Forecast Boosts Shares of Cooper Cos.

Shares of Cooper Cos. rose nearly 23% Wednesday after the Irvine-based contact lens maker said it has recovered from a disappointing first quarter and expects second-quarter earnings to beat analysts’ expectations.

Cooper’s stock moved up $3.69 to $19.94 a share in trading of 883,900 shares, more than eight times the average daily volume over the last three months.

The company had production problems that drove down sales in the first quarter, and results fell short of analysts’ expectations. Cooper said it expects to report second-quarter earnings from continuing operations above 34 cents a share, the average estimate of three analysts polled by First Call Corp. The results won’t include the psychiatric business it sold in April.

“We are seeing significant improvement in our gross margins from successfully integrating manufacturing technologies in our contact lens plants,” Chief Executive A. Thomas Bender said in a statement.

Cooper is gaining market share and expects its per-share earnings for the fiscal year to exceed the $1.48 expected by analysts, Bender said.

Cooper will report second-quarter results May 27. The three-month period ended April 30.

Cooper, which trails Johnson & Johnson and Bausch & Lomb Inc. in contact lens sales, also makes gynecological products.