Alcon Inc. (ALC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Greetings. Welcome to Alcon's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I'll turn the conference over to Dan Cravens, Vice President and Global Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Welcome to Alcon's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Yesterday, we issued our press release, interim financial report and earnings presentation. All of these documents are available on our website at investor.alcon.com. Joining me on today's call are David Endicott, our Chief Executive Officer; and Tim Stonesifer, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, please note that our press release, presentation and remarks will include forward-looking statements including statements regarding our future outlook. We undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. So please do not place undue reliance on them. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are included in our Form 20-F, earnings press release and interim financial report, each of which is available on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on their website at sec.gov. We'll also discuss certain non-IFRS financial measures. These measures may be calculated differently from and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. They should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for IFRS prescribed performance measures. Reconciliation between our non-IFRS measures and the most directly comparable IFRS measures can be found in our earnings press release. For discussion purposes, our comments on growth rates are expressed in constant currency. In a moment, David will begin with highlights from the second quarter. After his remarks, Tim will walk through our financial performance and outlook for the remainder of 2026. And Dave will then return with closing comments before we open the line for Q&A. So with that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, David Endicott.

Thanks, Dan, and good morning, everyone. Our second quarter results demonstrate the strength of our new products and the benefits of our innovation investments. We delivered 7% sales growth, which was broad-based across both franchises and geographies and reinforcing the impact of our diverse portfolio and our commercial reach. Now I'll start my remarks today with Unity, which is one of the clearest examples of our innovation translating into commercial success. Demand for Unity VCS remains robust, reflecting its versatility across both cataract and vitreoretinal procedures. Surgeons are experiencing firsthand the benefits of Unity CS, including its advanced energy delivery for [ DPCO ], improved [ fluritics ] and streamlined workflow. Now encouragingly, Unity ASPs have exceeded our expectations and underscore our customers' belief in the platform's differentiated value. With strong customer engagement and a healthy sales funnel, we have clear visibility into our second half placements. Turning to implantables. As we highlighted in our earnings release, we made the decision to discontinue our work on the [ PowerVision ] IOL programs following the analysis of the latest clinical study data. This data demonstrated persistent unpredictable shifts in postoperative distance vision in a subset of patients that remain unresolved after multiple developmental efforts. As a result, the programs did not meet our standards for visual performance and patient outcomes. Although we are disappointed that the programs ultimately did not advance, they generated valuable insights into accommodation, tunability, and long-term visual outcomes that will inform future innovation efforts. Looking at our performance in the quarter, implantables grew 1% with IOLs up 2% despite new competitive launches. The PanOptix family grew double digits in the quarter, driven by strong adoption of PanOptix Pro. Building on the foundation of PanOptix, the world's most implantable trifocal IOL, PanOptix Pro enhances quality of vision through its advanced optical design and continues to gain traction with surgeons globally. In the U.S., adoption has exceeded expectations. Nearly all PanOptix accounts have been converted to PanOptix Pro with the platform now representing approximately 90% of PanOptix implants. Feedback on visual performance and reduced light scatter remains very encouraging. We expect this momentum to extend internationally as we roll out PanOptix Pro and continue to build on the strength of [ Clarion ] Toric. Early launches in Japan, Canada, Australia and more recently in Europe, have been well received, supporting our confidence in share stabilization and long-term growth. And we're also excited about the acceleration of our pipeline of new IOLs. We've begun a KOL launch of True Plus in the U.S. and recently received CE Mark for Europe. This leads is an important addition to our portfolio and provides an entry point into the monofocal Plus segment. We intend to phase these launches deliberately as we continue to prioritize the scale-up of PanOptix Pro in international markets and prepare for the introduction of Vivity Pro. Expected to launch with KOLs late this year, Vivity Pro builds on the success of the Vivity platform through a next-generation lens that is designed to extend the range of vision and enhances near performance. The new lens is designed to deliver up to one additional line of near vision while maintaining Vivity's strong distance and intermediate vision performance and its clinically proven low visual disturbance profile. Importantly, [ True Plus ] and Vivity Pro represent only the next wave of