to be very honest, that the Alcon transaction did not go through because they love working here, and we love having them. Yeah, so far so good in that regard.

沒有，在這方面一直相當穩定。我們有一個很棒的團隊。我們組織裡有很棒的員工。坦白說，他們都非常高興 Alcon 的交易沒有完成，因為他們喜歡在這裡工作，而我們也很高興有他們。是的，就這方面而言，目前一切都很好。

David Saxon, Needham & Co.

David Saxon，Needham & Co.。

I wanted to get your thoughts on what year has no stocking dynamics for China, just so we can kind of better frame what a normal year is for China sales. Like is 2023 at $185 million kind of a clean year in your view, when you think about channel inventory? And not necessarily returning to that in 2026, but over the near term?

我想請教你們對於中國在沒有備貨（stocking）因素影響下，哪一年可視為較正常的看法，這樣我們能更好地界定中國銷售的「正常年份」。例如 2023 年 1.85 億美元，在你們看來是否算是相對乾淨的一年（clean year），就通路庫存而言？以及在短期內——不一定是 2026 年回到那個水準——你們怎麼看？

It seems like an easy question to answer, but the reality is China was going through such a hyper-growth period that the distributors -- that the single distributor at the time and then the two distributors, once we brought on CDK, were doing everything they could to get inventory, get folks trained to get it out into. Remember, these are thousands of hospitals in a very large, diverse country. And so I don’t know when you would say that the in-market demand ceased in such a way that it started back channeling or backfilling inventory at the distributor or anywhere else within that distribution lane.

這看起來像是個容易回答的問題，但現實是，中國當時正處於高速成長期，經銷商——當時的單一經銷商，以及在我們引入 CDK 之後的兩家經銷商——都在盡其所能取得庫存、訓練人員，並把產品鋪到市場上。請記得，這是一個幅員遼闊且多元的國家，涉及成千上萬家醫院。因此，我不知道你要如何界定「終端市場需求」在何時放緩到某種程度，以致開始在經銷商端或該分銷鏈的其他環節出現回流（back channeling）或回補（backfilling）庫存。

So I don’t know that question can be answered. What I can tell you is that on a go-forward basis, we understand our inventory position very well, and we have very good controls in place to ensure that we don’t allow that to happen to us again. And so feel good about the contractual levels of inventory with our importers, feeling better about the stabilization, seemingly, of the China business in 2025, and excited for a clean start here in '26.

所以我不確定這個問題是否能被回答。我能告訴你的是，往前看，我們非常清楚自己的庫存狀況，也建立了很好的控管機制，確保不會再讓這種情況發生。因此，我們對與進口商合約約定的庫存水位感到放心；對於 2025 年中國業務看似正在趨於穩定也更有信心，並且期待在 26 年有一個乾淨的起步。

And then just as my follow-up, I wanted to switch gears to the US and just to get an update on the strategy. How has it evolved since early to mid last year? What’s going right? What are some areas that need retooling?

接著作為追問，我想把話題轉到美國，請你們更新一下策略。自去年年初到年中以來，策略如何演進？哪些地方進展順利？哪些領域需要重新調整？

Yeah, our US team is so good. The people running that organization are fantastic. What I’ll tell you is, a couple of years ago, you’ll remember the language of Highway 93, and that wasn’t -- at the time, it was 93 customers, but it’s not really designed to be 93 customers. It’s designed to be a mindset of let’s focus on the customers that are willing to partner with us and that want to drive EVO ICL as an option for their patients. That team has expanded upon that list now, and what they’ve done is really get into the economics of making EVO ICL a better business for these refractive surgeries or, excuse me, these refractive surgeons that wanna grow their practice.

是的，我們的美國團隊非常出色。負責那個組織的人也非常棒。我想說的是，幾年前你會記得我們提到「Highway 93」這個說法，當時——那時是 93 個客戶——但它其實不是要限定為 93 個客戶。它要傳達的是一種心態：讓我們聚焦在願意與我們合作、並且希望推動 EVO ICL 成為其病患選項的客戶。那個團隊現在已把這份名單擴大，而他們真正做的是深入研究，如何讓 EVO ICL 對這些屈光手術——更正，是這些屈光手術醫師——成為一門更好的生意，幫助他們擴大診所規模。

They’ll describe a market that -- it’s a refractive market that’s not shrinking, it’s one that’s shifting, and it’s shifting away from LASIK, which requires corneal tissue removal, and going to a reversible procedure that when priced appropriately, when taught appropriately to the staff, and therefore communicated appropriately to a potential patient. It’s a really high profit opportunity for those practices, so they’re focused around that mission. They have strong training and message discipline, and they’re executing against it and you saw the results for 2025 with double-digit growth, and we’re excited to see what they’re gonna do this year.

他們會描述一個市場——這個屈光市場並沒有萎縮，而是在轉移；它正從需要切削角膜組織的 LASIK，轉向一種可逆的手術。當定價得當、對員工訓練到位，因而也能對潛在病患正確溝通時，對這些診所而言，這是一個非常高獲利的機會，所以他們圍繞這個使命在推進。他們有很強的訓練體系與訊息一致性，並且確實在執行；你也在 2025 年看到兩位數成長的成果，我們也很期待看看他們今年會做到什麼。

They’re doing it on a string budget relative to what it was a couple of years ago. We were wasting money in the US. We were spending it in the wrong places. I learned a lot of lessons in that. I was sitting right here for it. And so feel like we’re in a better place.

相較於幾年前，他們是在更精簡的預算下做到的。我們過去在美國是在浪費錢。我們把錢花在錯的地方。我從中學到了很多教訓。我當時就坐在這裡親身經歷。所以我覺得我們現在處在更好的位置。

Mason Carrico, Stephens.

Mason Carrico，Stephens。

I’ll keep it to one. The deck that you guys published on the Alcon merger included language around STAAR’s inability to penetrate lower diopter patients, which makes up the majority of refractive patients, and that is deviated from prior commentary around moving down the diopter curve. Could you just talk about that shift in messaging and really how it informs your strategic decision-making and process moving forward?

我只問一個問題。你們發布的關於與 Alcon 合併的簡報中，提到 STAAR 無法滲透較低度數（lower diopter）的病患，而這部分其實占了大多數屈光病患；這與你們先前關於往較低度數區間延伸（moving down the diopter curve）的評論有所不同。你能否談談這個訊息表述的轉變，以及它如何影響你們未來的策略決策與推進流程？

Yeah, it’s a fair question, and I would just make one subtle correction to it. It’s that it’s not a change in messaging from the standpoint of we know we have to go down the diopter curve in order to be effective. We know that even in the publication you’re referring to, that we made progress coming down the diopter curve, starting back at the -- I don’t remember from memory, but minus 12 diopter down to something like minus 9, minus 9.5.

是的，這是個合理的問題，我只想做一個細微的更正。也就是說，從「我們知道必須往較低度數區間延伸才能有效」這個角度來看，這並不是訊息的改變。我們也知道，即便在你所提到的那份出版物中，我們在往較低度數區間延伸方面已取得進展，從——我記不太清楚，但大概是從 -12 度降到像是 -9 度、-9.5 度左右。

Now we’re at that point where we have to continue to go down the diopter curve, and it’s hard to do. It’s hard because in markets around the world where customers have invested in infrastructure to treat patients with laser technology, they want those technologies that they invested in to pay dividends. And so the reality is, we’re gonna keep fighting that fight. We’re gonna keep pushing appropriately for our customers to consider EVO at lower diopters. We know that the higher diopter refractive error correction the patient has, the more tissue you have to take, which induces dry eye, which does other things.

現在我們來到一個點：我們必須繼續沿著屈光度曲線往下走，而這很難做到。之所以困難，是因為在全球各地的市場中，客戶已經投資了基礎設施，用雷射技術來治療病患，他們希望那些投資的技術能帶來回報。所以現實是，我們會持續打這場仗。我們會持續、並以適當的方式推動我們的客戶在較低屈光度時也考慮 EVO。我們知道，病患的屈光不正矯正度數越高，就需要切削越多組織，這會誘發乾眼等其他問題。

And so we’re gonna continue to push. We haven’t made as much progress as we would like to make. We always wanna make more. Some markets will do better. Some markets will continue to have wild amounts of high myopia. Think of Asian markets like China, like India, like Korea and Japan. There’s plenty of high myopia patients to treat. We’re gonna keep the fight up, and I’ll take your question as encouragement that we need to do so.

因此我們會繼續推進。我們的進展還沒有達到我們希望的程度。我們總是希望做得更多。有些市場會表現得更好。有些市場仍會有大量的高度近視。想想亞洲市場，例如中國、印度、韓國與日本。那裡有很多高度近視病患需要治療。我們會把這場仗繼續打下去，而我也把你的提問視為一種鼓勵：我們確實需要這麼做。

Adam Maeder, Piper Sandler.

Adam Maeder，Piper Sandler。

Two for me. The first one is on China. Lots of questions have been asked, but not sure we’ve discussed expectations for ICL and market growth in FY26. It sounds like things have started to stabilize some over the course of 2025. Do you expect to see further recovery this year? Just any data point you can put on it would be appreciated. Then I had a follow-up.

