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ALALC

Alcon Inc.

$ALC·$31B·Medical - Specialties·Healthcare
$66.18-0.6%YTD-15.6%1Y-12.2%
Price updated 4h ago·X counts updated 5d ago
ALALC
$ALCAlcon Inc.
$66.18-0.60%42 posts0.9×
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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On X

The complete picture of $ALC on X — how loud the conversation is right now, how it has trended over the last two weeks, and which way the crowd is leaning.

42X posts · last 7 days
Sep 29Oct 11
Chatter Meter
0.9×
QuietNormal · 1×Loud

How loud $ALC's conversation on X is versus its own normal — 1× is typical, higher means busier. Right now it's about its usual level.

AI verdictAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

TickerTalks' own read on what's driving $ALC — fundamentals, momentum, or an event — and whether it agrees with the X crowd.

Proven numbersStalledAI verdict · as of 2026-10-02

The move has stalled — likely just drifts unless something new shows up.

Global eye-care franchise where Q2 operating margin collapsed to 0.4% from 15% and shares derated 19% YTD.

Alcon runs a surgical business (equipment, IOLs) alongside vision care (contact lenses, ocular health), so earnings cycle on cataract-surgery mix, new-product uptake and ex-US volume.

  • Q2 FY26 revenue $2.82B, +8.7% YoY with operating margin 0.4% versus 15.5% Q1 — a single-quarter collapse in profitability on a reported $0.0002 EPS, strongly suggesting one-time charges in the quarter
  • TTM: 57x earnings, 3.3x sales, 2.9% ROE, 56% gross margin, 10% operating margin — the TTM averaging masks what the Q2 line actually shows
  • 2026 analyst estimates $10.87B revenue, $3.42 EPS; 2027 $11.50B, $3.88 — modeling margin recovery
  • YTD -19%, trailing-12m -15%; just priced €500M senior notes
  • UNITY M premium ophthalmic microscope launched this quarter — segment-specific product cycle

The franchise economics (gross margin, R&D, surgical lock-in) are intact at the TTM level, but one Q2 near-zero-margin print warrants seeing Q3 before concluding the margin profile is stable.

What to watch: Nov 10 Q3 earnings — whether operating margin reverts to the 11-16% quarterly range or the Q2 collapse marks a structural reset in the business mix.

On the calendar: 2026-11-10 Q3 earnings

Read the AI verdict on $ALC

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • Whether TickerTalks' read agrees with or diverges from the X crowd
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

World's largest eye care company making surgical equipment, intraocular lenses, and contact lenses sold in 140+ countries.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Medical - Specialties sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $ALC.

Medical - Specialties · Healthcare

Post-COVID procedure volume normalization has largely completed; growth now driven by aging demographics and incremental adoption of AI-assisted diagnostic imaging (radiology AI, pathology AI). Reimbursement rate adjustments from CMS and commercial payer contract cycles are the near-term margin variable.

What this means for $ALC

Neutral — World's largest eye care company making surgical equipment, intraocular lenses, and contact lenses sold in 140+ countries.

Top industry ETF

$XLVHealth Care Select Sector SPDR
+9.0%YTD
+24.2%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
56.5How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
2.8%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
9.9%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
4.7%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
3.3Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
2.9%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
56.5%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
0.2Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q2 2026Aug 10, 2026$0.84$0.77+9.1%
Q1 2026May 5, 2026$0.85$0.80+6.2%
Q4 2025Feb 24, 2026$0.78$0.79-1.3%
Q3 2025Nov 11, 2025$0.79$0.77+2.6%
Next earningsTue, Nov 10·consensus EPS $0.89

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q2 FY26$2.8B+8.7%59.3%0.4%$0.00$414.0M
Q1 FY26$2.7B+7.3%56.4%15.5%$0.38$273.6M
Q4 FY25$2.7B+8.6%54.2%11.5%$0.44$457.0M
Q3 FY25$2.6B+6.5%55.8%12.7%$0.48$538.7M

Forward consensus

5-year forecast · up to 18 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$10.8B$10.8B – $10.9B$3.41$3.33 – $3.4416
FY27$11.5B$11.4B – $11.5B$3.86$3.69 – $4.0117
FY28$12.1B$11.6B – $12.5B$4.36$2.96 – $5.2018
FY29$12.9B$12.6B – $13.1B$4.98$4.86 – $5.1110
FY30$13.8B$13.5B – $14.0B$5.52$5.38 – $5.659

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.1.4×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.18%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-2.9%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.-8.2%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatHigh float · 481.8M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today0.5% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β0.735-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

No material 8-K / SC 13D / S-3 / 424B5 filings in the last 180 days.

+ 3 other (2 6-Ks · 1 SD) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Credo Expands AI Connectivity Portfolio With 1.6T ZeroFlap ALCzacks.com·4d agoCredo Unveils 1.6T ZeroFlap Active Light Cable, Industry's First Row-Scale, Wide-Parallel Optical Interconnect for AI Data Centersgurufocus.com·5d agoAlgoma Central (TSE:ALC) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Whydefenseworld.net·10d agoIs it a Prudent Move to Retain ALC Stock in Your Portfolio Now?zacks.com·43d agoAlcon: A Re-Rating In Eyesightseekingalpha.com·44d ago

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Voices on X · last 7 days

No standout posts about $ALC on X in the last 7 days.

TickerTalks is a research tool, not financial advice. We surface social-attention data; we do not make stock recommendations. Past attention is not predictive of future price movements.

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