innovation from our IOL portfolio. Our pipeline remains robust, and we expect to continue to deliver a steady cadence of new technologies and product enhancements in the years ahead. Beyond cataract surgery, we continue to see enthusiasm from Valeda, our first-of-its-kind treatment for dry AMD. This technology uses three specific wavelengths of light to improve mitochondrial activity in retinal health. Importantly, clinical studies showed that more than 80% of patients maintained or improved their vision at approximately 2 years. Adoption accelerated during the quarter as we expanded the installed base and increased utilization across existing accounts. We were also encouraged by continued progress with the Medicare administrative contractors, which we believe will further support access to this therapy. Based on current adoption trends, clinical experience and reimbursement progress, we continue to believe the platform has the potential to generate sales of between $100 million and $150 million over time. Turning to contact lenses. Innovation continues to drive growth across our portfolio. The overall contact lens market remained healthy in the second quarter, providing a supportive backdrop for continued category expansion. Against that backdrop, we achieved a record global market share position supported by strong U.S. share gains and continued momentum across both dailies and reusables. In Dailies [ Total1 ] and [ PRECISION1 ] remain important growth drivers and continue to gain share in one of the largest, fastest-growing market segments. We're also encouraged by the momentum in reusables. Total30 continues to perform well across the family, supported by the recent launch of Total30 multifocal for astigmatism, which expands our reach into an attractive and underserved segment. In addition, [ PRECISION7 ] sales have more than doubled versus the prior year, reflecting strong adoption of the weekly replacement category and providing another meaningful avenue for growth. With multiple platforms across dailies and reusables, we believe we are well positioned to continue capturing share and pursuing attractive growth opportunities across the contact lens market. And finally, in ocular health, execution remains strong across both our prescription and consumer dry eye franchises. Tryptyr, our novel prescription treatment for dry eye disease continues to gain momentum. Market Access now includes nearly 2/3 of commercial lives and more than 20% of Medicare lives, including the recent addition of Humana Medicare Part D. Less than a year post launch, Tryptyr has already captured approximately 5% market share reflecting strong early adoption in a market that's growing double digits. On the OTC side, Systane continues to perform well, delivering another quarter of double-digit growth and share gains, further strengthening its leadership position in artificial tears. Given the strength of the franchise and the opportunities we see ahead, we believe Systane remains well positioned on this path towards becoming a $1 billion brand in the coming years. As we look ahead, we see a robust pipeline of growth catalysts across both our Surgical and our Vision Care franchises. Beyond the positive contributions from our recent launches, we're preparing for the introductions of Vivity Pro, as well as the planned launch of our new Eye [ Whitener ], among others. In addition, I'm pleased to report that we recently made our first sale of Unity M, our new microscope and are beginning to ramp up our commercialization efforts. Together, these near-term opportunities are expected to support steady future growth across our portfolio and further strengthen our market positions. We're also excited about the potential of our recently announced collaboration with RxSight. While still in the early stages, the collaboration combines Alcon's expertise in advanced optics and lens architecture with RxSight's adjustability platform. Together, we aim to develop a next-generation lens designed specifically for the platform, with the potential to further enhance the visual performance and refractive precision. Before discussing the individual markets is worth highlighting the attractiveness of Alcon's portfolio. We participate across a variety of surgical and vision care markets, including cataract, vitreoretinal, refractive contact lenses, ocular health and dry eye, among others. Each of these markets is supported by unique growth drivers ranging from procedural growth to innovation, premiumization and increasing adoption of advanced technologies. Taken together, we estimate these aggregated markets grew approximately 3% to 4% in the second quarter. Within Cataract, we estimate global procedure volumes grew low single digits in the quarter, led by strength in international, while the U.S. was flat. This was a sequential improvement compared to the first quarter. Importantly, AT-IOL penetration increased by approximately 110 basis points globally and 180 basis points in the U.S. In contact lenses, we estimate the global market remained healthy and grew mid-single digits, led primarily by strength in the U.S. This was moderated by international markets where prices contributed less to growth. In summary, our focus remains on disciplined execution of a steady flow of new product launches. Combined with our leading positions in a broad range of attractive eye care markets, we believe Alcon is well positioned to extend its leadership, capitalize on future growth opportunities and create long-term shareholder value. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tim, who will walk you through the financials.

