4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Intuitive Surgical

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 120,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, surgical robot maker Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) has earned a respected four-star ranking. While five-star stocks have been the best performers, our data has shown that four-star stocks still outshine the market by a significant margin and shouldn't be taken lightly; conversely, low-rated stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Intuitive Surgical's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Intuitive Surgical facts

Headquarters	Sunnyvale, California (1995)
Market Cap	$6.47 billion
Industry	Health-Care Equipment
TTM Revenue	$832.82 million
Management	CEO Lonnie Smith (since 1997) CFO Marshall Mohr (since 2006)
Return on Equity (average last three years)	19.8%
Competitors	Hitachi (NYSE: HIT) Accuray (Nasdaq: ARAY)
CAPS members bullish on ISRG also bullish on	Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
CAPS members bearish on ISRG also bearish on	First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 501 of the 556 All-Star members who have rated Intuitive Surgical -- some 90% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include pyritrob and tuffsledding, both of whom are ranked in the top 15% of our community.

Two weeks ago, pyritrob noted that "EVERYTHING these days needs to be better, faster, cheaper...and that is just what the DaVinci System is, Better surgery, smaller incisions, smaller scars, less intrusive."

A pitch by tuffsledding later on that day shares that sentiment, alerting our community to the company's most recent earnings report (and subsequent, seemingly irrational, price plunge):

They reported a great quarter and seem to anticipate continued strong growth. So, quite logically, the stock got creamed today. I read the whole CC, did not see anything alarming. They allowed for some caution going forward, but made a strong case for the cost benefit of the system and the fact that the procedures are not elective. There is no substantial change in the company's fundamentals, yet the stock is down from a 52wk high of $360. Sure it was expensive then, but I see it as rather cheap now, considering it practically owns this lucrative space. Their installed base is over a thousand systems now, so disposables and service now account for more of their revenue. This seems like a great time to jump in for the long haul.

What do you think about Intuitive Surgical, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 120,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.