NEW YORK, May 19, 2026, 16:03 (EDT)
Warby Parker shares fell Tuesday after the eyewear company revealed its first “Intelligent Eyewear” made with Google and Samsung. The launch gave investors a look at the product but did not answer questions about price, launch timing, or demand.
The stock last traded at $25.51 after trading between $23.62 and $30.20. Volume hit 11.7 million shares, nearly triple its usual pace, Robinhood market data showed.
Warby Parker’s push stands out this time as the company looks to shift past its main business selling glasses, contacts and eye exams, and bets on AI-powered wearables. AI in this case means software that reads voice, images, and other signals to answer what a user asks.
Warby says its first frame, made with Google’s AI and Samsung’s mobile tech, is built for all-day wear and will roll out in the fall in different optical and sun models. The firm says the glasses will have support for several prescriptions and lens types.
Warby Parker co-CEO Dave Gilboa called glasses “the most personal technology we use” in the company statement. Fellow co-CEO Neil Blumenthal said the product is meant to be “intuitive and unobtrusive.” Business Wire
Samsung and Google rolled out two high-end eyewear designs with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker at Google I/O 2026. The firms said the glasses will connect to a phone and let users talk to Gemini for directions, travel tips, translation, and alerts or calendar features.
Warby Parker is moving closer to a market where Meta and EssilorLuxottica’s Ray-Ban smart glasses are already strong. The Verge saw Google’s new Android XR demos and said Google is shaping up as more of a real competitor to Meta and EssilorLuxottica. But pricing and a lot of details are still missing, according to The Verge.
Investors have zeroed in on the gap. Piper Sandler cited a “lack of clarity around the pricing/exact date of the launch” and details on more styles, but left its Overweight rating and $32 price target on Warby Parker in place, according to TipRanks/The Fly. Overweight suggests the analyst sees the stock doing better than similar names. TipRanks
Shares dropped after Warby Parker’s big rally post-earnings earlier this month. For the first quarter, the company posted revenue of $242.4 million, up 8.3% from the same period last year. It kept its 2026 revenue forecast at $959 million to $976 million. But gross margin slipped to 54.0% from 56.3%, citing pressure from fixed costs, tariffs, optical lab expenses and shipping.
Adrian Mitchell, CFO, said the first-quarter numbers came in “ahead of expectations.” Warby Parker finished the quarter holding $288.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, opened 14 net new locations, and kept its plan for 50 new stores in 2026. Business Wire
Shares weren’t set up for this kind of slip. MarketScreener listed 13 analysts ahead of Tuesday’s fall, putting the average price target at $29.92, with targets ranging from $24 to $35.
But the risk is clear: smart glasses might need extra funding, could run into privacy issues and doubts about how many shoppers will buy, and may squeeze margins if sales are slow or if buyers balk at the price. Warby flagged its own risks, citing product development, AI, tariffs, supply chain problems, and dependence on partners like Google and Samsung as factors that might push results away from targets.
Warby Parker has a design and a group of partners lined up, aiming for a launch in the fall. Still missing are a set price, a fixed debut date, or evidence that smart eyewear can actually deliver fresh profits for the company.
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