Thanks, David. Beginning with the top line, our second quarter sales were $2.8 billion, up 7% versus prior year. In our surgical franchise, sales were up 7% year-over-year to $1.6 billion. Implantable sales were $466 million in the quarter, up 1% versus the prior year period. Within this, IOLs were up 2%, partially offset by lower sales in Surgical glaucoma. As David mentioned, PanOptix Pro continued to perform well, growing nicely in the U.S. and Japan. Strong customer interest and continued commercial execution supported growth despite increased competitive activity. In consumables, second quarter sales of $825 million were up 5%. This growth was driven by strong retro retinal market trends, healthy international cataract procedural volumes and favorable pricing and reflects softer U.S. cataract procedure volumes. For reference, 1 point of growth of the global cataract market including IOLs and consumables is worth approximately $10 million per quarter to Alcon, while 1 point of AT-IOL penetration is worth approximately $15 million. In equipment, solid performance from our recent product launches including Unity, drove sales of $279 million, which were up 25% versus prior year. Unity adoption was strong throughout the quarter, underscoring the commercial traction we're seeing across markets. Turning to Vision Care. Second quarter sales of $1.2 billion were up 7%. Contact lens sales were up 5% to $726 million, lapping a strong prior year period with 7% growth. Positive trends from our innovative product portfolio, including share gains and pricing were partially offset by declines in legacy products. In ocular health, second quarter sales of $486 million were up 12% and as Tryptyr and Systane continue to drive meaningful growth in the category. Tryptyr continues to perform well with prescription demand growing steadily and high refill rates. We've made meaningful progress on market access, positioning us to increase investment behind the brand in the second half of the year. We believe the combination of improved access, growing awareness and expanded commercial efforts will support continued [ TRx ] growth while driving a more favorable payer mix over time. Systane delivered another strong quarter with double-digit growth and remains a key contributor to ocular health. Growth was driven by continued share gains and strong momentum in our multi-dose preservative-free portfolio, which grew more than 40% during the quarter. Second quarter core gross margin was 64.7%, up 250 basis points year-over-year. This improvement reflected price increases and manufacturing efficiencies as well as $15 million in other revenue from a licensee. The prior year period also included higher inventory-related costs. Moving to operating expenses. As noted on our first quarter call, we are investing behind new product launches, including Tryptyr, Unity and others, and we'll continue to prioritize investments to support near and long-term growth. Our results in core operating income was $574 million and 20.6% of sales, up 160 basis points versus the prior year on a constant currency basis. This improvement was driven by our strong revenue performance net of our targeted commercial investments and also benefited from the timing of the $15 million in other revenue that I referred to earlier. Below the operating line, interest expense was $53 million during the quarter, broadly in line with the prior year. Turning to taxes. Our core effective tax rate was 20.7% in the second quarter which was broadly in line with our guidance. Finally, core diluted earnings were $0.84 per share in the quarter, up 9% versus prior year. Turning to cash. We generated $693 million of free cash flow in the first half of the year, allowing us to return $538 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases over the same period. Moving to our outlook for 2026. We continue to assume that aggregate eye care markets grow 3% to 4% for the year and exchange rates as of the end of July hold through year-end. We also assume the tariffs currently applicable to Alcon's business remain in effect through year-end, including U.S. import tariff rates of approximately 10% to 12.5%. This guidance also reflects an anticipated refund of approximately $60 million from the U.S. government in the third quarter, of which we plan to reinvest approximately 2/3 back into the business. Based on these assumptions and our performance through the first half of the year, our guidance is as follows. We continue to expect constant currency sales growth of between 5% and 7%. For the second half of the year, we expect tougher equipment comparisons, partially offset by easier comparisons in contact lenses, particularly in the fourth quarter. We also expect launch contributions from Tryptyr, Valeda, Unity CS as well as PanOptix Pro in Europe to become more meaningful as we move through the balance of the year. Turning to profitability. We are increasing our expected core operating margin expansion to a range of 90 to 190 basis points in constant currency, reflecting the strong first half operating performance. Gross margin will also benefit from the tariff refund of approximately $60 million. On SG&A, given the favorable response to our recent launches, we intend to reinvest a portion of the tariff refund to support growth. As such, we expect SG&A spending for the second half to be consistent with last year on a percentage of sales basis. Lastly, we're increasing our core diluted EPS growth outlook to a range of 12% and to 15% in constant currency. This reflects our strong operational performance as well as the benefit from our share repurchase program. In summary, we delivered another quarter of solid financial results. Sales grew 7%, earnings increased meaningfully, free cash flow remained healthy and we returned significant capital to shareholders. These results reflect the strength of our portfolio, the impact of recent launches and the dedication of more than 25,000 associates around the world. And with that, I'll turn it back to David.

