‘Crisis of Its Own Creation’: Activist JANA Blasts Cooper, Demands CEO Search

Activist investor Jana Partners called for urgent leadership and operational changes at The Cooper Companies Inc. (NASDAQ:COO), citing persistent financial underperformance, faulty forecasting, and eroded shareholder confidence.

Cooper stock gained Friday after JANA made the letter public.

Operational Missteps and Value Destruction

In a letter to the board of directors on Friday, the investment firm heavily criticized the global medical device company’s recent earnings report, citing slashed growth expectations for the CooperVision segment due to inflated channel inventory.

Jana Partners also targeted the long and empty strategic review for CooperSurgical, noting that management aggressively repurchased company stock right before delivering these negative outcomes.

The investor highlighted that billions spent acquiring CooperSurgical failed to generate acceptable value, while approximately $750 million invested into CooperVision during 2023 and 2024 produced disappointing results.

Compounding these governance concerns, the board inexplicably eliminated 2026 segment-level key performance indicators from executive incentive structures.

Call For Leadership Overhaul

In 2025, Jana Partners pressed the company for a potential merger between its contact-lens division and Bausch + Lomb (NYSE:BLCO).

These repeated operational missteps have driven the stock to a 10-year valuation low and caused severe underperformance relative to industry peers across one-, three-, and five-year periods.

Jana Partners urged the board to immediately launch an external search for a new CEO, asserting that internal candidates carry the weight of past failures.

JANA described Cooper’s problems as a “crisis of its own creation,” arguing that repeated forecasting misses, poor capital allocation and strategic missteps have eroded investor confidence.

Strategic Sales and Cost Efficiencies

Alongside a CEO replacement, the firm demanded a new board chair, additional independent directors, and aligned compensation metrics.

Jana Partners also advised evaluating the sale of fertility and medical device assets, proactively engaging potential strategic buyers for CooperVision, and hiring a performance consultant to unlock cost savings within manufacturing and supply chain operations.

COO Price Action: Cooper Companies shares were up 3.02% at $55.40 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by T. Schneider via Shutterstock