Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

We’ll probably do better than market in equipment. Consumables, we are such a big part of that market. We are likely to run real close to market, to your point. And I think directionally on Vision Care, I think we’re lucky in that we are indexing into the fast growth areas. So think SiHy, DAILIES and I think for those reasons, we should do a little bit better than market in contact lenses we certainly expect to. And then you’re really adding on the ocular health piece which again gives you kind of the balance of growth. I think I would expect us to be kind of roughly at market or slightly ahead in the core of that business but then you got a little bit of positive news, I think, around the inorganic stuff that we add in. So I mean, that was kind of the math if you were trying to do it on really segment kind of high level, what’s growing faster, what’s growing at market.

It’s probably how we’ve been thinking about it.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Ed with Redburn.

Unidentified Analyst: Just a quick follow-up on Hydrus. Can you give us a color on the size of the business or the growth dynamic at all beyond what you’ve already said? And secondly, as you’ve highlighted, you’re making nice progress upgrading on and Legion uploading the old installed base. Where would you say you are now on that upgrade cycle in the U.S. and Europe as you upgrade to the latest machines?

David Endicott: Yes. A couple of thoughts. First on, Hydrus, I guess the way to think about it is the market itself, the MIGS market, we think, is growing mid-teens. That’s kind of where we thought it would be and that is where it is. I would say the mix inside of that is a little bit more heavy to the canaloplasty and visco dilating agents. So that grouping is growing a good bit faster than market. And so obviously, the stents are growing a little bit slower than that. That’s directionally where we are. We haven’t really commented on the size and we try not to go after individual products. But I think we’re pleased with where we were. And if you go back to when we acquired the product, what we projected on it, I think we’re right on that path.

Directionally, on the other piece of this on the upgrade cycle, we’re pretty much done with Infinity this year. I think we end of life the cassette this year at the end of the year. We’ve mostly gotten them all out. There’s still a few rolling around in various markets. I don’t know that there’s much in the United States. I think there — it’s always harder when you’re dealing with another hundred-or-so countries around the world. So, I’m sure that we’ll see some continued upgrades there. But really, what we’re doing now is outfitting new ORs or replacing old Centurions. So remember, we’re well past the 10-year mark on Centurion and that will in and of itself. Everybody wants a new 1 in a lot of ways because the new Active Century Hemp piece is a whole world different than what you’re running if you’re running a 10-year-old Centurion.

So there’s a whole bunch of features that we put in over time. Think of it as a steady bunch of upgrades we’ve done over a long period of time. So it isn’t just the affinities that we’re upgrading. Of course, it’s the older Centurion. And then we’ve actually had a pretty good run at some competition. I think our footprint share grew substantially this year, particularly in the international market. So we’re feeling pretty good about where that business sits.