STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells implantable lenses for the eye and accessory delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) and laser-based procedures, such as LASIK to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It serves its products to health …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Elite Gross MarginsGross margin quality is top-tier vs peers (score 0.95). This signals strong consumable attach-rate economics.
Comfortable Interest CoverageInterest coverage quality is strong vs peers (score 0.86). Debt servicing capacity supports continued M&A optionality.
Key risks
Weak FCF GenerationFCF margin quality lags peers (score 0.34). Below-peer FCF conversion is a MedTech quality warning.
Weak Capital Return ProfileCapital return quality is below peers (score 0.35). Low ROIC raises questions about M&A discipline and pipeline ROI.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Where STAA ranks in Medical Instruments & Supplies
STAAR Surgical Company ranks #32 of 62
scored companies in Medical Instruments & Supplies by moat score — the top 52%.
The widest moat in the group is Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG)
at 86/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near STAA in Medical Instruments & Supplies
How STAA scores on the Medical Devices & Diagnostics defenses
Pricing Power & Consumable Moat
Score 92
· 25% of the moat score
In MedTech, pricing power is rarely about the machine — it is about what the machine consumes.
R&D Pipeline & Capital Returns
Score 38
· 20% of the moat score
Research spending is how a device company keeps its installed base current, but spending alone proves nothing.
FCF Quality & Cash Conversion
Score 26
· 20% of the moat score
MedTech companies grow by acquisition, and the resulting intangible amortisation depresses reported earnings without consuming any cash.
Commercial Execution
Score 25
· 15% of the moat score
Devices are sold into hospitals and labs through committees, tenders and long qualification cycles, which makes the sales organisation expensive and hard to replicate.
Capital Structure & Resilience
Score 80
· 12% of the moat score
Serial acquirers carry debt, and the question is whether the cash flows underneath it are dependable enough to service it through a downturn.
Growth Durability
Score 28
· 8% of the moat score
Growth durability separates an expanding installed base from a good product cycle.
STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) scores 51 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #32 of 62 scored companies in Medical Instruments & Supplies, the top 52%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 61 companies in Medical Instruments & Supplies. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power & Consumable Moat (92/100) and its weakest is Commercial Execution (25/100).
How does STAAR Surgical Company compare with other Medical Instruments & Supplies companies?
STAAR Surgical Company ranks #32 of 62 scored companies in Medical Instruments & Supplies by moat score. The widest moat in Medical Instruments & Supplies is Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Repligen Corporation (RGEN) at 53 just above it and ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI) at 49 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Medical Devices & Diagnostics in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 61 companies in Medical Instruments & Supplies. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is STAAR Surgical Company scored with the Medical Devices & Diagnostics template?
Medical device and diagnostics companies place an instrument once and then sell the consumables, reagents and service that instrument needs for the next decade. The economics are a razor-and-blade model wrapped in regulatory approval and clinician habit, so the MedTech template scores the durability of that installed base rather than the size of any single product launch.
Which competitive defenses are measured for STAAR Surgical Company?
The Medical Devices & Diagnostics template measures 6 defenses, and STAA scores: Pricing Power & Consumable Moat (92), R&D Pipeline & Capital Returns (38), FCF Quality & Cash Conversion (26), Commercial Execution (25), Capital Structure & Resilience (80), Growth Durability (28). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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