JANA Partners Urges Cooper Companies to Act on CEO and Board Changes
News related to:The Cooper Companies, Inc · 2 min read
JANA Partners has sent a letter to the Board of Directors of The Cooper Companies, Inc., calling for immediate action to address the company's underperformance and improve shareholder value. The letter, dated September 17, 2026, was addressed to the Board of Directors at 6101 Bollinger Canyon Road, Suite 500, San Ramon, California 94583.
In the letter, JANA Partners highlighted several issues with The Cooper Companies, Inc. The company has faced chronic underperformance, evidenced by recent earnings that further cemented its reputation for problematic forecasting, negative surprises, and poor capital allocation. Specifically, the letter cited the slashing of CooperVision segment growth due to "inflated" channel inventory, the failure of a long, drawn-out strategic review for the CooperSurgical segment, and aggressive stock repurchases ahead of negative outcomes.
The letter also pointed out a capital allocation strategy that failed to generate acceptable performance in CooperVision after spending approximately $750 million in 2023-2024. Additionally, the Board's decision to remove 2026 segment-level key performance indicators (KPIs) from the incentives of segment leaders was seen as a further misstep.
These and other missteps have resulted in a share price that has dramatically underperformed peers over the 1, 3, and 5-year periods, eroding shareholder confidence and impairing the company's valuation, which is at a 10-year low and significantly discounted compared to peers.
To address these issues, JANA Partners strongly urged the Board to take the following actions: - Immediately initiate an external search for a new CEO. The path to rehabilitation as a public equity starts with a new CEO, given the broken investor trust and the need to rebuild confidence. - Appoint a new Board Chair (who could become the lead independent director if the Chair role is assumed by a newly hired CEO) and add new directors who can help better oversee the company. - Revise compensation metrics to improve accountability and alignment across the organization. - Evaluate the sale of the fertility and medical device assets, as the CooperSurgical strategic review evidenced buyer interest in those assets and validated that they would command a valuation premium. - Proactively engage with potential strategic buyers for CooperVision. - Engage a performance improvement consultant to help drive cost savings from CooperVision's manufacturing footprint and supply chain and commit to delivering such savings to shareholders.
The letter concluded with a call for the Board to act promptly on these matters, emphasizing the urgent need for significant action to rehabilitate the company's credibility with investors and stem the tide of value destruction.
JANA Partners, founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein, invests in undervalued public companies and engages with management teams and boards to unlock value for shareholders.