Thanks, Tim. In closing, our recent launches are performing well. Our pipeline continues to progress, and we remain focused on executing against the opportunities in front of us. While we continue to operate in an evolving environment, we believe our portfolio innovation pipeline and disciplined execution position Alcon well for long-term growth. With that, operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] And our first question is from the line of Anthony Petrone with Mizuho Group.

Congratulations on the nice print here. I'll have one on equipment and one on IOLs. Dave, just on equipment here, obviously, mid-20s, you're holding better priced than you had expected at the onset of the launch and the funnel looks good in the back half. Maybe -- you gave some data at the beginning of this cycle, 30,000 pieces of equipment by the end of this year, what percent will have upgraded to Unity VCS? And what will the cycle look like over the next 2 to 3 years, let's say? And then I'll have a follow-up on IOL.

Yes, Anthony, we have been pleased with the response that we've gotten out of VCS in particular. You that the ASPs have been solid, and I think that reflects customers' view that this is really a step change in what they can do in retina in particular, but also cataract. We are on track with our funnel. We are on track with what we've given to you in the past in terms of the movement of the base of product. We've actually gained some share in this market as well. So I think all things are kind of green light on the unit movement. I think what I would tell you is that there certainly isn't a change in the way in which we thought about it. Over the 10 years, I'd divide it by 10, thousand at a little more upfront, take a little way on the back end, and then you're going to be kind of close to where we've always expected this to be. So in these first couple of years of launch, we'll do a little better, it will settle down a little bit and then will replace on a kind of a steady replacement basis. So that's probably the main thing. You got an IOL question, too.

Yes. Well, a little bit of improvement sequentially. PanOptix Pro is helping, but it's still lower than the historical growth rate. Maybe just the outlook on IOLs as it relates to surgeon capacity in the U.S. And where you think that business could trend to, let's say, in the 2027 time frame?

Sure. Yes. I think -- look, we're very pleased with PanOptix Pro. I mean the response to that product has been outstanding. I think we made a comment around 90% of our folks that used to use PanOptix are now using Pro, and that probably tells you all you need to know that's inside of a year. So the use of light in that lens is superior to just about everything out there. We're getting, I think, 93% of the light being used in productive ways, which creates less scatter. That has made a big difference. And I think it also shrinks the market for things like Vivity penetration. We know Vivity is a good lens. We also know there's competitors to it. And again, we are chasing a new Vivity, which does even more than what Vivity did on its own. So again, we're looking for another line of vision at near out of Vivity. So we get that done. I think, again, we continue to push our lenses out in front of competitive lenses. And so we're very confident in our long-term share stabilization. I would say that we're getting towards the end of it, but we're not there. It's still a very competitive market out there. But we've seen now, I think in most of the rest of the world and in the U.S., pretty much the most difficult competitors we're going to face. And I feel pretty good about where we're headed. So I think the only other thing I'd tell you is that relative to penetration and movement in implantables themselves, penetration matters a lot, and we're seeing a very positive trend right now in the United States. I think this is the second quarter in a row, we've seen more than 150 basis points in the U.S. move up. And I do think that for some surgeons doing more ATI wells is a very productive thing. They're kind of getting used to it. They're getting better at the diagnostics. And there's just a lot of promotion out there on this. So I think that's moving the market and that does help. And as we kind of settle out on share, and I think we will settle out on share, we benefit a lot from penetration. So I'd just keep that in mind.

Next question is from the line of Brett Fishbin with KeyBanc.

