Intuitive (ISRG 2.36%) stock (the robotic surgery company formerly known as "Intuitive Surgical") tumbled 5.8% through 11 a.m. ET Wednesday despite pre-announcing a sales beat ahead of official Q4 earnings.
Analysts expect Intuitive to report $2.7 billion in quarterly sales, but Intuitive says its sales should end up closer to $2.9 billion.
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Intuitive Q4 sales (and earnings?)
The number of surgical procedures performed with Intuitive da Vinci and Ion bronchoscopy robots grew 18% in Q4, with Ion showing the stronger growth -- up 44% year over year.
That's good news, but for all of 2025, procedure growth was 19%; an 18% increase in the quarter was actually a slowdown. Worse, management forecasts worldwide procedure growth in 2026 to slow further to 13% to 15% growth.
In revenue terms, Intuitive grew 19% in Q4 2025 and 21% for all of 2025.
It's not all bad news. "Placements" of da Vinci robots at hospitals grew only 8% in Q4 and 13% for the year. On the one hand, that makes the slowdown in growth rates even more obvious. On the other hand, procedure growth is still outpacing robot placements -- so the popularity of da Vinci use in surgery is still increasing rapidly.
NASDAQ: ISRG
Key Data Points
Is Intuitive stock a buy?
CEO Dave Rosa characterized his company's results as "strong" both for the quarter and the year.
We just won't know how strong Intuitive's earnings were for another week. The official report is due out on Jan. 22, and analysts are expecting Intuitive to report a pro forma per-share profit of $2.25, but only $1.95 per share, GAAP.
That would make GAAP profit for the year $7.48, giving Intuitive a P/E ratio of 71. Even for a great company like this one, with growth slowing, that's a high price to pay.
