Intuitive Surgical Posts Q3 Earnings Beat, These Analysts Raise Forecasts On DV5 Uptake

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG Thursday reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter.

The company reported its results amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways.

• RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh reiterated an Outperform rating, while raising the price target from $525 to $555.
• Stifel analyst Rick Wise maintained a Buy rating, while lifting the price target from $475 to $525.
• Goldman Sachs analyst David Roman reaffirmed a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $583 to $604.
• Piper Sandler analyst Adam Maeder maintained an Overweight rating, while lifting the price target from $495 to $538.
• Truist Securities analyst Richard Newitter reiterated a Buy rating and price target of $570.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

RBC Capital Markets: Intuitive Surgical reported its third-quarter sales 2% higher than estimates. This was driven by robust procedure volume growth and gross system placements, Singh said in a note. The company also reported a 12% earnings beat on "revenue drop-through and strong margins," he added.

Management raised the low end of their guidance for procedure volumes by 50 basis points (bps) to 16%-17%, with the upper end assuming that bariatric procedures stabilize at the current quarter's rates and that headwinds in Korea and China do not worsen, the analyst stated. Management also lowered their projection for operating expense growth by 50 bps at the midpoint, he added.

Stifel: Intuitive Surgical achieved "one of the fastest installed base growth rates in years, at 15.1%," Wise said. The company is well-positioned to approach 10,000 robots installed by the end of 2024.

The midpoint of the new guidance range implies around 2.6 million procedures in 2024, the analyst stated. "Just seven months following the US da Vinci 5 (dv5) approval, Intuitive is already generating meaningful post-launch growth momentum," which suggests the potential for acceleration in 2025, he further wrote.

Goldman Sachs: Intuitive Surgical reported third-quarter revenues of $2.04 billion. That’s up 17% year-on-year and ahead of consensus of $2 billion. "Against strong YTD performance, 3Q results underscore sustained momentum in the top-line and, as importantly, the significant earnings leverage and upside in the model," Roman said

The company has "multiple layers of growth," including the continued rollout of dv5 until mid-2025, uptake of the new SP platform and continued adoption of the ION diagnostics system, the analyst stated. "Importantly, with Intuitive's consistent investment in the robotic surgery ecosystem and differentiated technology, we are increasingly confident in the company further extending its competitive advantage," he further wrote.

Piper Sandler: “We were also encouraged to see another strong placement quarter for DV5 (110 systems in Q3) and hear that ISRG is tracking towards a broad launch in mid-2025," Maeder wrote in a note. Management indicated that physician feedback of the system had been strong, he added.

Leverage was another "bright spot in the quarter," as the company reported adjusted operating margins of 37.0%, well ahead of "our 33.3% bogey," the analyst stated. Although estimates have been raised, there is "ample opportunity for upside to play out going forward," he further wrote.

Truist Securities: Intuitive Surgical delivered a massive beat on DV5, at 110 versus analyst estimate of 78, Newitter said. The upside delivered by DV5 in its soft launch is "particularly encouraging." It gives greater confidence in further estimate upside and growth acceleration into 2025, when the full launch in planned, he added.

Intuitive Surgical should be able to sustain its "already substantial lead" in a large and underpenetrated robotic opportunity.

ISRG Price Action: Shares of Intuitive Surgical had risen by 8.63% to $514.59 at the time of publication on Friday.

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Courtesy of Intuitive Surgical