Intuitive Surgical stock gains on expected earnings beat, da Vinci growth

investing.com:

Investing.com — Shares in Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) rose in premarket trading in New York on Wednesday after the robotic products maker announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter that surpassed analysts' expectations.

The California-based company said it expects to post revenue of $1.93 billion for the three months ended on Dec. 31, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion.

Preliminary revenue at its key instruments and accessories division surged by more than a fifth to $1.14 billion, driven primarily by higher pricing and strong procedure volumes of its da Vinci surgical robot.

Worldwide procedures of the da Vinci grew by around 21% year-on-year, Intuitive Surgical added, due in part to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China in the fourth quarter of 2022 that weighed on volumes during the period. Over the entire 2023 fiscal year, da Vinci procedures rose approximately 22%, although this pace is anticipated to slow to between 13%-16% this year.

“During early 2023, COVID-19 resurgences in China continued to negatively impact our procedure volumes; however, as infections and hospitalization started to decrease, we saw a recovery of procedure volume,” the group said in a statement.

Sales at medical device makers like Intuitive Surgical were boosted last year by more patients choosing to move ahead with elective surgeries following the lifting of COVID-era restrictions and an easing in hospital staff shortages.

Intuitive Surgical is scheduled to report its full fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 23.

Senad Karaahmetovic contributed to this report.