I'll just ask two, first on the tariff refund and reinvestment plans. I was just curious if you could give a little bit more color on where your driving that incremental investment into the business in 2H? And should we think of this step-up in investment activity as a little bit more onetime in nature, given the fact that it's tied to the tariff refund?

Yes, sure. Great question. So we are reinvesting back in the business. I would say that now that we have a better view on the new product launches, we're going to double down in a couple of the areas that we think that there's more opportunity. We're also going to look at other OTC products, if you think about the ocular health business. We may have some opportunities there. But we're going to put the money to work. It's $40 million is relatively small if you look at our total marketing and sales spend. But nonetheless, we're going to put the money to work and some of that will drive some near-term revenue and then some of it will obviously drive long-term revenue.

All right. And then second question, just on the contact lens market. I think you might have used the word healthy describing the market in 2Q. So curious if there's any signals that things are picking up a little bit maybe closer to the mid-single digit or mid- to high end of the typical 4% to 6% range after what we viewed as some softer quarters.

Yes. I mean I think the Vision Care business on contact lenses was a bit mixed. U.S. had a very strong quarter. I think it was like 8%. International was more like 3%. So in aggregate, it was 6%. I would say 6% is very healthy globally. So what you're really seeing is the U.S. is bouncing some price. I think it's lapping two price increases. International is much more difficult to get price. So you're seeing much more mix there. So I would just say that in aggregate, it looks pretty normal in that 4% to 6% range. It's really on the high end of it.

The next question is from the line of Ryan Zimmerman with U.S. Bancorp.

With the write-down of [ PowerVision ] and the RxSight collaboration agreement, David, I want to get your thoughts on kind of what you hope to achieve now that you've made that decision to go purely an adjustable route versus maybe an adjustable and accommodative route? And how you think when it is available, how do you think it impacts your core franchise? And then I have a follow-up question.

Well, I would maybe change the premise a little bit. I don't think we've made a decision to do one or the other. I think we're -- we still think that adjustable accommodating is the best long-term answer we just couldn't get there with this particular technology. So I think I would describe these as two different ideas. RxSight really is an idea about how do we take a step forward in tunability with an optic that we already have or one that we could design for it. And that's -- I would call that an intermediate step towards where I think we need to go, which is long term into an accommodating lens. And so [ PowerVision ] was always a big idea. We learned a ton from it. We've got a lot of really great science and a lot of great scientists who I think have a better informed probably the world's best informed division of how it is that we could get to an accommodating lens. I just don't know that we have the technology yet. But we've probably been through I would say, a number of accommodating ideas over the last 4 or 5 years, including [ PowerVision ]. And we'll continue to look at it. There's still more out there. Somebody is going to figure this out. I suspect it will be us but we're watching very carefully. So I would think about accommodating and tunable as the endgame. It's just further out than we wish it was.

Helpful. And turning to surgical glaucoma. I mean, we've seen the changes you've made in [ Hydros ] over the last year or so continues to be a drag on the business. you've done a ton in terms of pharmaceuticals and glaucoma. So what are your thoughts at this point? And what are your plans potentially with surgical glaucoma, what do you want to do? Do you feel like you still need to be in that market? Just be good to kind of get your high-level thoughts there, David.

Well, I mean, obviously, the reimbursement arena there has changed the dynamic quite substantially. And I think we're obviously working on that dynamic, but I don't know that, that changes anytime soon. So I wouldn't count on that. I think from our point of view, [ Hydro skill ] is the most effective implant out there, but it is used by a select group of folks who really understand that point of view. And so I think what we believe is that there are other parts of the glaucoma therapy in the algorithm of treatment that probably have more accessibility. So think about [ Voyager ]. We think that's a really good idea. We think everybody should be starting with [ SLT ]. I think that's a broadly accepted idea. I think we are excited about what we could do there. Again, [ Voyager ] has moved a little slower than we had hoped for because of the kind of frequency of the people use their own current Alcon leaders. But as people really understand that product, I think we're going to get better and better traction on it. So we're opportunistic there. I think there are other technologies out there as well that we keep an eye on that I think could do some things in glaucoma interventions that are also maybe a little bit more on the horizon. But in terms of stents, stenting generally, I think, is pretty stable right now and is likely to kind of stay that way.

