Intuitive Surgical's Surge: Fool by Numbers

On Feb. 1, Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG  ) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

• Sales increased by 56% to $112 million, thanks to da Vinci Surgical System sales and continued growth in recurring revenue.
• Net income declined by 52%. This is not a concern, though, since there was a significant tax benefit received in Q4 2005 that did not occur in Q4 2006.
• Intuitive Surgical is well-liked in CAPS, the Fool's stock-rating service; 96% of players with a rating on the company have given it an outperform, leading to a respectable four-star rating.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$112.6	$72.1	56.1%
Net Profit	$23.6	$49.5	(52.3%)
EPS	$0.62	$1.31	(52.7%)
Diluted Shares	38.2	37.7	1.5%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	66.6%	67.4%	(0.8)
Operating Margin	31.5%	32.6%	(1.1)
Net Margin	21.0%	68.7%	(47.7)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$330.3	$202.7	62.9%
Accounts Rec.	$94.7	$52.8	79.2%
Inventory	$24.3	$15.2	60.2%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable*	$44.7	$33.5	33.5%
Long-Term Debt	$0	$0	N/A

*Accounts payable include other accrued liabilities.

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights
A statement of cash flows was not provided. Tsk, tsk.

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Related Companies:

• Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR  )
• Biomet (Nasdaq: BMET  )
• FoxHollow Technologies (Nasdaq: FOXH  )
• Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI  )
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT  )

Related Foolishness:

• The Intuitive Future of Medicine
• Intuitive Surgical and Internet2
• Are Intuitive Surgical and iRobot Just Babies?

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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.