Analysts Move To Sidelines On Vicarious Surgical After Regulatory Update

Piper Sandler has downgraded Vicarious Surgical Inc RBOT to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $7, down from $16, below expected Q4 results.
A majority of the earnings call focused on the Company's regulatory update. Vicarious announced its plans to pursue a De Novo FDA pathway, including a pre-market study, for its first indication, ventral hernia, notes analyst Adam Maeder.
The Company had previously anticipated using a 510(k) submission without clinical data, so the update will likely cause a roughly 9-12 month regulatory delay.
Maeder writes that the regulatory delay and corresponding revenue pushout, combined with a "healthy pace" of cash-burn expected in subsequent years, moves him to the sidelines.
Canaccord also lowered the price target on Vicarious Surgical to $13 from $15, with a Buy rating unchanged.
Analyst Kyle Rose said he acknowledges the Company is still at least three years from the U.S. market.
But, the analyst believes Vicarious offers investors a compelling opportunity in the surgical robotics market.
The Company reported a Q4 EPS loss of $(0.15) wider than $(0.04) a year ago, missing the consensus of $(0.10).
It held cash & cash equivalents of $173.5 million at the end of 2021.
Price Action: RBOT shares are down 14.8% at $5.01 during the market session on the last check Friday.