High Growing with no dividend (Part 1)

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)

ISRG — with a market capitalization of $73.68 billion — designs, manufactures and markets the da Vinci surgical system along with related instruments and accessories. The da Vinci surgical system is an advanced robot-assisted surgical system. It anticipates earnings to improve 10.6% over the next five years. It beat earnings estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched once, the average surprise being 7.8%.

Even though the most intensive phase of the pandemic appears to be behind us in the U.S., with social distancing and masking rules lifted in most places, demand for elective medical procedures has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite these challenges, Intuitive reported another stellar quarter. Total revenue came in at USD 1.5 billion, up from USD 1.29 billion in the prior-year period. This growth was fueled by a 19% jump in the number of procedures performed worldwide, using da Vinci systems. The company also placed 311 da Vinci systems in the quarter compared to 298 in Q1 2021.

Intuitive’s highest stock price in history was USD 365.42 per share (08th November 2021) and it is currently trading at USD 190.71 (16th of June 2022). Approximately 52% difference from the all time high. This is because management gave out weak guidance on the Q1 conference call. According to the executive team, patients are still delaying elective surgeries (which ISRG specializes in) around the globe because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will negatively impact Intuitive's procedure and systems growth rate until the pandemic is over.