The next question is from the line of Graham Doyle with UBS.

Just a couple from me. Just firstly, on the top line guide, Tim, the 5% to 7%, is it still reasonable to think the 7% is plausible and on a reasonable case rather than best case for the full year? Obviously, the comps get a bit tougher. So just to get your thoughts on where you see that in terms of probability. And then it's a good point on IOL. So another way of looking at this is when do you think you'll have PanOptix Pro, Vivity Pro and [ True Plus ] approved in U.S. and Europe, just in terms of competitive dynamics, it would be good to get that sense.

Yes, Graham, thanks for the question. Listen, I'll leave it to you as to what you think is plausible. We give a range of 5% to 7%. Historically, we have been kind of a midpoint type of company is what we try to say. At the beginning of the year we thought -- we stated that the revenue would be relatively level loaded. I think that's still going to be the case. I mean we get a lot of questions on the comps to your point. And the way I'd think about it, just to give you a little more color, there will be a tougher comp in equipment with Unity VCS for sure, right, because we launched that sort of at the beginning of the second half of last year. But -- and then when you look at some of the other launches, like Unity CS, as an example, that was launched this year. So we should get some benefit there. If you look at trip tier, that's accelerating. We continue to improve our market access. So that should be helpful. And Valeda continues to do well. So we didn't really kick that off until, call it, mid-second quarter of last year. So we do feel like the new product launches will carry us through. And that 5% to 7% guide, again, that assumes aggregate markets grow at 3% to 4%.

Yes. Graham, on the approvable front, PanOptix Pro is approved now in both U.S. and Europe. We are just launching it. I think we launched it in June in Europe, and we're still getting it out in major markets. So look for the back half to be a meaningful impact on Europe. And then Vivity Pro, I would expect that late this year maybe early next. It just kind of depends. Neither the U.S. or Europe have that yet, but it's been submitted to both. And on True Plus, both the U.S. and CE Mark, we have CE Mark approval. We just received it, I think, recently. But again, I would be careful with that one because we're managing that rollout carefully to not interfere with the PanOptix Pro and Vivity Pro. We'll -- we've got a lot to do right now, which is kind of exciting. But we're going to manage all three of those kind of carefully to prioritize Vivity and PanOptix.

The next question is from the line of Veronika Dubajova with Citi.

I have two. One is on equipment and the second one is on the gross margin. Just on equipment, Tim David, just curious if you could provide a little bit more color as to what the contribution from Valeda was in the quarter. and kind of to what extent it's actually visibly driving an acceleration in the equipment growth rate. I've not heard you guys articulate the peak sales potential before today. So it'd be really good to understand kind of what's on me there. And how much of a contributor is already being? And then my second question is, Tim, for you. Just on the gross margins, really, really strong improvement year-on-year and also sequentially appreciate, obviously, the color on Q2 margins last year being very depressed. But just curious if you kind of feel the 64-ish level once we strip out the licensing income as a reasonable proxy for the remainder of the year? Or are there other things we have to be bear in mind as we look into the back half of the year? Obviously, I'm excluding the tariff refund because we all can do the math on that.

Yes. Veronika, on Valeda, we haven't really called out individual products. As you know, we tend not to do that. I would say that it contributed several points of growth in the quarter. But we're doing really well with a number of pieces of equipment. Obviously, the main driver in equipment right now is Unity, CS and VCS. And I think over time, we think that's -- as we had -- we were trying to make sure we gave everybody some sense of what this product actually is. And so I think [ $100 million to $150 million ] was a nice number that we can kind of get to in that, let's call it, 3- to 5-year frame. So maybe think about it as a typical arc shape new product curve.

Yes. And as far as the gross margin goes, listen, we exited last year at roughly 63%. I'd say the first half of this year is probably in the 64% range, the tariff is a onetime benefit. So I would strip that out, but I would think that we're going to have probably a higher gross margin in Q3 given the -- assuming that the tariffs come in, and then that will probably dip down in Q4 to give you kind of a normalized rate.

The next question is from the line of David Saxon with Needham & Company.

Maybe two product-related questions. First on contact lenses. Maybe if you could peel back the onion are, like how much of contact lens growth was price versus volume? And then any way to break out the legacy decline -- legacy volume decline versus the core volume growth and how you're just thinking about the market's ability to take price in the back half and into '27?

