Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) shares are up more than 12% after their latest quarter highlighted a return of patients to healthcare providers post COVID. Hospitals with improved staffing levels using robotic assisted procedures for minimally invasive surgeries has also helped buoy results.
Citi’s Joanne Wuensch described the quarterly print as “one of those quarters where almost everything goes right.” The analyst raised her price target on the stock to $317 from $305, maintaining a Buy rating.
Intuitive Surgical's first quarter revenue grew 14% year-over-year to $1.7 billion, topping Wall Street consensus estimates of $1.6 billion. Global procedure growth in the first quarter of 26% year-over-year came in well above expectations of 15%.
“The return of patients to health-care providers and diagnostic pipelines post-pandemic continues, with evidence of both an increased patient census and some diagnostic pipelines running above pre-pandemic levels after several years of lag,” Gary Guthart, chief executive officer of Intuitive Surgical, said during the company’s earnings call.
“Lastly, customers are expressing confidence in our products as a clinically and economically sustainable path forward for minimally invasive surgery,” added Guthart.
The Sunnyvale, California–based company said procedures in the US come in significantly above trend, growing 26% year-over-year.
“There is strength in the US in general surgery, particularly benign general surgery,” Jamie Samath, chief financial officer of Intuitive Surgical said during the earnings call.
"We believe that the return of patients to normalized health-care routines, including diagnostics and improved staffing levels have positively impacted this quarter's procedures. However, it is difficult to precisely characterize or estimate the degree or duration of this impact," he added.
Other regional standouts included India, Spain, U.K., Japan, Germany, and Italy.
"2023 is off to a good start," writes equity analyst Larry Biegelsen of Wells Fargo, maintaining an Outperform rating on the stock, and raising his price target to $310 from $289.
Intuitive Surgical raised its 2023 procedure growth guidance from 12-16% to 18-21%.
"The 18%-21% procedure growth range does not reflect significant material supply chain disruptions or hospital capacity constraints similar to what was experienced at the start of the pandemic," wrote Biegelsen.
Most analysts are bullish on the stock, with 15 Buy ratings, 14 Hold, and 1 Sell.
Ines is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre
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