我有兩個問題。第一個是關於中國。大家問了很多問題，但我不確定我們是否討論過 FY26 ICL 的預期以及市場成長。聽起來在 2025 年的過程中情況已開始有些穩定。你們預期今年會看到進一步復甦嗎？任何你們能提供的數據點都會很有幫助。然後我還有一個追問。

A lot of the same challenges we’ve been fighting that we fought in 2025 are still there. There’s still macro challenges in China. They’re just getting better. You see the stock market’s doing a whole lot better in China, but you see the housing market still a little bit depressed. They’re coming out of the Chinese New Year. Don’t know that we have good data on it yet. I think the tone out of Chinese New Year was seemingly positive. We’ll see.

我們在 2025 年一直在對抗的許多相同挑戰，現在仍然存在。中國仍有總體經濟（宏觀）方面的挑戰。只是情況正在好轉。你看到中國股市表現好很多，但房市仍有些低迷。他們剛過完農曆新年。我們不確定目前是否已經有好的數據。我認為農曆新年後傳出的氛圍看起來是偏正面的。我們再觀察。

The stimulus that the government has put into place through the course of 2024 and then 2025 we think is starting to help. Maybe it’s some of the driver behind even the stock market surge. Cautiously optimistic about their economy. What role that’s gonna play in end market sales, too hard to tell. What we can tell you is that Q4 in 2025 was a nice acceleration relative to the previous quarters in market sales.

我們認為政府在 2024 年、以及 2025 年期間推出的刺激措施開始發揮幫助。也許這也是推動股市上漲的因素之一。對他們的經濟我們抱持審慎樂觀。這將在終端市場銷售上扮演什麼角色，還很難判斷。我們能告訴你的是：2025 年第 4 季的市場銷售相較前幾季有不錯的加速。

That left us, for the full year '25, around, we believe, a single digit in market demand growth versus the prior year. Hopefully we get a little bit of that momentum coming out of Q4. Hopefully, the economy stays as it has been or gets better, but it’s still too early to tell, thus the reluctance to give guidance.

因此我們估計，2025 全年相較前一年，市場需求成長約為個位數百分比。希望我們能把第 4 季的部分動能延續下去。也希望經濟能維持目前狀況或進一步改善，但現在仍太早下定論，因此我們才會對提供指引有所保留。

For the follow-up, I wanted to ask about innovation and prioritizing innovation. I think that was mentioned a couple times during the call and the shareholder letter. I guess what can you tell us today about the innovation pipeline and specifically how we should think about some of these new products potentially getting regulatory clearance and impacting models?

關於追問，我想問創新以及如何優先排序創新。我想在這通電話會議以及股東信中都提到過幾次。那麼，你們今天能告訴我們關於創新產品管線的哪些內容？特別是，我們應該如何看待其中一些新產品可能取得監管核准，並對模型（預估）產生影響？

Great question because it’s the third pillar in our strategy here, and it’s a place where we have -- candidly, we haven’t delivered in the way that we really want to. EVO is amazing. The Collamer material is differentiated, and now the onus is on us to bring new products to market. Proud of V5, proud of bringing EVO+ to China. That’s gonna be a differentiator for us, we believe. We’ll also bring the Lioli injector, which is incremental innovation. The lens is still the star of the show, but it’ll be a nice way for our customers to be able to inject EVO into their patients.

這是個很好的問題，因為這是我們策略的第三支柱，而且坦白說，我們在這方面的交付成果還沒有達到我們真正想要的水準。EVO 非常出色。Collamer 材料具差異化，而現在責任在我們：要把新產品推向市場。我們以 V5 為傲，也以把 EVO+ 帶進中國為傲。我們相信這將成為我們的差異化優勢。我們也會推出 Lioli 注射器，這屬於增量式創新。鏡片仍然是主角，但這會是讓客戶能把 EVO 注入病患眼中的一個很好的方式。

And then we’re working on a series of projects in the background. We hope to be able to update you even in subsequent calls on timelines. Think of milestones like when we start to do first in man treatments and when we go through other stage gates of the design control process, which is an important part of the R&D process. We want to give you that visibility, just not ready to do it yet.

此外，我們也在幕後推進一系列專案。我們希望在後續的電話會議中，甚至就時程更新你們。可以把里程碑想成：何時開始進行首次人體（first-in-man）治療，以及何時通過設計控制流程的其他階段關卡；設計控制是研發流程中很重要的一部分。我們希望能提供那樣的能見度，只是現在還沒準備好。

That concludes the question-and-answer session and today's conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

問答環節以及今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。您現在可以斷線。