Let me try and get at that a little bit. Price was about 4% in Q2. I think of the five, it was significant. I think our view on price in the U.S. in particular was that we were wrapping around, I think, two price increases. So we had a couple there that were meaningful. The important part of the U.S., I think, was that the share performance was outstanding. I think we had a almost 1.5 share point gain. And that is, I think, largely a function of continued promotion around our Dailies [ Total1 ], our [ P1 ] in categories that are growing very nicely. We continue to see legacy value decline. We've had a very large legacy business, and it's always been a challenge for us to kind of manage that decline against that growth. And ultimately, as that goes away, you'll see more and more growth come to the surface. But I do think that was meaningful, and I would hesitate to answer your question directly because I'm not clear on exactly what that contribution was. However, I would say broadly that what we're excited about is the breadth of what we've got going on. We've got reusables in categories now like P7 that creates a new avenue for growth. We've got data in multifocal astigmatic lenses which I think makes [ T30 ] a very unique lens and completes that family. We've got a product in every category in almost every need. And I think we are, as a consequence of that, very effective on the ground, growing share. So I think we're in a pretty good place. As I said to you earlier, I think the U.S. market looked healthy. international, they have pretty good but maybe a little softer than normal, but I think it will be fine.

Okay. That was helpful. And then just on Tryptyr, any way to qualitatively talk about the contribution, either, I guess, sequentially. And then I know you've said IQVIA is not that accurate. But directionally, it looks like trends have been kind of picking up. So going from here, like how should we think about Tryptyr kind of trajectory going forward?

Yes. I think the one thing I'm going to look to -- Tryptyr, think is going into IQVIA July 10. So you can actually get the data now. So we -- I think we're giving them the data that we've got from the third party that we use. So I think they should have relatively accurate data for you to use on this one. Again, I think we're excited about it because of the share movement and also the refill rates. I think probably the thing that we were probably interested in, and we got a lot of feedback on was how will the patients like this and the refill rates seem to indicate that patients have -- are getting a great relief out of this and are happy to refill it. So we're very positive about where Tryptyr is headed.

The next question is from the line of Larry Biegelsen with Wells Fargo.

David, I haven't seen -- heard any update on Unity [ DX ] in a while. Actually, I think you got it cleared in the U.S. a while ago, and that seemed like a good opportunity for you. So just love to hear an update on the [ DX ] timeline, and then I have one follow-up.

Yes, you're right, Larry. We had an approval on [ DX ]. I think early -- maybe this year or maybe it was a little bit last year. We've had the product for a while. We believe that it's a great product. It was not just -- it was not enough manufacturable, a scalable manufactural condition when we got it. We've been working very diligently to make this a product that will have the kind of durability that our customers expect. And that means it isn't going to break inside of a year. It really has got reusable pieces, it's serviceable on the ground. All of that stuff that is, I'll call it, made for manufacturability, that stuff was really not done in a way that we were comfortable with to launch it. So we've been working backwards from what is an excellent design and an excellent technology. It's hyper parallel OCT, which I think is going to be really great for pre-op cataract use. That should be out later this year, I would say, pilot form. I think we've got a number of folks that we're going to put it in play with, along with our [ ADI ] platform. We've got a lot going on with the ecosystem around the microscope, which again we just talked about today for the first time, our new microscope is also approved, and we just sold one. We're not going to sell a ton of them this year. but we are going to get a few of them out there with [ DX ] and with Unity VCS. So the Unity platform wrapped around with the [ ADI ] system is now kind of complete. And as we learn through that, and it's going to take us a while I think what people are going to see is how exciting it is to work in a next century kind of idea, which is digitizing the whole of the ecosystem and really seeing what that can do in the OR to speed things up and create new efficiencies very exciting stuff, and [ DX ] plays a big role in that. I would expect revenue from that middle of next year kind of thing.

That's helpful. And just 1 follow-up on the Valeda. I mean the $100 million, $150 million peak sales, are you feeling better about like the high end there? And I think we bought the contribution was about $10 million to $15 million a year -- just where is that -- what's the run rate now?