Intuitive Surgical Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Intuitive Surgical (NAS: ISRG) reported earnings on Jan. 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Intuitive Surgical beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly, and earnings per share increased significantly.

Gross margins improved, operating margins grew, net margins shrank.

Revenue details
Intuitive Surgical logged revenue of $497 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for sales of $484 million. Sales were 28% higher than the prior-year quarter's $389 million.

anImage
anImage

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $3.75. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $3.35 per share. GAAP EPS of $3.75 for Q4 were 24% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.02 per share.

anImage
anImage

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 73.0%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 40.2%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 30.4%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $461 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $3.16.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2 billion. The average EPS estimate is $14.18.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 3,939 members out of 4,144 rating the stock outperform, and 205 members rating it underperform. Among 1,281 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,238 give Intuitive Surgical a green thumbs-up, and 43 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Intuitive Surgical is hold, with an average price target of $433.09.

The healthcare investing landscape is littered with also-rans and a few major winners. Is Intuitive Surgical the right stock for you? Read "Discover the Next Rule-Breaking Multibagger" to learn about a company David Gardner believes will be a phenomenal success over the next few years. Click here for instant access to this free report.

At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Intuitive Surgical. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement