Oppenheimer’s Favorite Stocks For Next 12 Months: Top 32 Stock Picks

22. Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC)

Share Price Upside: 5%

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q2 2024: 22

Average Analyst Share Price Target: $101.25

Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) is a Switzerland based eye care products provider. A former Novartis business, the firm enjoys a global brand presence as well as considerable resources through its $1.1 billion in cash and equivalents. Its resources are key for Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC)’s competitive advantage since they enable the firm to invest in emerging technologies for one of the most sensitive and complex human body organs, the eye. Additionally, its scale also allows Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) to enjoy lower costs, which leads to margins – along with volumes – being a key part of its hypothesis. Additionally, the firm is also sensitive to manufacturing disruptions because of the high purity requirements of its raw materials. Like sizeable pharma firms, Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) benefits from a presence in everyday use products such as eye drops, and high technology products such as intraocular lenses – allowing it to target growth and volume simultaneously. Oppenheimer is optimistic about the firm’s pipeline, which includes the UNITY phaco/vitreoretinal system and the dry-eye drug AR-15512.

Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC)’s management shared details for its new contact lens during the Q2 2024 earnings call:

“In addition, we will further expand our reusable portfolio with the upcoming launch of PRECISION7. PRECISION7 is a new contact lens specifically designed for a one week replacement schedule that’s based on a unique proprietary technology. We expect PRECISION7 to help drive continued share gains in the reusable category, where we have historically been under indexed. As a reminder, one point of share gain in the global reusables category corresponds to approximately $40 million of revenue for Alcon. We’re working with a handful of eye care professionals in the US who have started fitting PRECISION7 and early feedback has been excellent. We will continue to collect this feedback with select customers through 2024 ahead of a broader commercial launch in 2025.”